Outkast - Speakerboxxx / The Love Below (September 23, 2003)

In the three years between the chart success of Stankonia and the release date of their newest project, the members of Outkast underwent an identity crisis of sorts. Antwan "Big Boi" Patton was content with elevating his Southern pimp flow to the next level, while his partner, the increasingly erratic Andre "Andre 3000" Benjamin, decided that he didn't really want to rap anymore, choosing instead to record music in virtually every other genre (except for country and Scandinavian death metal) in an effort to become an "artist".

This division on the front lines of hip first reared its ugly head on Aquemini, Outkast's third album and the first to directly reference the differences between the two men. Their contrasting points of view meshed beautifully, though, resulting in what I find to be the duo's finest hour. (Shit, I may want to go listen to Aquemini after this write-up just so I can remember how good they once were.) Stankonia, Outkast's fourth effort and their most successful to this point, only drew the lines between Big Boi and Andre 3000 with a thicker Sharpie, although Andre was more willing to play ball, spitting verses as if Antwan put a gun to his boy's head, but still managing to craft memorable bits (such as "Gangsta Shit").

By the time album number five, the double-disc Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was announced, Andre 3000 had, apparently, moved on musically. LaFace Records marketed this project, rightfully so, as two solo albums packaged together: Speakerboxxx by Big Boi, and The Love Below by Andre 3000. What I expected was two albums that didn't sound even remotely related, which is what I received. However, one strange fact stood out for me while I was reading through the liner notes: Andre helped Big Boi write and produce Speakerboxxx, but Antwan's assistance was largely ignored for The Love Below. This led me to believe two things: (1) Andre's egomania had finally reached new heights, and (2) critics would be all over themselves sucking at the cock of Andre 3000.

And yeah, I was right.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was both hailed and criticized by the general public: hailed because the music was good (at least, when it actually worked), but criticized because it isn't really an Outkast album. When you subtract one or the other from the mix, you get a rapper (or in Dre's case, a "musician") who is unencumbered by the trappings of the other's conventions, causing them to spiral out of control within their own ideas. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx showcased a philosophical pimp who paid much more attention to the political events of the world around him than one would believe, and he surrounded himself with guests who shared his views (Killer Mike, various members of the Goodie MoB, Sleepy Brown) and folks who would guarantee sales (Jay-Z, Ludacris, Lil' Jon), while Andre's The Love Below only features three cameo appearances, one of which barely registers. Dre's half of the project explores musical territory only hinted at on previous Outkast releases: funk, R&B, rock, jazz, drum and bass, polka, new wave, synth pop, and, yes, even rap are represented on here (the latter coming across as an afterthought, as if he snapped and realized that he didn't want to alienate his audience entirely), while Antwan stuck with what he knew.

The double A-sided single "Hey Ya!"/"The Way You Move" whetted appetite of popular music fans everywhere, with both garnering tons of spins on radio airwaves, although "Hey Ya!" was far more accessible (more on this later). Speakerboxxx/The Love Below would eventually go on to sell over fifteen million motherfucking units, winning a Grammy award for Album Of The Year and sealing the fate of Outkast as we knew it.

DISC ONE: Big Boi - Speakerboxxx

1. INTRO
This rap album intro makes it sound as if Speakerboxxx will sound almost exactly like the previous two Outkast albums. There's certainly nothing on here that informs the listener that this disc will be nothing like The Love Below. Both of which were probably the point, I'm sure.

2. GHETTO MUSICK
The music on here is all types of awesome, and the sudden turn it takes during the goofy chorus is fucking hilarious. Big Boi only manages to spit one verse out, but the song still works regardless. “Ghetto Musick” comes off as a third cousin, twice removed, on your mother's side, of “B.O.B.”, and it may actually get you as amped up as that classic track.

3. UNHAPPY
I like this song; its sound is that of a smooth, aimless drive on a Sunday afternoon, and there are constant references to hot sauce throughout. This probably isn't the first rap song to discuss how alcohol is a depressant and how ridiculous it is to abuse it when you're unhappy, but it's still a valid point to make anyway. (It's kind of like what Homer Simpson once said: “To alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.”) However much I like this song, though, I find myself missing the presence of Andre 3000. (This also would have occurred on the last track, had Andre not made a brief appearance on the hook of “Ghetto Musick”.)

4. BOWTIE (FEAT SLEEPY BROWN & JAZZE PHA)
I never cared for this track. I always believed that Big Boi (and his invited guests, by proxy) was trying too hard to retain the Stankonia audience, all without realizing that there are many songs from that album that absolutely nobody liked.

5. THE WAY YOU MOVE (FEAT SLEEPY BROWN)
The first single from Big Boi's half of the double album. While Andre's “Hey Ya!” moved up the charts much more quickly, after about a month this track overtook its partner in temporary popularity (because that is all that Billboard truly measures). And while “Hey Ya!” is still the more memorable single, “The Way You Move” makes for a fine alternative. This is due more to the silky smooth Sleepy Brown vocals and the Carl Mo/Big Boi beat than to Big Boi's generic-for-Big-Boi lyrics, however.

