Nothing Without You

D.T.S. (can’t tell you what his initials represent, alas) looks to be taking baby steps into hip-hop. Following up a collaborative single is the six-track Nothing Without You, wherein he nearly pulls the kind of autobiographical punch of Kanye West’s “Through The Wire” or The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy.” Actually, his first track cops a kinship with Tupac’s “Dear Mama” in D.T.S.’s reflection of his own maternal parent’s nurturing, from which he goes into an homage to his misses. D (let’s call him that for short, shall we?) bears some vocal resemblance to Kanye as well, minus the ego. Considering his visual likeness to ex-Cross Movement spitter The Ambassador, too, he almost seems a laboratory experiment in creating a prototypical Godly rapper. NWY gets fiercer as it goes on as well, especially with a faux horrorcore (referencing the Biblical admonition to die daily, y’know) posse joint with VOP and Musselz, one of whom may grab the most killer line on the whole shebang in his willingness to rhyme funeral with unibrow. D’s producers allow judiciously generous crankin’ electric guitar amid the electronics, in keeping with ’70s possible Isley Brothers hearkening and the likely preferred instrument of most readers of this magazine. Only the preponderance of sung choruses of varying quality turns the EP into something of a formula presentation. Otherwise, the work is pretty promising.