Gift of Gab - The Next Logical Progression (2012)

Blackalicious MC, Gift of Gab has been a mainstay of the West Coast underground scene for almost twenty years now, and even though Blackalicious hasn’t put out a release since 2005, Gab has managed to keep himself busy with a string of impressive solo albums.  The latest in that line is 2012′s The Next Logical Progression.  Although, most probably won’t consider it his best effort, Gab puts together a very respectable collection of tracks and once again shows why he’s one of the most highly respected MCs in the game.

Gab comes out of the gate guns blazing, using the first track as a sort of pre-introduction, just to make sure the listener remembers that he has inhuman breath control and lyrics for days.  Unfortunately, we also have to chalk Gift of Gab up as another in the long line of older MCs who take exception to the current state of hip-hop.  It’s become a go-to topic over the past few years; frankly it’s getting a little tiring.  Let’s be honest; if you’re listening to a Gift of Gab solo album, you probably aren’t a big fan of mainstream hip-hop to begin with, there’s no need to harp on the topic anymore.  In general, The Next Logical Progression is a very positive album, filled with feel good choruses and inspirational lyrics.  The running theme of the album is a general appreciation of life.  Although, the story didn’t break until well after recording for this album was done, Gab has had some pretty substantial health problems as of late (he’s currently awaiting a kidney transplant and has suffered from Type 1 diabetes for years), and they’ve clearly given him a new perspective on life.  Some of the narrative tracks border on corny, in “Effed Up,” for example, in a twist that nobody won’t see coming,  the girl who scorned him gets her comeuppance when Gab sees her penniless on the street. (spoiler alert?)

Fellow Oaklander, G-Koop handled the production on The Next Logical Progression, and he took it in a different direction than Gab’s previous albums.  The spacey effects are gone as are many of the soul samples.  Unlike 4th Dimensional Rocketships and Escape 2 Mars, The Next Logical Progression is more thematic than conceptual, as such, the beats had to return to Earth, so to speak.  While not particularly intricate, the beats are extremely catchy and could go a long ways towards extending Gab’s fan base.  Most of the beats feature live instrumentals, which is always refreshing in hip-hop.  There might be more piano looping than I’ve heard in a hip-hop album.  Supposedly, Gab came up with many of the beats himself; humming bass lines into a tape recorder and giving them to Koop to turn into recordable beats.  Overall, the productions fits the theme of the album very well.  None of the beats are ever going to be remembered as classics, but they provide a suitable backdrop for Gab’s rhymes.  Nobody listens to a Gift of Gab project for the production, anyway.

I know, it sounds like I’m being really heavy with my criticisms of The Next Logical Progression, but that’s because I’m comparing it to one of the best bodies of work in hip-hop.  This is, in all reality, a very good album that is definitely worth at least a spin or two.  If someone were to call Gift of Gab the most technically skilled rapper ever, I wouldn’t argue with them, and those skills are on full display here.  Ultimately, The Next Logical Progression will go down as an album that, while technically outstanding, was thematically flawed.  It was certainly a step in a new direction for Gift of Gab, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a progression.

Best Tracks: NLP, Rise, Protocol, Toxic, Market & 8th

Overall: 85/100

Del the Funky Homosapien & Parallel Thought - Attractive Sin (2012)

My my, Del has been busy these last few years.  If he manages to put out all the releases he has scheduled for 2012, he will have put out seventeen releases in four years.  To put that in perspective, he only had ten releases in the first seventeen years of his career, most of which were group collaborations.  Unfortunately, none of those seventeen (that have been released so far) have been more than just pretty good.  His 2012 collaboration with production team Parallel Thought, Attractive Sin, fits into that category.  It’s a pretty good album that, in all honesty, probably isn’t going to be remembered 5 years from now.