6. THE ROOSTER
Unlike the other tracks on Speakerboxxx thus far, I actually cannot fathom a verse from Andre possibly appearing on here: I suppose this would make “The Rooster” the first true Big Boi solo song. And when you look at it from behind those glasses, the man does a good job for himself over an instrumental that tries to be all things (okay, maybe just two things: a rap song and a marching band theme) to all people, but ultimately ends up sounding like it's too busy to just answer the phone like a normal goddamn person.

7. BUST (FEAT KILLER MIKE)
Big Boi, who sounds like a completely different rapper, and Killer Mike straight up destroy shit over a pulsating self-produced instrumental. I found this enjoyable as hell.

8. WAR
Antwan spits over two different beats on here, the second of which is much more radio friendly, but, strangely, sounds like a better fit for Outkast. His anti-fake-emcee tone morphs into an anti-Bush rally, which is probably something you didn't expect on a Big Boi song, but hey, a little diversity in your rhymes is typically a good thing.

9. CHURCH
This sounds more like an incomplete thought than an actual song, regardless of its three-minutes-and-twenty-six-second length. If any song were begging for a cameo appearance on this project, “Church” would be it. Moving on...

10. BAMBOO (INTERLUDE)
Far too precious to ever listen to all the way through, save for the once.

11. TOMB OF THE BOOM (FEAT KONCRETE, BIG GIPP, & LUDACRIS)
Features a far more fully realized version of the beat from the preceding interlude, which isn't saying a whole lot. Big Boi invites fellow Atlanta resident Ludacris to spit a verse, and Chris, predictably, blows everybody else out of the water. However, the song itself lacks a melody (not an entirely bad thing) and an overall purpose (which kills it completely): spitting shit is just fine, but nobody on the track appears to be familiar with the other participants. (I realize that isn't actually true, but that's how this track comes across.)

12. E-MAC (INTERLUDE)
…

13. KNOWING
Andre 3000's (uncredited) contribution to the hook is the icing on the cake for this outright car chase of a song, which is not about car chases, by the way. Had the label seen fit to continue supporting the double album beyond “Roses”, I feel this would have made an excellent, if off-kilter, single, and Dre could have even appeared in its video. Oh well; this is still an fun song.

14. FLIP FLOP ROCK (FEAT KILLER MIKE & JAY-Z)
Shawn Carter returns the favor Big Boi paid him by appearing on the Kanye West-produced “Poppin' Tags” (from The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse), but once again, Jay fails to convince Andre 3000 to appear on the track. The beat, from Mr. DJ and Big Boi himself, had elements of beauty (mainly the piano), but most of it sounded like a fucking mess, so the rhymes of our host and his guests are drowned out by the noise. Hova's contribution is completely worthless anyway, save for the blatant use of the image of hijacking a plane as a failed metaphor of sorts, which simply sounds socially irresponsible. This was disappointing.

15. INTERLUDE
Much longer than it truly needs to be.

16. RESET (FEAT KHUJO GOODIE & CEE-LO)
Sounds like a leftover from the ATLiens sessions, which is meant as a compliment. “Reset” provides a respite from the high energy of “Flip Flop Rock” and the next actual song, and the idea of starting everything over is always an appealing one in life, especially in the creative field. Cee-Lo manages to impress listeners (as per usual), but in reality, the stars of this track are Big Boi and Khujo.

17. D-BOI (INTERLUDE)
…

18. LAST CALL (FEAT SLIMM CALHOUN, LIL' JON & THE EASTSIDE BOYZ, & MELLO)
It isn't unheard of for Outkast to aim directly for the club audience, but I can only believe that Lil' Jon (and his increasingly useless Eastside Boyz) was included because he was a hot commodity at the time and not because the man has any talent for selling anything besides himself. So, as you can imagine, I found this track to be a hot mess, if for nothing else than because it isn't crunk enough, and why even bother if you're not going to go all the way?

19. BOWTIE (POSTLUDE)
And with this, Big Boi mentally checks out of the studio, only to return for the marketing meetings, with one important exception (which I'll get to in a bit.)

DISC TWO: Andre 3000 - The Love Below



1. THE LOVE BELOW (INTRO)
Unlike Big Boi, Andre wastes no time in informing everybody (especially the critics who love this album) that his half of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below will not be your typical Outkast album, a typical rap album, or even a rap album in general. You have all been warned.

2. LOVE HATER
The intro segues into this jazzy composition, which features Andre singing some goofy lyrics with full conviction (“Everybody needs to quit acting hard and shit / Before you get your ass whupped (I'll slap the fuck out'cha)”? It reads poorly on paper, but he makes it work). I can already imagine fans of Outkast's earlier work turning this shit off and moving on to something else, but I'm going to ask that the two of you stick with me for a bit.

3. GOD (INTERLUDE)
Big Boi and Andre 3000 sure do love their interludes, don't they? This one is kind of interesting, but there is no need to blast it on 'repeat' or anything.

4. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY
This bizarre love song gives me a Prince-lite vibe. It's funky and catchy enough, but there is hardly any substance here. It is kind of funny how Andre toys with the conventions of modern songwriting by blatantly interrupting the chorus toward the halfway point, right before he begins to rap. That's right folks: the rumors of the rapper Andre 3000's demise have been greatly exaggerated. He just doesn't do it all that often.

5. SPREAD
Andre plays the dual roles of rapper and vocalist on here as well. This track, which is all about convincing a potential one night stand to spread her legs, is so audacious and obnoxious that it comes off as kind of entertaining. I wonder if this track was the inspiration for the Ashton Kutcher movie of the same name.

