I've been digging into the back catalog of the late, great Paten Locke the past week. This album is one of the standouts of a really stacked discography and found me right in time for the lovely spring weather we've been experiencing in Pittsburgh. The Smile Rays was a Jacksonville, FL group comprised of Paten Locke (fka DJ Therapy) on raps, Batsauce on beats, and Lady Daisey on sung vocals. This album is an absolute ray of sunshine. It's firmly hip-hop but with a sense of fun and play that feels very refreshing. Stylistically, it's somewhere along the lines of the first wave of DITC crew releases (like Showbiz & AG's Runaway Slave or Diamond D's Stunts, Blunts, and Hip-Hop) and 90s alternative sampledelica a la Deee-Lite, Towa Tei, Cibo Matto, & Cornelius. If you're looking for some top tier Summer music, this is it, look no further. It will be getting a lot of burn from me!