While it doesn’t exactly have the stiffest of competition, Attractive Sin features arguably the best production we’ve heard Del rap over since Full Circle as a member of Hieroglyphics in 2002.  I’m always a fan of brass in hip-hop and this album features plenty of it. “Ownership” and “Different Guidelines,” specifically, feature very well executed, brass driven beats.  As a whole the production is notably more jazz influenced than what we’re used to hearing on a Del album.  Unfortunately, the beats border on monotonous by the end of the album.  The album is organized so that it starts relatively upbeat and gets progressively less so as it progresses, leaving the listener waiting for a grand finale that just never comes.  Ending the album with a catchy banger, or a particularly deep, moving song, or even just a song that really showed Del flexing his lyrical muscles a little bit would have done this album a world of good.  Instead, it ends with a total throw away track in “Front Like You Know.”  In an album all but devoid of choruses, organization is of the utmost importance, and I seems like Del and PT dropped the ball here.  It’s an album that is just hard to pay attention to for the full duration.

Almost no choruses means we’re treated to 40 minutes of straight Del verses.  He sounds very MF DOOM like here, spitting his verses with an endearing monotone laziness that is only enhanced by his signature drawl.  He takes advantage of all this time dedicated to verses by… rapping about how awesome he is.  Braggadocio has always been a staple of Del’s repertoire, but I can’t help but feel like he went a little overboard here.  As impressive as it is to be able to come up with enough rhyming compliments of yourself to fill 40 minutes of time, the shtick wears a bit thin after a while.  The stand out exception is “1520 Sedgwick.”  Named for the most widely accepted “birthplace” of hip-hop, Del gives his opinion of what exactly is “hip-hop,” as well as a healthy dose of hating on the media and record industry (another staple subject of Del’s).  Repetitive subject matter aside, I gotta say that Del is very impressive from a technical standpoint.  Despite the beats being, at times, very complicated, he manages to ride them all perfectly while maintaining very complicated, almost haphazard sounding, rhyme schemes.  That alone leaves me very optimistic for the upcoming Deltron 3030 sequel, Event II.

The biggest thing holding this album back from being truly good, or even great, is monotony.  I was folding clothes the first time I listened to it (i.e. not giving it my full attention) and didn’t notice the tracks switch from “Activated Sludge” (the 5th track) until I realized that I had been listening to what I though was the same song for ages only to find that I was already at the 9th track, “Blow Your Mind.”  This is a product of not only sameness in production staring in the middle of the album, but Del’s delivery.  He doesn’t add any cadence to his voice for the entirety of the album, delivering every verse in the same monotone drone.  Even Del sounds like he was bored with this by the end.  This is a great album to listen to closely to once and then relegate to background music while working or doing chores (felt like that laundry I was folding just flew by).

Best Tracks: On Momma’s House, Ownership, 1520 Sedgewick, Blow Your Mind

Overall: 77/100

Hus - Cognac Fruit (2011)

No frills, no foreplay, Cognac Fruit starts on a remix and gets straight to the point, delivering ten songs in just under 27 minutes.  You won’t get any shout outs, no drawn out intro/outro, no concept, no skits, no stems, no seeds.  This is unadulterated rapping over ravaged soul beats, aimed at listeners who like their hip hop served neat.

Hus is one half of Tha Connection, a duo out of Hempstead, NY.  Together with his partner SmooVth, they have released four true albums, each considered to be under appreciated 21st century gems.  Their style borrows heavily from a 90’s sensibility but manages to stay fresh thanks to their inclination for choosing soulful, contemporary beats.  If you want to get a feel for Hus’ origins then try Tha Connection albums Moon Water and Trapeze.

It’s a stripped down album to say the least.  There are no legendary producers and certainly no big name guests, in fact there’s only one guest, Mok Vurban.  Who?  Exactly.  This album is all Hus.  It serves to showcase Hus’ solo skills and reminds one of what solo albums actually meant, back before it was normal to have a guest on each track.  This is the common thread that runs throughout the whole album; it adheres to a 90’s mentality without stagnating in corny ‘I’m bringing the 90’s back yo!’ attitude.  You could easily picture Hus spitting over a 90’s Premo beat but the lush production pulls the album back from being a played out history lesson and instead creates a modern environment for Hus’ gritty delivery.  Yes, it’s got the boom bap drums but it’s layered with fluttering strings and jazzed out piano strokes instead of sampled loops and vocal scratching.  The bones are ’97 but the substance is thoroughly here and now.