6. WHERE ARE MY PANTIES?
This interlude directly follows the events of the previous track. It would have been more effective had there not been a disembodied voice shouting “Ice Cold!” during Andre's monologue, as that takes you out of the story completely.

7. PROTOTYPE
Oh fuck, Andre fell for his one night stand. That goes against everything a rapper is supposed to stand for! (At least, that's what I have learned from hip hop. How about you?) This is a sweet enough song, though, and Dre does a pretty good job taking us through his character's thought processes. So, um, raise your hands if you miss Big Boi's pimp rhymes yet.

8. SHE LIVES IN MY LAP (FEAT ROASRIO DAWSON)
I actually really like this song, and not just because Rosario Dawson is singing on it, although, admittedly, that does play a large role in my decision making. (I've always wondered why a video was never shot for this track.) And, of course, the thought of Rosario Dawson singing about another woman who “lives in [her] lap” is bound to throw all kinds of possibilities into your mind. Andre clearly knew what he was doing by having her play his role for this track. Also, the music on here sounds good, too.

9. HEY YA!
The other “first” single. Everybody and their grandmother has already heard this song: it's so omnipresent that I'm pretty certain it's been used to advertise baby food, the Slapchop, steel belted radial milkshakes, several Kids Bop CDs, and nacho cheese-flavored dishwashing detergent. Yeah, this Beatles-esque track (yeah, I went there) is fairly ubiquitous. I can't say much about this bit of pop music perfection, except that, and I'm dead serious when I write this, I've heard this about one hundred thousand times, and I'm still not sick of this shit. Yeah, I don't know why, either. (The cover versions, on the other hand...) Side note: I seem to remember Chris Rock recording a song called “Crackers” set to the “Hey Ya!” beat. It was intended for inclusion on his Prince Paul-produced Never Scared album, and a video was even shot for it (I recall seeing still images on MTV's website). However, the song was never released, allegedly due to sample clearance issues. Two things: (1) If he was recording a parody, then sample clearances shouldn't have been an issue, since parodies are protected by copyright law, and (2) Where the hell is the song, Chris?

10. ROSES
LaFace chose this as the “second' single from this double album project because it is the only song on either disc that features both Andre 3000 and Big Boi in substantial roles. The video was quirky: I thought I was the only person who always thought of a West Side Story-esque gang fight taking place on a theater stage whenever this spun in my CD player. The fact that both gangs shout “Speakerboxxx!” and “The Love Below!” at each other inadvertently seemed to say that there shouldn't be any Outkast fans who actually liked both albums, as it was virtually impossible due to their differences: you had to choose one or the other. (I don't remember the rest of the video, so for all I know, the two factions combined to form a giant Supergang and went off to fight crime or some shit.) I never cared for this claptrap, and a clever video doesn't make the song sound any better in my ears, either.

11. GOOD DAY, GOOD SIR (FEAT FONZWORTH BENTLEY)
This interlude is really stupid. How did Fonzworth Bentley manage to find work again?

12. BEHOLD A LADY
I'm sure this song just played out all of its nearly five-minute existence, but I can't remember one fucking thing about it.

13. PINK AND BLUE
The scratching of the Aaliyah sample at the beginning is very jarring. However, the track quickly segues into a minimalist beat that barely registers, but is hypnotic in a way that forces your mind to fill in the blanks with sounds that don't exist in this world. Andre's singing is pretty decent (Prince's influence makes another appearance), as well. This wasn't bad at all, even if it does conjure up ridiculous images of grown men and women acting like infants.

14. LOVE IN WAR
Meh.

15. SHE'S ALIVE
Songs such as this make me hope that I never see the phrases “Outkast” and “concept album” appear in the same sentence ever again. I don't have anything against Andre's instrumental work, but this song is truly boring as shit. This will never become anybody's favorite Outkast song, even if the rest of their catalog was deleted, especially because Dre exorcises his daddy issues on wax.

16. DRACULA'S WEDDING (FEAT KELIS)
The title itself is pretty fucking badass: I'm fairly sure that there's a direct-to-video low-budget shitty horror flick whose working title will be replaced with this one prior to its international release, as it will play better to a European market. (Although vampires are now all the rage in the States, so I'm thinking that I should write a shitty low-budget vampire movie, just so I can make some quick cash.) The vocals of Kelis are predictably goofy (she brags about making good peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at one point), but there isn't anything here worth hearing more than once.

17. MY FAVORITE THINGS
Even though it was never supposed to be this way, “My Favorite Things” (from The Sound Of Music, previously titled The Nun Vs. The Nazis: A Love Story) has been appropriated for the holiday season: as such, it always reminds me of Christmas. Andre's all-instrumental rendition (with its obvious John Coltrane influence), with some hyperaggressive jungle drums laid underneath, manages to do the same: I halfway expected to glance out of my window and see snow falling on cedars. This is a strange song to include on any sort of album, but it worked for me, and chances are good that it will for you, too, unless you're a jazz purist and/or hate Christmas. (Side note: this song is not mentioned in the liner notes of the first pressing of The Love Below.)

18. TAKE OFF YOUR COOL (FEAT NORAH JONES)
The love affair between Norah Jones and Hip Hop (as documented through her collaborations with Q-Tip and The Lonely Island) grew from the roots planted here, an acoustic guitar-driven track on which she barely appears. In fact, this is more of an interlude than an actual song. It isn't bad, though.

