Album Review: Erk Tha Jerk: Nerd's Eye View

When I met up with Erk Tha Jerk in the parking lot of Oakland’s Merritt Bakery to pick up a copy of his debut LP Nerd's Eye View (Red Planet/ SMC), we got to talking, and he shared his frustration with the fact that most folks don’t know him as a person or an artist. It's a common lament of those who are known for one thing, but defined by something quite different. For Erk his auto-tuned hit single "Right Here" is his gift and curse– the source of his big break, and also the root of people’s misconceptions about him.

For those that only know “Right Here,” his London collaboration “Wetter,” or his follow up single “Hands Up,” it could be easy to view Erk solely as a laid-back slick-talker with an excess of game. And though Erk certainly has that smooth and swaggering side, the rest of Nerd’s Eye View dispels that over simplified view of him. The LP is deeply personal, soulful, melancholy and insightful. Even the CD packaging is scrap book style, giving folks a glimpse into his life and lyrics. 

 

Produced predominantly by The Invasion and Erk himself, there is a lush and layered cohesiveness to the opus– the perfect backdrop for the wide array of personal narratives and complex emotions that Erk takes us through. In short, “Right Here” is to Nerd’s Eye View, what “Ain’t No N***a” was to Reasonable Doubt.

The album leads off with the Bedrock-produced “Summer,” which uses an unnamed sample that sounds a bit like Shirley Basset. On it Erk explores the industry politics that plague many artists, such as having a huge regional hit and fan base, but still struggling for mainstream respect. It’s a helluva way to start an album that you think will be mostly about boasting, bravado and bitches.  

"How Do You Love Me" featuring Samm seems in the same vain as Jay-Z's "You Must Love Me" in it's morose self-deprecating reflections on relationships and fatherhood. “You’re probably better off without me/ I’ll return your heart with the house key,” Erk pains. Regret and self-doubt may not strike us as the most hip-hop of emotions, but we relate more to honest humanity than fronting, and that’s what Erk offers up on his debut LP.

Even the standard “f*ck the haters” anthem that most rappers seem required to record, is different through the eyes of the hood nerd. “Reach the Top” is a triumphant shout out to the naysayers, but is decidedly less Jeezy and more breezy in nature. The J. Myers assisted track was the unanimous favorite at a recent Nerd’s Eye View album listening session, and it remains so.

Another stand out track, the aptly name “Favorite Song” featuring Vell4Short, DB and DS, is a reflective anthem about the pitfalls of self-medicating. Erk muses, “I think I smoke too much, I say that all the time/ My girl say she love me, but she never on my mind.” The song, recorded in one take, explores the stress that life and music bring, and the various ways that we cope and zone out. Poet Prentice Powell closes out the song with insightful words about our struggles to live up to expectations, the root of much of our stress.

“Put on a pedestal by people who have never met you. Elders try to live their life through you, tell you to always be you, but won’t let you. And the moment you do anything against the image people have created of you without knowing anything about you, they forget you, or you become the same as everybody else…”

And with that we understand Erk’s plight as a local star put on a pedestal by those who don’t know him, let alone his music. Nerd’s Eye View is both his retort and an invitation for folks to enter his world in a much realer way. And with that, the recently recognized XXL prospect is inviting you all out to his album release party tonight at The New Parish in uptown Oakland. Monday Soul is presenting an album listening beginning at 9:30pm followed by an epic live show with the Bay Area’s Getback band behind him. Don’t miss it! 

Also, check out part 1 of The Thizzler's exclusive interview with Erk Tha Jerk below!