Steve 'Flash' JuonMoka Only is the owner of a catalogue so large I don’t think anybody will ever make a full account of it. Even the reliable Discogs has over 230 entries and I personally believe it’s incomplete. For someone as prolific as Daniel Denton it’s just about impossible to keep up whether a fan or a researcher. I find it a little depressing to think that if I listened to 25 of his albums a year for the rest of my life I’d never catch up, because he’d release that many more every year anyway. I don’t fault Mr. Denton for that. That same urge to create is why I sit down and write almost a half dozen album reviews on a weekly basis.
Moka’s “Sinus EP” is in fact a supergroup of sorts since it consists of Moka and his friend Psy (from The Oddities) as a tandem called The Nope. On the Bandcamp page he says “This is our 3rd project. Nobody’s heard the 2nd one. If you haven’t heard the 3rd one, do it now if you can.” That was over a decade ago so he was clearly happy enough with their work to not take it down — although I must say I’m curious about the unreleased second one and need to check out “Melba” at some point. Trying to find a full official playlist of anything The Nope did is difficult outside of BC but you can find individual tracks like “Icy Yew” (I see you) here and there.
The song’s title unintentionally reminds me of BoJack Horseman’s “Free Churro” episode, but this release pre-dates the show. In any case the back and forth verses are prototypical Canadian indie rap. I know that cuts a broad swath across an even broader country, but I can’t help but feel there’s a bit of unrestrained experimentation up North, while too many rappers South of the border chase the hottest trends and sounds. Songs like “Keep Wide” featuring Korry Deez could easily be mistaken for a Madlib production, and I won’t blame you if you listen with one ear open for another Daniel — Dumile, that is. He’s not here but he’d fit into the song perfectly.
“Sinus EP” is a bit of a misnomer given there are ten songs and the full projects are over a half hour. If you’re as prolific as Moka is that might qualify as an “extended play” but in the modern era that’s longer and deeper than hundreds of so-called “albums” that rappers release every year. To quote again from Mr. Denton: “While Moka makes beats, Psy writes raps. While Psy writes hooks, Torch writes raps. This is the formula, unless it’s not.” That coy description of what’s going on belies the fact it doesn’t matter who wrote or produced what when it sounds as good as “Wenefer Nopez.”
“It’s going to be a wonderful day so put it on” describes how I feel pressing play here. “Other rappers? All bums.” That’s an exaggeration but it’s a wonderful bit of bravado. Owing to sheer volume alone most of what Moka Only does is going to be underrated, because you would need my lifetime and several more to properly review his volume of work. Despite that the “Sinus EP” is worth your time because Psy and Moka gel together naturally and almost effortlessly.