19. VIBRATE
This wouldn't have been so awful if it wasn't for the instrumental and its meddling kids. The music on here grates on the ears as if they were made out of extra sharp cheddar cheese and your boys are over to watch the game and somebody requests that you make nachos the old fashioned way instead of using Velveeta or a store brand knock-off. I cannot condone this song's presence on The Love Below.

20. A LIFE IN THE DAY OF BENJAMIN ANDRE (INCOMPLETE)
This is the only track on The Love Below on which Andre 3000 takes off his cool and just straight up raps his ass off, and it's a doozy: Dre uses this song to tell an autobiographical tale about his career up until a certain point (hence the “incomplete” qualifier in the title). The man doesn't even gloss over his relationship with his famous ex, Erykah Badu, which shows that he respects his audience enough to not pretend that she didn't exist. This was an excellent way to end an album that, otherwise, barely qualifies as hip hop.

Shortly after Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won a Grammy for Album Of The Year, LaFace Records re-released the project to capitalize on the good press. My understanding (which isn't firsthand knowledge, as I bought this album the day it dropped – I fucking hate it when record labels reissue shit: they're about as bad as movie studios and their multiple DVD releases. I don't need eight hundred versions of Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead! Oops, I went off topic again) is that the re-release is interesting: Big Boi's album is untouched, but Andre's The Love Below inserts an interlude entitled “The Letter” in between “Dracula's Wedding” and “My Favorite Things” (which now appears in the liner notes), and a longer version of “A Life In The Day Of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)”, which may or not be complete at this point, is also included. If anybody has heard the alternate version of The Love Below, please leave your comments below.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below serves to illustrate the artistic differences between Big Boi and Andre: they are, apparently, so diverse that it's a wonder they ever paired up in the first place. The duo's intent with this project was to subconsciously force their listeners to accept both halves of the whole, to embrace the duality in Outkast and, as a result, in humankind in general. Which might have worked, had there been any sort of cohesion between the two discs. Andre appears to be fully committed to the idea of ending the partnership entirely, as all of his songs focus on subjects other than the average rapper posturing, and his musical influences vary wildly from Outkast's previous efforts. Big Boi, in contrast, seems to be living in denial, wanting to keep the group together for the sake of the kids, as evidenced by the fact that Speakerboxxx tries (and succeeds, in sporadic intervals) to sound like Stankonia II: Electric Boogaloo. As much as I want to believe Big Boi, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below only serves as proof that (at this point in their careers, anyway), the Outkast that I know and love is officially dead in the water.

BUY OR BURN? This exercise in excess only really requires a burn. There are some very good songs on both albums, and had this been compiled onto a single disc, it would have effectively epitomized the concept of opposites attracting (and could have helped protect the environment, as there would have been half as many plastic compact discs produced). However, Outkast (and their record label) seemed to feel that the audience would only be able to recognize the differences between Big Boi and Andre 3000 through the physical act of actually switching discs. Which is both ridiculous and more than a little bit condescending.

BEST TRACKS: “Hey Ya!”; “Unhappy”; “Bowtie”; “Bust”; “Knowing”; “She Lives In My Lap”; “My Favorite Things”; “The Way You Move”; “Ghetto Musick”; “Reset”; “A Life In The Day Of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)”; “Pink and Blue”

-Max




RELATED POSTS:
Catch up on the rest of Outkast's catalog by clicking here.

Max Plays Matchmaker: J-Zone

Twelve artists or groups who should hit up J-Zone for a beat or two on their future projects:

(in no particular order)

Ghostface Killah
Redman
De La Soul
Skillz
Jean Grae
Chino XL
Group Home
Tim Dog
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
Rhymefest
Twista
Asher Roth

HONORABLE MENTION:
Ol' Dirty Bastard (a posthumous remix, maybe?)

Discuss in the comments below. More write-ups coming soon.

-Max

J-Zone - A Job Ain't Nuthin' But Work (September 14, 2004)

Housed behind one of the goofiest and least hardcore hip hop album covers in recent memory is A Job Ain't Nuthin' But Work, rapper/producer/Old Maid Billionaires CEO J-Zone's third full-length album (and fifth project overall).

At this point in his career, J-Zone had already expressed his lack of interest in performing behind the mic, choosing to exorcise his artistic demons behind the boards. Thanks to the cult following he garnered for two EPs and previous two albums, he was able to catch the ears of artists as well-known as Biz Markie, Masta Ace, Tha Alkaholiks, King Tee, Cage, MF Grimm, and R.A. the Rugged Man. After proving his worth with hyper-entertaining sonic backdrops for Al-Shid, Huggy Bear, and himself, Zone showed the hip hop world that he could easily adapt for bigger names without compromising his own integrity.

Perhaps that is the reason he was tapped by The Lonely Island for that "Santana DVX" song featuring E-40.

Anyway, A Job Ain't Nuthin' But Work progresses even further away from Music For Tu Madre than even $ick Of Bein' Rich could ever dream of doing, a fact that J-Zone even admits to on one of the album's songs. He still handles all of the beats (I don't believe he would have it any other way), but for someone who is trying as hard as he can to step away from the microphone, he keeps letting himself get pulled in, ceding only when other rappers such as Devin the Dude, Celph Titled, and Al-Shid pop in to say hello. In fact, in many ways this is the only real solo album that J-Zone has ever recorded.

