LISTEN TO MORE HIGH-QUALITY SAMPLES AT WWW.DARKNIGHTRECORDS.COM An album practically 8 years in the making, founded on love of ALL types of music, the art of songwriting instead of freestyling, and professional recording studio experience with veterans of the business. For those who have heard 2003's The Chain Letter, this album is the leap forward from showing serious potential to whipping out the full arsenal. Although this is the first solo album from Dark Night Records, some familiar voices are featured on the album such as 2 Men-E (formerly Kamal), Technician & Ms.Kandi. There are also a couple of new talents to check out on this album, VA emcee Definition and MD guitar beast JT. Work on One Man Army actually started very early 2004, with a few beats that did not make The Chain Letter and the founding of Dark Night Record's home-based studio. This album was also done differently in the sense that it often feels more like a hip-hop/rock-n-roll album than a underground-rap album or mixtape. Another quality that separates this record from your "typical" hip-hop album is that every song is a song. Every song has a message, a story, it's own mood & feel. Each song is about something and builds from beginning to end, these aren't just random verses thrown over a catchy loop and given a name. Although there are several messages within the album, none is more exemplary than the message to keep true to one's self. This message is made very clear in the album's intro song The Ram, named after DVS' zodiac sign - Aries. FlaVA is the hard-hitting, rock/hip-hop Virginia anthem dedicated to Dark Night Records' home state, because you can't spell FlaVA without VA. Enough Is Enough tells a story about a destructive relationship between a young man & woman that brought out the worst in each. It was created to ease the fear of letting go & being alone and inspire hope that these types of wounds always heal in time. In 2 Cents, DVS voices his and states his position in and view of hip-hop today. The song features JT on acoustic & electric guitars for another inspiring combination of rock & hip-hop that ends with a bang. The first "party-song" on the album is Our Time 2 Shine, but instead of a song about the club & groupies - it is a song dedicated to all the hardworking emcees working to survive in the world of watered down, mainstream hip-pop. Fingaz Up is the official "album release" song. It is a different type of party cut with a moshpit feel that illustrates a mental picture of a wild celebration, and the first song on the album featuring fellow VA emcees 2 Men-E and Technician. To make a long story short, Drunk By Myself is basically every man's intoxicated story of a long-time obsession over someone else's girl who also happens to be a good friend. Lust Story's title speaks for itself, this is a random story about a young man's encounter with an exotic beauty that begins to spin out of control. The point of this song is simply to accept that at some point in a man's life, maybe some more than others, there is only one type of connection to a woman that matters. The album then takes a sharp detour from "relationship" stories and shoots back to matters of the hip-hop state with Let It Go. Another collaboration featuring Technician and 2 Men-E, but also introducing female vocalist Ms.Kandi in the album. Let It Go deals with the overly-exaggerated lifestyles portrayed in the rap game these days, and the "artists" who continue to fan the flames of stereotype while oppressing the growth of quality hip-hop. Perhaps Only Want U could be called the closest thing to a love song on the album. A story about a "happy-home" being intruded by the dreaded ex and what happens when temptation gets thrown in his face. The song written most differently on the album is Buck-N-Change, the one hundred twenty bar hip-hop symphony. Buck-N-Change is a strong example of DVS' subject-relevant rhyming ability, it's the "final thought" on several random topics not covered on the rest of the album. The finale cut on One Man Army is Tomorrow, a duet with Ms.Kandi. The word duet seems more appropriate than collaboration for this song because collaboration is often associated with a guest appearance at one brief point in a song. In Tomorrow, with the exception of Ms.Kandi's solo during the bridge, both DVS and Ms.Kandi perform all the way through the song. Tomorrow is a melodic, but fast paced, song about overcoming personal trials and tribulations summed up by the opening phrase "whatever doesn't kill you should only make you stronger." There are no exaggerations on this album, except for those in the form of punch-lines and metaphors. everything is 100% true from the points of view to the stories told through song. To give an idea in text as to what this album sounds and feels like - SOME of its musical inspirations range from beloved rap icons like 2pac, Talib Kweli, Eminem, Dead Prez & Canibus to rock stars like The Beatles, Metallica, Linkin Park, & Michael Jackson. Great albums don't stand out because they are 100% original, they do so because they are original enough that listeners notice something so hard to find that they bond with it and often relate to it. One Man Army was created with great focus on presentation as well as musical & lyrical content. Also, this album was composed entirely of songs directed towards hardcore fans to invest in and enjoy for years, as opposed to the club-scene to enjoy then destroy in a matter of weeks. Of course words can never truly do justice to the music it describes, it's time for you to hear this one for yourself. Visit www.DarkNightRecords.com and listen to hi-quality samples from one of hip-hop's hottest albums of this summer. -ALSO AVAILABLE FROM Dark Night Records- THE CHAIN LETTER by: Kamal-DVS-Technician-Ms.Kandi