You want a rugged NY rapper you get one.  If you want grand beats you get that too.  You just won’t get much of it.  With most songs clocking in at less than 3 minutes apiece, the shortness of the album is obvious.  Add to that the fact that three of the ten tracks are remixes from previous Tha Connection albums, you might feel like you are listening to a fan made compilation.  Short albums always have the safety of never growing tiresome but Cognac Fruit falters on the edge of being too sparse, you wonder why Hus was so thrifty, especially when you take into account that Tha Connection album Trapeze comes in with a staggering 27 songs.  Capable of building a robust album with SmooVth, but chose the short ‘n’ sweet route on his solo, it’s a bit puzzling.  What little we do get is incredible however and does make one excited for his future releases.

If you’re looking for a track list breakdown, you won’t find it on this review.  Come on now.  The album is only 27 minutes long.  No hand holding here.  Go listen to it and decide for yourself.



88/100

Atomic Farmhouse - Fortune Cookie LP (2012)

One of the members of Atomic Farmhouse described this tape to me as “Nas’s Illmatic, Notorious B.I.G’s Ready To Die, and Wu Tang Clan’s Enter the 36 Chambers running a train on MF Doom’s Operation Doomsday.”  I agreed to review this, assuming it would be another wack indie tape (I’ve had a few acts ask for reviews)and I’d be able to rip it to pieces as punishment for being so brash.  Turns out, in a pleasant surprise, that wasn’t the case.

While it’s not going to shake the foundations of hip-hop, by any means, The Fortune Cookie LP is a couple levels above what you would expect from the debut (as far as I can tell) of an unknown indie act.  The beats and general production is minimalistic, but serviceable.  It never “wow’s” the listener, but aside from a few annoying effects here and there, makes listening an easy experience.  I really enjoyed the use of vocal samples, such as at the end of “Rat Poison” and in “English Muffin.”

Braggadocio seems to be where the MCs of Atomic Farmhouse are most comfortable, specifically rubbing the fact that they have an LP in the faces of their doubters.  The attempts at deeper subject matter feel somewhat lackluster.  The lyrics don’t see a real drop off, but all of the MCs, other than MAD SYNTST, seem to have trouble flowing over the slower beats that tend to be associated with deeper songs.  ANTI, who is easily the standout MC on the faster tracks, suddenly sounds very amateurish when put over a slow beat, such as on “Nyquil” or “English Muffin.”

All in all, The Fortune Cookie LP is definitely worth a spin.  It’s a little rough around the edges at times, but it’s an independently released, debut LP, from what sounds to be a group of friends fresh out of high-school.  They have all the time in the world to hone their skills and grow as a group.  I think they have a lot of potential.  They’re definitely a group to watch for in the future.

So, does it stand up to Illmatic, Ready to Die, 36 Chambers and Operation: DOOMsday?  Of course not, but few do.  Stylistically, it isn’t even really similar to any of them, either (more like a CYNE-Lupe Fiasco hybrid) Is it a respectable effort, regardless?  Absolutely.

Also, the cover art is GOAT.

Best Tracks: Garage Sale, Dayquil, Public Massacre

Overall: 76/100

Souls of Mischief - Montezuma's Revenge (2009)

Is it just me, or do hip-hop acts seem exceptionally prone to the “sophomore slump?”  That is, releasing a great first album, followed by a lackluster second album and loss of popularity.  Oakland based group, Souls of Mischief, fell victim to this phenomenon arguably harder than anybody in the wake of their classic debut album 93 ’til Infinity (released in 1993, if you didn’t guess).  Souls’ following three albums all met a lukewarm reception and the group went on a hiatus starting in 2000 and have been busying themselves with various solo efforts and side-projects ever since.  For whatever reason, Souls decided to get back together for a fifth studio album, Montezuma’s Revenge in 2009, almost 10 years after their last group album and they even got Prince Paul (of De La Soul and Gravediggaz fame) to produce it for them.