Which may be why it doesn't entirely work.

1. THE ZONE-ETTES
Zone begins A Job Ain't Nuthin' But Work with a loud burp, and then, as a goof, introduces his backup female R&B group, who sing a ridiculous song that instantly evaporates from your mind. Kudos to Zone for keeping these rap album intros interesting, though.

2. SPOILED ROTTEN (FEAT CELPH TITLED)
Strangely, Zone's second two bars tell the same joke as his first two lined do: obviously, at this point he wasn't really paying attention to lyrics anymore. So it isn't surprising when Celph Titled steps onto the scene and demands all of your attention span. Celph makes this song better than it deserves to be.

3. A FRIENDLY GAME OF BASKETBALL
J-Zone decides to take on other hip hop personalities in a game of b-ball. Some of these lyrics are goofy, as they're in the vein of Biggie's “Dreams” and Curtis Jackson's “How To Rob” in their capacity for name dropping. The beat is pretty weak, which is not very helpful for a track that you'll only listen to once, if that, just for the sheer novelty of it all.

4. EDIT THESE
Not so much a song as an interlude, and not so much an interlude as a studio-constructed experiment. In a “fuck-you” to college radio that doesn't play his shit anyway, Zone kicks a verse with all of the curses backmasked, and then plays the same verse with everything reversed except for the curses. It's amusing, and it is consistent with the spirit of fun that caused me to pay attention to J-Zone in the first place, but it's understandable that most folks will probably skip past this one.

5. GREATER LATER (FEAT DEVIN THE DUDE)
When I first read about this collaboration, I was worried that Devin's stoner flow wouldn't translate well over the frequently manic instrumentals that J-Zone is known for. However, Zone's skills as a producer shine through, adapting to his guest's flow for the greater good. The instrumental itself is reminiscent of his work on his own “38th & 8th” off of $ick Of Bein' Rich, except that this is much deeper: Devin and Zone live their crappy day-to-day while having a cautiously optimistic outlook for the future. This was really fucking good, especially Devin, who remains truly calm even as all of the bad shit piles up around his verse.

6. XACTLY
Zone's diatribe against guys who practice poor hygiene (and women with “foul clits”, by far the most vulgar and graphic description of a certain type of woman that I have heard...in the past hour) plays more as an interlude than anything that should be classified as a full-length song. In the past, Zone probably could have made this subject matter kind of funny, but this utterly humorless track, which barely masks the contempt he has for his marks, isn't worth listening to.

7. KILL PRETTY
This was a step in the right direction. Zone's self-deprecating style makes a triumphant return, even though he is more unabashedly cocky than ever before: having four prior albums under your belt can do that to a person. I found the beat kind of annoying, especially as the melody constantly climbs up and down the scale, but the lyrics on here were funny enough.

8. BALDYLOCKS
Even after reading the title and taking a wild stab in the dark as to what the song would be about (I was right, by the way), I still didn't see the Onyx reference coming. That gag lifted this trite song to another level that isn't fully deserved, as this track is more mean-spirited than amusing.

9. CRUTCHES
A skit that leads directly into...

10. DISCO HO (FEAT DICK $TALLION)
I find songs that describe the events of a preceding skit to be redundant as best, and fucking useless at worst, and I'm sure a lot of you do, too. Which is why I found it funny during the “Crutches” skit that J-Zone actually told his friend Dick $tallion that he would record a song that explains why he was walking on crutches, leading us to “Disco Ho”. The result is one of the bounciest tracks in Zone's catalog, one that's funny as shit (especially when even he sounds surprised that he's dancing to a Ja Rule song). Dick $tallion's chorus works for the song's needs, but is forgettable otherwise.

11. FLIGHT 212
Skit...

12. BULLSHIT CITY
J-Zone explores his love/hate relationship with his home city. Who says that all New York rappers have to love New York? The beat is less aggressive than I would have expected, but the track is still alright; it isn't anything special, even though I found the line about there being “more rappers than fans” in NYC pretty fucking funny. Probably close to the truth, too, given the sheer number of unknown rappers that populate some of your favorite blogs.

13. HEAVY METAL (FEAT AL-SHID)
Zone's longtime right hand man Al-Shid delivers yet another impressive performance: I guarantee that, should these two hook up for an entire album, it would be among the most entertaining of whatever year it comes out. The beat is decent, but the true draw here is the lyrics: once Shid spits that he'll “orchestrate an ass-whupping / now that's music to my ears”, he'll win over the folks that have never paid attention to any other J-Zone write-up.

14. OOPS! (I'M SORRY, BITCH)
A goofy short track that consists of J-Zone apologizing to the many folks that he has wronged. Could have fit in on Pimps Don't Pay Taxes, had it not been for the the fact that it most certainly could not have.

15. SLEAZY LISTENING
For this interlude, Zone plays an instrumental that he claims is perfect for low-budget porn directors to use during a sex scene. Not surprisingly, this is far dirtier than anything that has ever appeared on any J-Zone album. Too bad the sound bites are unsettling and unsexy, but at least they draw attention away from the beat, which is pretty boring; I don't think anybody will be fucking to this interlude for quite a while.

