As someone who just returned from America’s city of cities, I get it. “The mecca of the culture” has the food, the music, the energy coursing through its streets like lightning, and it’s been that way for decades. So now I’m back in the provincial little Bay Area, wondering what keeps me calling this place home. It’s definitely not for the bridge behind Martín Herrera-Pazmiño, aka MC Pauze, on the cover of his new album Through Time. Or any other bridge or impressive architectural achievements. Every city has those. It’s not even for the food or the music. It’s always the same simple reason: for the people.
Backed by his people—Professa Gabel, Equipto, Cold Medina, Monk HTS, SundaY, Cyph4, J.Lately, and more—Pauze spends 24 tracks rapping just as pure and simple over a couple dozen boom bap beats, hearkening to that classic NY sound. An hour-and-a-half might sound like a long time for an album these days, and it is, but it’s been building and building over a long period of change and growth. The artist explains:
“This album has been more than 6 years in the making and I cannot be more excited to finally release it into the world. Although I have been apart of a few groups and have released music before, I consider this my first album because of the time it took it to create it. I was creating these songs while simultaneously working on music with others, going to and graduating from college, and beginning to teach at SFUSD. I had to live through all those experiences in order to create this album. I can’t wait for you to hear the music because it is the most real body of work I’ve created to this point.” – Pauze
One of the last albums released in 2022 and one of the best if you want to hear the sound of San Francisco’s heart.
