I’m not going to pretend I knew what synesthesia meant before listening to former Cincinnati/current Columbus-based Hip Hop artist Ill Poetic’s latest release, Synesthesia: The Yellow Movement. But after diving into the seven-song EP (and looking up the title on dictionary.com), I discovered that synesthesia is something like a music-induced hallucination where the afflicted see music as colors, which is the perfect description the album has on its listeners. In the short amount of time it takes to get through this EP (just under 24 minutes), Ill Po takes the listener on a funky, soulful trip through his creative process. On the  first track, “Be Cool,” Po is kind of like Samuel L. Jackson in the diner scene of Pulp Fiction (without the Jheri curl), urging everyone from politicians to status rappers to just chill the fuck out and re-birth the cool like Miles Davis. “Be Cool” then melts into a laid-back Soul cut, the highlight track “On My Way,” which features crooner CJ the Cynic. It’s probably just the producer in him, but Ill Poetic lets CJ take the reins of “On My Way” for almost the first two minutes before he brings his spoken-word lyrical styling to the production, which is reminiscent of early Kanye or Eryka Badu with, dare I say, an added dose of creativity. The wait for Po's words is well worth it, however, when he spits that “Ghostface is my real estate agent." Again, I really don’t know what this means, but the sheer image of calling Sibcy Cline or Century 21 and getting Ghostface Killah on the other end of the receiver is pure imagery gold. On the sixth track and first single off the EP, “Gone,” the song cleverly describes Po’s struggle to leave Cincinnati and pursue his dreams (his every body part attempting to convince his brain to dip-out), while the Jazz-style production makes the listener want to roll-up and take a road trip with this song on repeat. The best part about this album, though, is when Ill says “You don’t have to be cool to listen to this; you don’t have to listen to this to be cool.” So for all the nerds, dorks, dweebs and losers out there looking for new music, have no fear. You don’t have to be cool to listen to this and listening to Ill Poetic won’t make you cool. But it surely couldn’t hurt. Click below to preview and purchase Synesthesia: The Yellow Movement. For more on Ill Poetic, visit his official site here.Synesthesia: The Yellow Movement EP by Ill Poetic

A few weeks ago, CityBeat was honored to premiere the music video for Ohio Hip Hop artist (and occasional CityBeat contributor) Ill Poetic's Cincy-focused music video for his new track, "Gone." Today, Ill Poetic is allowing us to show you something very cool first — a behind-the-scenes mini-documentary about the shoot titled "A Piece of Our Soul in the Road." I'll let Ill Po explain:A couple weeks ago, we premiered the video to my song “Gone” on Citybeat.com. The response we received for the song & video was more than I could’ve hoped for. I got so many phone calls, texts, FB messages, blog & YouTube comments from old friends and family, other artists & musicians, and fans in general. And not just the typical “That shit was tight, son” comment. You guys gave me the real feedback. I feel like we all got to reminisce about the people and places we loved, some of whom didn’t make it this far with us (hence the title “A Piece Of Our Soul In The Road”).The process of making and debuting this video in Cincinnati was pretty unique and made for a lot of new memorable experiences. So David Damen (co-director of the “Gone” video) and I got together to make a small documentary on the filming & debuting of this video, featuring commentary from Mr. Dibbs, and footage from the actual shoot and debut. And in tradition of the video online debut, we’re premiering this Behind-The-Scenes Look again with Citybeat, entitled “A Piece Of Our Soul In The Road”.From the shoot at Divebar with Mr. Dibbs, to the debut at “Selectas Choice” Dance Party last month with Rare Groove, Pillo & Apryl Reign, this whole process was just fuckin’ amazing. I hope you enjoy the mini-doc as well as the OG song and video.Pay close attention to the score behind this documentary to get an advanced listen on some of the upcoming music from the EP.  “Synesthesia: The Yellow Movement” EP is dropping this Summer. Without further ado, we give you A Piece of Our Soul in the Road. (For those with prudish bosses, NSFW — salty language.)

Below you can check out, for the first time, the final cut of the new music video for Hip Hop artist Ill Poetic's latest single, "Gone." The clip was celebrated and screened at the Northside Tavern a couple of weeks back, but this is the completed version. The video takes a look at Cincinnati and the local Hip Hop scene in the ’00s, when the MC/producer cut his teeth. Ill Po says, “This video is for all Cincinnati folks who lived through the riots, Scribble Jam and everything that happened in the early-mid 2000s, as well as the new scene of heads who love this city and its music scene."