16. LIGHTWEIGHT
J-Zone passes off an audition tape to become the fourth member of Tha Alkaholiks as an actual song, describing a night of getting shitfaced that could have also led into the events of “Disco Ho”: I guess that all of his nights out involve drinking and then doing something that he regrets later, usually resulting in some sort of physical pain and/or hospital stay. The beat is weak, but Zone's attention to detail still makes this track fairly entertaining, if a bit terrifying, especially if you truly are a lightweight in the drinking department. It's called building up a tolerance, Zone.

17. THE ZONE REPORT
Had it not been for the fact that Zone recorded this track long before I started HHID, I would swear that he composed this as a response to my write-ups. J-Zone's autobiographical drive through the neighborhood of his career is clear, concise, and to the point, addressing criticisms from critics (his lyrical content has regressed, his songs aren't as funny anymore) and his own hand (he hates his own production on Pimps Don't Pay Taxes: he feels it's the weakest of the bunch, but I would have to disagree) with honest candor. I wish that he would actually address whatever the fuck happened to Huggy Bear, but whatever. This shit was both nice and unexpected.

18. OLD MAID THEME / BISCUITS II
“Old Maid Theme” contains a dope instrumental that sounds like the score to a heist scene for a flick that has yet to be filmed: perhaps that was the inspiration for his To Love A Hooker project, the soundtrack to a film that doesn't exist. “Biscuits II” is just an outro, one where Zone thanks those who helped him with his album (he mentions that all of his big-name guests bailed on him except for Devin the Dude – have to say, I'm wondering who was scheduled to originally appear) and dismisses everyone else.

FINAL THOUGHTS: By recording and releasing “The Zone Report”, J-Zone may have actually successfully diffused any criticism of his own albums, but it still needs to be said that A Job Ain't Nuthin' But Work will only piss off his biggest fans, especially those who have followed him for his entire career. The project doesn't fail because of the artist's regression or progression or however you want to interpret his lyrics: instead, it fails because J-Zone doesn't sound inspired with most of the beats and almost all of the lyrics. His guests (the few who appear, anyway) easily overshadow him without even really trying, but once again, Zone wouldn't have it any other way. A Job Ain't Nuthin' But Work comes across as an album that Zone's label forced him to record, but that isn't even true, because Zone owns his own fucking label, so I can't understand how this came out so weak. However, the fact of the matter is that this is J-Zone's worst album.

BUY OR BURN? Burn this one. This project pales in comparison to the preceding four albums, even $ick Of Bein' Rich, which had its own problems. Check for the songs listed below and be on your merry way.

BEST TRACKS: “Greater Later”; “The Zone Report”; “Heavy Metal”

-Max

RELATED POSTS:
Catch up on the rest of J-Zone's catalog by clicking here.

Tha Dogg Pound - Dogg Food (October 31, 1995)

In the short time that it was relevant, Death Row Records managed to release some bonafide classic records under the guidance of CEO Marion "Suge" Knight. Hip hop purists will, of course, lean toward Dr. Dre's The Chronic, one of the most influential albums of any genre, and Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle, the zenith of solo debut albums, one which aspiring rappers all still strive to be. Annoying bandwagon jumpers who are out of touch with reality will name 2Pac's All Eyez On Me without hesitation: conspiracy theorists may go with Pac's alter-ego Makaveli and his The Don Killuminati: The 7-Day Theory for the replay value alone. Shit, even folks that dig hip hop soundtracks will name Death Row's Above The Rim and Murder Was The Case discs as examples that set new rules in quality control for projects that were usually seen as quick cash-grabs by other record labels and film studios.

I submit another Death Row project that not many people seem to be aware of today: Tha Dogg Pound's debut LP, Dogg Food.

Now, I realize that it isn't as though Dat N---a Daz and Kurupt the Kingpin are unheralded, starving artists: Dogg Food was released to mild critical acclaim and pretty good sales. But it's hard to be seen when you're in the shadow of the label's boss: at this point, Suge Knight had fully stepped out from behind his desk and was about to become as ubiquitous as Sean "Puffy" Combs. The project's perceived violent content even caused some mild controversy prior to its release, causing the label to have to hold the disc for three to four months, hence the Halloween release date. But my observation is that Dogg Food is all but virtually ignored whenever discussions abound regarding gangsta rap, which is a fucking shame.

Dogg Food was recorded under the guiding hand of Dr. Dre, if not by him directly: the man himself did not produce anything on the entire record, leaving Daz Dillinger to prove his mettle behind the boards, but he mixed the entire project down, making this the most spit-polished gangsta rap since his own record. Daz and Kurupt, under the wing of Snoop Doggy Dogg, were encouraged to follow in their leader's footsteps with California laid-back tales of violence, debauchery, and living a life that is actually worth living.

Not that Daz and Kurupt are motivational speakers or anything: lest we forget, they are gangsta rappers under the umbrella of one of the most successful gangsta rap labels in history. So while there are occasional positive messages sprinkled throughout, the majority of Dogg Food is about how Kurupt is a much better rapper than you, how Daz can fuck you up as needed, and how they will leave the house party with your girlfriend after smoking several bowls and pistol-whipping your ass in the driveway, leaving you laying amongst the oil stains and the urine that will inevitably puddle around you as the drunken melee continues.

