Epiphany - Respect Part 1

On "Gotta Get It" Epiphany reflects on his life and how far he has come on his own. Throughout mixtape Epiphany's positivity is relentless, but firmly grounded in reality, flipping in between bravado and introspection with ease. On track after track, he remains aware of the hardships of life, but intent on moving forward rather than admitting defeat. His philosophy is best summed up on the DJBooth Approved track "5 Dollar," in harsh economic times, his rants on the endless line-up of bill payments are particularly welcome. I'm not opposed to rappers flossing (damn! I'm all up for it if done creatively), but it's refreshing to hear an MC who is upfront about having financial difficulties.

Production is on point as well, none of this is going to blow out your speakers, but the beats are consistently good. The only song that may be a little too cliched is "Hey There Hata" but you can't expect a rap artist or group to not have a song dedicated to their Haters. So. it's all good.

Epiphany is solid if not stellar with his raps, he relies on lyrics that on the surface may be relatively simple, but combined with Epiphany's voice and solid flow in delivering those verses it overcomes any simplicity, and eventually convey a lot of emotions.

While we all love tracks about positivity, quality music in a pure form, the message somewhat becomes repetitive. His talent is there, but I'd like to hear him flip the script a bit and approach the same content a bit more creatively. With time Epiphany will hopefully develop his craft even more and evolve as all artists do, but even today he's a cut waayyy above the average emcee. Solid three stars for a tight mixtape with definite replay value.

My Top Picks:

1. 5 Dollar
2. From Here
3. Gotta Get It
4. Relax Muzik

I gave 5 stars for Classic because it sounds like "REAL" Classic RAp! Without all the cliche catch phrases and stupid dance steps! Great delivery, quality production! Someone better sign him quick!

Man Piph... I'm feeling this. It won't take long for Arkansas to get noticed... Keep it up

Wow - I'm really digging this tape. I like how he makes this a quality body of music by shaping it and having it flow some what like an album. He's got original songs, skits, straight bars over other rapper's beats, and I especially like how he flip's other people's songs (i.e. Alicia Key's "Where Do We Go) to make his intro track "From Here". I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the Respect series from Epiphany!

CLASSIC! Refreshing to hear talent, hunger and creativity in this sea of tasteless, ignorant, gimmick rappers. Not surprised, Big Piph ALWAYS delivers...and here's another one. Looking forward to the series.

Top Three: 1.From Here
2.Relax Muzik
3.Stuck Flow
Much RESPECT Big Piph!

Wow! Mr. Top Hat you had a ton to say and for the most part I agree with you. Even down to the repetitive "positive" content, however I enjoy that side of Epiphany. There isn't too many albums that I can bump around my father/mother/wife/children, but his content allows me to do so - which also expand his possible fanbase. And I respect and mostly appreciate that side of his delivery. I definitely respect your comment however, but it's emcee's like Epiphany that remind me of my favorite lyricist out - Lupe Fiasco, Common, Wale, etc. Not comparing his lyrical content to these cats, but more so the message and delivery.

I'm looking forward to the remainder of the mixtape series and I give this album a solid "Banger" status. And the way that he flipped "From Here" was one of the best flipped songs that I've heard in quite some time now.

Piph obviously has a story to tell and I'm read to read the next chapter.

My Top Picks:

$5 Dollas
From Here
Quite Like I Can
Stuck Flow

Dog this is a hot album. I was wondering if you need an R&B artist.

lk why its called epiphany? blank woah kidd change dt shxt

I've enjoyed this mixtape - and am looking forward to the remaining three parts of the series. Epiphany is local 501 for me, and while I live in the south I typically don't enjoy "Southern Hip Hop" very much; this I can assure you is a different sound coming out of Arkansas.

It's classic, thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining. I can see Piph blowing up fairly easily with releases like this, maybe not on MTV but where it counts. He's got a great flow on theses tracks.

Like "Mr. Top Hat" said it's got definite replay value! Prodction is great, no DJ drops and no ig'nant music here!

my favorite listens are; "stuck flow," "gotta get it" & "5 dollas" but honestly I listen to the whole tape through when I put it on, no skips.

You got my respect... thiz iz nasty

I likes.... my fav --> Hey there hata

Hmmmm- not very good -All of it sounded very generic I was not impressed