With all the amazing Canadian hip hop that’s come our way since the beginning of Scratched Vinyl, it was only a matter of time before a good instrumental down tempo record made it across the border to us. Elaquent is a producer from Toronto who has been making beats for a few years now, and his latest effort reflects his recent commitment to make music full time. The title reflects the wandering journey he took to come to that decision, and listening to this album makes me think he made the right choice.

Knowing the story behind this album, you can almost hear a sense of joy in his commitment to his music. There’s a certain amount of energy and passion that comes through, even though the album is of a slower, laid back tempo. Much like Dilla, whom is an obvious influence, one of the key aspects to the appeal of Elaquent’s music is the warmth and soul that comes through on each track. It’s music that you can really lose yourself in, and it sounds perfect as I sit in my office typing this while rain hits my window. One of the most interesting aspects of Elaquent’s production is how complex his seemingly simple beats actually are. A quick, casual listen might not catch it, but Elaquent really does a great job of layering and staggering all sorts of different drum sounds against each other. He also skillfully traverses through genres and plays with different instrumentations, whether it be the cool jazz of “Grey Poupon,” the futuristic video game sounds of “Knuckle Sandwhich,” or the sexy R&B of “Black Magic.” While there are plenty of great individual tracks, what really makes the album special is how well everything comes together as a whole. The Scenic Route is even better when you listen to it all in one sitting.

Making a successful down tempo album is no easy task. It takes a lot of patience and skill to make, and it takes even more to really develop it and let it grow into something special. Elaquent was clearly invested into putting all he had into this album, and he filled the tracks with warmth and soul. It might have taken him a while to get to this point in his career, but as The Scenic Route proves, it was well worth it.