Toddx creates a hip-hop hybrid

Todd Yarberry is a man with a passion for all genres of music and is on a mission to fulfill his endorsement with North Star Media. With the stage name “Toddx,” Yarberry has been cutting tracks and making a name for himself in the hip-hop industry for approximately five years. With previous records and mixtapes under his belt such as “The Todd-X Files” and his most recent release “The Drug Years,” he is ready to release his hybrid opus “The Big Picture” in late February.

Yarberry invited me to Strawberry Fields, the studio where he records in Swanton, Ohio, to demo the tracks he recorded for “The Big Picture.” While sitting in front of a high-tech Pro Tools set-up equipped with mixers, microphones and a Mac recording system, he cranked the volume and let the monitors blare to give me a true feeling for the sound he had been working on since July 2009.

Yarberry and Chavar Dontae are the masterminds behind “The Big Picture” with the help from friend and local musician Elliot Simon. Dontae lended vocals on one track, “Don’t Even Know,” but he and Simon both helped craft the unique instrumentation and crossbreed of hip-hop, rock n’ roll and electronica that welds Yarberry’s album into one solid piece of music. Dontae also acted as producer for the album.

“Todd and I were both there from start to finish,” Dontae said.

“The majority of the past 11 years has been spent on trying to figure out who I wanted to be as an artist,” Yarberry said.

In reference to “The Big Picture,” he said, “I knew I wanted to keep it fresh and sounding like nothing else but I couldn’t execute the way I wanted to. I was patient and relied on the phrase, ‘practice makes perfect.’”

“The Big Picture” features 14 tracks and two skits, and it lyrically dabbles into the philosophy of human nature, the music industry, relationships and trying to cope with life’s lessons.

One positive thing about Yarberry’s music is that the underlying message is not negative or degrading like most contemporary hip-hop tends to be. Unlike most rock based music, the lyrics are far from overly emotional and rely more on relativity through subjective and passive experience.

The track with the most heart is “Coming Home,” a song that relies heavily on Auto-Tune and a Vocoder similar to something from Kanye West’s album “808s and Heartbreak” and sung similar to Kid Rock’s “Only God Knows Why.” The Auto-Tune effect kicks in during the pre-chorus, followed by a drum build up. In the chorus, with Auto-Tune still in effect he sings, “I’m coming home to you; I’m coming back; I’m leaving town tonight, tonight, tonight.”

“’Coming Home’ is one of my favorites,” Yarberry said. “It’s real intimate and honest and has an awesome build up. Simon sent Chavar and me a skeleton for a beat and we went with it. It is the first time I actually sang on a song.”

On “Back Side of the Moon,” Yarberry reveals a lonely, vulnerable side of himself. “This is me, this is me uncut and raw. Misery loves company, I sacrifice it all,” he says at the peak of the second verse. “Under a rock, I stay hidden from plain view unless the beat is hittin’,” he goes on to proclaim in the chorus. With a demonstrative bass line, “Back Side of the Moon” works not only as a confessional but as a relatable set of lyrics subjective to the human heart.

At the beginning of the song “I Surrender” before his lyrics begin, he mutters the question, “Am I breaking hip-hop laws?” followed by a chuckle. This is basically Yarberry’s attitude on the record. Yes, the influence and aspiration toward hip-hop is obvious in his rhyming and lyrical delivery but he is almost making fun of the genre in the lyrical content.

“It’s real hard to listen to,” Yarberry said about “I Surrender.” “It’s just me talking about me and my demons. I didn’t really like it at first but it grew on me.”

“The Big Picture” is certainly a step up from “The Drug Years,” which was strong for a hip-hop based album but not quite as voiced or sturdy as Yarberry’s new product. Although “The Drug Years” was a step in the right direction for Yarberry, it did not put him in the position, as a musician, that he truly aspired for.

“’The Big Picture’ stands for the future,” Yarberry said. “All the sacrifices I make now may not make a lot of sense, but looking at the big picture, they’re all necessary for my plan.”

With “The Big Picture,” he plans to succeed with his resent endorsement as well as putting to good use his publishing deal with North Star Media in movies and commercials. He also plans to put on more live shows with “The Big Picture” than he did with “The Drug Years.” However, he only intends to play minimally around the Toledo area.

“A local music scene is crucial,” Yarberry said. “It’s a starting point for musicians. Toledo needs to start building one so artists can break out.”

Yarberry is not, and does not claim to be, the next phenomenon in the music industry. However, having seen him work in the studio and on the stage it is true to say that he has a sense of heart that most musicians lack. He stays true to himself, his story and his roots.

“Ohio hip-hop is on the verge of something special,” he said. “A number of artists from here are doing really well. If it trickles down and people start looking here for talent, I think they might find some refreshing music.”

Select tracks from “The Big Picture” as well as separate songs from a mixtape will be made available streaming on Yarberry’s site, www.Facebook.com/ToddxMusic