Well, at least the music behind the lyrics will put you in a great mood.

1. INTRO (FEAT RICKY HARRIS)
Short and sweet.

2. DOGG POUND GANGSTAZ
On a lesser rap album, this introductory track would have been combined with the actual rap album intro. Over a banging Daz Dillinger instrumental, Kurupt tears shit the fuck up, while his rhyme partner manages to keep both himself and the listeners entertained. The WBALLS skit at the end is offensive, homophobic, and ridiculous all at once, which is quite a feat.

3. RESPECT (FEAT NANCI FLETCHER, BIG PIMPIN' DELEMOND, & PRINCE ITAL JOE)
Although he didn't produce any of the songs on Dogg Food, Dr. Dre introduces this track as a show of good faith. Daz's G-Funk hits all the right notes, and both Kurupt and Daz sound pretty fucking fantastic over this undeniably West Coast creation. The song runs on much longer than it absolutely needs to, though: if Kurupt can, as he claims, “fuck your bitch after [he kicks] just one line”, then shouldn't this have ended over five minutes ago?

4. NEW YORK, NEW YORK (FEAT SNOOP DOGGY DOGG)
Ah yes, the infamous East Coast dis track. Except that this song doesn't disrespect New York in the least fucking bit. Kurupt simply rhymes his ass off (at one point he even dictates that he will “vocally void your whole molecular structure”, which just sounds cool) in one of the finest performances he has ever committed to wax, while Snoop handles chorus duties and Dat N---a Daz runs off to get a taco from the truck in the parking lot across the street, as DJ Pooh handles the production. The video, on the other hand, is a bit iffy with the crew's intentions, as it features Snoop kicking New York skyscrapers to the ground, but that was more of a proclamation of hip hop dominance at the time, not so much a “fuck every rapper in NYC” statement, although other rappers obviously took it to that other level. (They filmed a lot of the clip in Times Square: The Notorious B.I.G. infamously told his fans to run up on the production crew while giving an interview on the radio.) Sadly, this song still played a vital role in the East Coast/West Coast feud that left two rappers dead. When taken as the piece of entertainment it was supposed to be, though, this is still pretty good today.

5. SMOOTH (FEAT SNOOP DOGGY DOGG, RICKY HARRIS, VAL YOUNG, & KEVIN “SLO JAMMIN'” JAMES)
I have my concerns regarding Kurupt's placement in the fabled hip hop supergroup The Four Horsemen (I say fabled because they have yet to release an official album together), because Killah Priest, Canibus, and Ras Kass maintain a lyrical nutrition plan that Kurupt always seems to ignore entirely. When you hear him over this underrated DJ Pooh instrumental gem, though, you totally get it: Kurupt sounds fucking awesome on this shit. Snoop even sounds excited to be in the same recording studio as his young protegees. This song is the balls. Hard to ignore the fact that this is the second track in a row on which Daz contributed almost nothing, though.

6. CYCO-LIC-NO (FEAT SNOOP DOGGY DOGG & MR. MALIK)
We all knew the honeymoon wasn't going to last forever; I'm just surprised that we've gone through four really fucking good tracks before the first slip-up. This song, with a Snoop-performed hook that was sort of inspired by some of Dr. Dre's lines on N.W.A.'s “Parental Discretion Iz Advised”, has a decent enough instrumental to work with, but Daz and Mr. Malik (formerly of Illegal, famous for appearing on both Snoop's “Pump Pump” and Warren G.'s “What's Next”, on which Warren proved that he is incapable of hiring a spellchecker) come through with only average verses, and Kurupt, who may have been a bit winded by his previous performances, turns in a pedestrian effort. Oh well, they can't all be winners.

7. RIDIN', SLIPPIN', AND SLIDIN' (FEAT SO 'SENTRAL & KEVIN VERNADO)
This was never one of my favorite Dogg Pound tracks: back in the day, I was prone skipping ahead two tracks to “Let's Play House” (more on that later). I still don't love this, but in listening to Dogg Food today, nearly fifteen years removed from its original release date, I concede that this shit is laid back to the fullest. Daz, surprisingly, does a better job with this than Kurupt the Kingpin (the alias I will always prefer over the insipid name Kurupt Young Gotti), but that may only be due to the fact that Daz has more lines than his partner.

8. BIG PIMPIN' 2 (FEAT BIG PIMPIN' DELEMOND)
A sequel to a Dogg Pound track from the Above The Rim soundtrack, utilizing the same instrumental (which still rocks), but this time around only featuring Big Pimpin' Delemond and nobody else. This is just a glorified interlude that isn't labeled as such, and you won't need to hear it more than the once, but the music laid underneath just kicks ass.

9. LET'S PLAY HOUSE (FEAT MICHEL'LE & NATE DOGG)
The first video from Dogg Food (but not the first single; at least, around my way, “Respect” garnered radio airplay first), which I remember debuting on MTV late on a Wednesday or Thursday night. I also remember being excited, because this meant that Dogg Food was an actual album that would be released to stores. (Back then, I was naive enough to think that every song that a video was shot for would eventually make it onto an album of some sort. Boy, was I wrong.) Because of the memories of the discovery of the video, I never seemed to formulate an opinion on this actual song back then. This Death Row union (Tha Dogg Pound front and center, Snoop hovering in the background, Dr. Dre introducing everything (again), Dre's baby mama Michel'le and Nate Dogg crooning the hook) sounds better than most radio piffle today, and I remember the video being packed full of attractive women, but the song itself isn't very good. But I imagine both Daz and Kurupt knew this at the time.

