D. Julien - Treat Me Different

Fame is the bread and butter of today’s urban music – from current superstars to unsigned up-and-comers, if a rapper isn’t lyrically basking in the adulation he has earned (or aspires to), he’s griping about the stresses that accompany success, and the difficulty one can face in distinguishing real friends from fake.  Looking to the future, rising star D. Julien does a little bit of both on new record Treat Me Different, off his ongoing The Experiment series.  While the Brooklyn emcee clearly looks forward to the fast life he sees on the horizon, he cautions potential hangers-on, “You’d better stay in line/ If you want to be remembered when I get signed.”  While Julien’s flow propels the cut along nicely, the real scene-stealer here is the production by Curious Beats, who, true to his name, takes the road less traveled and turns in a refreshingly unconventional beat centered around a few tuneful symphonic samples.  D. Julien might be getting a little ahead of himself, but if he keeps releasing material of this caliber, the fame he clearly covets may not be far off.