Just listening to Montezuma’s Revenge, you would never guess that Souls of Mischief hadn’t all been on an album together since 2003 (Hieroglyphics’ Full Circle).  Tracks like “Fourmation” have them trading verses as effortlessly as they ever have, really a testament to the chemistry these four MC’s have built up over their careers.  Perhaps the most endearing part of the album, however, is that Souls make it plainly obvious that they aren’t shooting for mainstream success anymore.  Starting from the first track, “Won,” the listener is assured that Souls is done with gimmicks and trying to appeal to critics.  The “Mr. Freeman Skit” reaffirms that sentiment, while poking fun at a bunch of rappers who have all become completely irrelevant in the short time since this album was released.  Maybe the whole idea of old-school rappers dissing awful current rappers has become cliche, but I still laugh at the “Mr. Freeman Skit”, even after having heard it several times.

I’ve yet to hear an album come out of the Hieroglyphics camp that didn’t have at least a song or two focusing on making sure everybody knows exactly how much cooler they are than everybody else, and Montezuma’s Revenge is no different.  They do delve into some deeper subject matter, though, tackling issues such as relationships and what exactly makes something art.

Prince Paul fully delivers on the production of Montezuma’s Revenge, really touching on what had been missing from Souls’ previous few releases.  Fun.  Paul (like everybody else in the world) recognized that Souls aren’t well suited for dreary, gloomy beats and piercing social commentary.  Their strength is, and probably always will be, battle style rapping; just a simple beat with a nice bass line with the emcees just trading verses back and forth.  Don’t take that to mean that the production on Montezuma is simplistic.  Honestly it’s probably more difficult for a producer, especially one of Prince Paul’s status, to be able to just lay off and let the emcees do what they do best.  It’s not an album that’s going to be remembered for it’s groundbreaking beats by any means, but they’re beats perfectly suited for the emcees, and in my mind, that’s a way better than forcing excessive complexity in situations that don’t call for it.

You never know what you’re going to get when you get an album from a group that is almost 20 years past their peak fame.  Montezuma’s Revenge isn’t an album that’s ever going to be looked at as a classic, but it is a very solid effort from a great group and a legendary producer.  Aside from the lyrics being a little over-simplistic at times and a yawn inducing beat or two, Montezuma delivers everything a Souls of Mischief fan can could realistically hope for.

Best Tracks: Won, Tour Stories, Poets, Fourmation, For Real Y’all

Overall: 84/100

Eminem - Recovery (2010)

After a depressed and drug addicted Eminem released the lukewarm Encore in 2004, he went on hiatus for almost five years before returning with 2009′s Relapse.  Once again, the reception was less than stellar.  Recovery is Eminem’s attempt to put Encore and Relapse behind him and rekindle what it was that made him great from 1999-2002.

It’s hard for me to consider Recovery a successful album.  It definitely sounds more like Em’s older releases than did Encore or Relapse, but it does so in many of the wrong ways.  He doesn't seem to have updated his list of pop culture references since The Eminem Show, making references to Austin Powers and Mariah Carey (go figure).  The primary theme of the album seems to be apologizing for his last couple releases.

To Em’s credit, the rapping on this album is actually very good from a technical standpoint.  The rhyme schemes are extremely intricate.  The problem is what he’s saying.  All the cleverness and wit of his early releases is long gone; he doesn't even have shock value anymore.  The whole album is painfully lacking in catchy, singalong, tracks.  Unfortunately, most of the memorable lines are notable for being bad.  It’s practically devoid of any hooks whatsoever.  Eminem sings most of the ones that are present and… well, let’s just say that there is a reason Em doesn't have a singing career.

For an attempt to return to his 1999-2002 form, there was an incredible shortage of Dr. Dre and self produced tracks on Recovery.  Dre ended up with only one credit, with Em himself not being the primary producer of a single track.  Em’s Rolodex must’ve gotten a workout contacting all the producers on this album.  Marquee producers, DJ Khalil and Just Blaze got the most production credits, with four and three, respectively.  If you’re a fan of lots of soft rock samples in your hip-hop, the production on Recovery will be a treat for you.  For the other 95% of us, listening to Recovery is a long 77 minutes of dreary keyboards and awkward samples that don’t fit together in any sort of cohesive manner.

Of course, as a hip-hop snob, I would be remissed if I failed to mention the presence of Lil Wayne, Pink and Rihanna on the album.  How could any fan of 1999-2002 Eminem not feel at least a little betrayed by their presence?  Em told us that he was going to try and return back to the sound that we all know and love, and instead we get him collaborating with exactly the kind of people that he built his career making fun of.  That’s the definition of selling out; becoming what you would have once mocked.

Despite all my criticisms, Recovery is worth a spin or two.  Yeah, it falls way short of what he wanted it to be, but there is reason to be optimistic about Eminem’s future.  Unlike on Encore, Eminem shows that he is still a very technically skilled rapper.  A few more quotable hooks would’ve really served this album well, if for no other reason than to distract from the occasional painfully bad lines that end up being the most memorable.  Really, what brought this album down was the production, though.  How, as a producer, you can not provide top shelf beats for an Eminem album is beyond me, but it just seemed like the beats were phoned in.  Remember when Just Blaze used to be good?

Best Tracks: Talkin 2 Myself, Love the Way You Lie, Cinderella Man, Going Through Changes

Overall: 55/100

Kno - Death is Silent (2010)

The concern with concept albums is whether the artist decides to take a literal or abstract approach.  Death Is Silent’s concept adheres to the former.  Intensely.  It’s obvious from the mere title of the album that death and dying and all that depressing stuff will be the order.  Whether Kno thinks little of his fan’s deciphering skills, or he himself is lacking the intelligence to compile an album that challenges the listener to discover the concept on their own, is definitely up for discussion.

Kno has a beautiful ability to construct a dope backdrop.  His well-known use of obscure samples and talent with layering strings on synths on drums is unquestionable.  But this is not an instrumental album. What could have been a near perfect collection of songs is let down by his straight up average presence on the mic and frown-inducing delivery.

He is vocally outdone on almost every track that has a guest.  Examples of Kno being owned completely include Natti’s dominance on “If You Cry”, Nemo Achida’s incredible storytelling on “Loneliness” and Tonedeff’s stunning first verse effort on “I Wish I Was Dead”, easily a contender for verse of the album.  Kno’s best verses comes from the tracks “They Told Me”, where he divulges his private anxieties in plain sight and “La Petite Mort (Come Die With Me)”, a cleverly veiled ode to sex that will take a few listens and perhaps some experience in the subject to unravel.  It’s one thing to be a talented lyricist.  Which he is.  But his sappy and frail delivery wrecks the elegance of his lyrics.

Despite Kno’s tendency to say corny things, what makes this album an excellent addition to your music collection, is his capacity to create honest stories over magical beats.  Atmospheric is a word that is more and more being incorrectly used to describe crowded production, but here it totally belongs.  This has atmosphere in spades.  The production is by far the standout element and it’s Kno who is solely responsible for it.

So do his cheesy verses get a pass because he is a ‘part-time’ MC?  Well, no.  He has shown some great propensity for spitting on the CunninLynguist albums.  Maybe he was so caught up in the producing side of the album and neglected the vocal aspect?  Perhaps.  What’s obvious is if this was, say, a Tonedeff album, with the same concept and production, it would have been universally accepted as a top 3 album of 2010.  It’s a frustrating album, so agonizing close to perfection but missing the most important part of any hip hop record; top notch MC skills.

Highs:  Production on ALL tracks is amazing.  The concept runs nicely throughout, and while it is a gloomy concept, it never feels unbearably heavy and tiresome; in fact, it’s a highly energetic album from start to finish.

Lows:  Not enough Tonedeff.

87/100