10. I DON'T LIKE TO DREAM ABOUT GETTIN' PAID (FEAT NATE DOGG)
Being signed to Death Row Records meant that you got first dibs on a Nate Dogg chorus, well before the rest of the industry realized that he was terrific at them. Daz and Kurupt attempt a serious track, tackling the topic of getting paid legally versus illegally, and while the end result sounds alright, I cannot remember any of it.

11. DO WHAT I FEEL (FEAT THE LADY OF RAGE)
The radio stations around my way actually played this album track (albeit in a heavily censored form) often, a testament to how popular Death Row Records was back in 1995. Kurupt, Daz, and The Lady of Rage, who was probably just thankful that she had nothing to do with “Let's Play House”, all hold a lyrical clinic over a simple instrumental that keeps shit moving. And yes, I said “lyrical clinic”: even Daz sounds like one of the best rappers ever on this barely-concealed freestyle session. Kurupt quickly justifies his solo career with his two verses, and Rage proves that there was a reason that Dr. Dre sought her out for the label.

12. IF WE ALL FUC (FEAT SNOOP DOGGY DOGG)
I've always wondered if Rage was happy that her verse on “Do What I Feel” led directly into a goofy interlude-slash-song that focuses solely on fucking random promiscuous women in group-sex situations. This isn't the best track in the world (hell, this isn't even the best track written about fucking random promiscuous women in group-sex situations), but Daz checks in with a free-form style behind the boards, and the interplay between Snoop, Daz. And Kurupt is entertaining, even if half of the world's population will be incredibly offended by the song. I could have done without the visual of Snoop actually having sex at the end of the track, leading into...

13. SOME BOMB AZZ PUSSY (FEAT SNOOP DOGGY DOGG, JOE COOL, & BIG C-STYLE)
...one of the goofiest moments ever captured on compact disc: Snoop faking an orgasm. (I have to give him credit for committing to the bit, though.) True story: I once dubbed a copy of Dogg Food onto cassette tape for my younger brother, and at the behest of my parents, I left off the two song “sex suite” better known as “If We All Fuc” and “Some Bomb Azz Pussy”, and I always felt bad about it, not because of the censorship (he was only eleven at the time, he probably didn't really need to hear these songs), but because “Some Bomb Azz Pussy” contains what will ultimately become Dat N---a Daz's finest instrumental ever, as it lends a hallucinatory vibe to the the rote concept of fucking on a gangsta rap record. No, seriously: the beat is that good. The lyrics are all terrible: no, I have never wanted to scream “Dogg Pound” after fucking, and I would bet money that none of you two have, either. But the beat trumps everything else on here, hands down.

14. A DOGG'Z DAY AFTERNOON (FEAT NATE DOGG)
Had “Dogg Pound Gangstas” never been recorded, this would have been a perfect replacement as the introductory track. This track, with a title hijacked from Dog Day Afternoon, an Al Pacino flick that's really fucking good, consists of straight spittin', with Kurupt ruling the roost once again, while Daz resorts to diversionary tactics such as sing-songy lyrics and misdirection, but they work together very well. That's kind of the story behind the entirety of Dogg Food, if you think about it.

15. REALITY (FEAT TRAY DEEE)
Over a beat that comes across as a West Coast approximation of what they thought East Coast rappers should be rhyming over, Daz and Kurupt rip shit, and then graciously pass the mic to Tray Deee, one of Snoop's boys who, sadly, had a falling out with him recently. But when Dogg Food was released, it was all love, and Tray kicks an impressive-as-hell verse. They let the instrumental run on well after they've all left the booth, though, which makes this still-really-good track longer than it needs to be.

16. ONE BY ONE
This was boring as shit. That's all I got.

17. SOOO MUCH STYLE
Eschewing the example provided by Dre and Snoop (ending their albums with a harsh, banging beat, such as “Bitches Ain't Shit” and “Pump Pump”, respectively), Tha Dogg Pound stitch up a smooth instrumental to cap off the evening. In the span of this one track, Dat N---a Daz and Kurupt the Kingpin manage to evoke the feel of a time when Death Row Records was just the hottest hip hop record label out, not one that was in danger of imploding because of the interference of the CEO: in hearing this today, I almost wish that the label didn't disband, even though I admit that would be a fucked-up way of treating the original lineup of artists. Runs a bit too long, but this was still an excellent way to end things.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Tha Dogg Pound's Dogg Food is an unheralded gem, buried in a discarded Converse shoebox in the backyard of the West Coast. Since labelmates Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg were fielding all of the attention, Dat N---a Daz and Kurupt the Kingpin weren't pressured into keeping up with the Joneses, and as a result, they did so anyway. Unencumbered by Dre's perfectionist ways, Daz handles the majority of the production with a steady hand, bringing listeners his interpretation of G-Funk, one which fits Tha Dogg Pound like a glove, specifically Kurupt, who lyrically shines on Dogg Food like the reflective surface on the mirror that you snort your lines off of. Listening to Dogg Food will allow you to revisit a simpler time in hip hop, before two of the major players were murdered and everything went to hell in a handbasket (whatever the hell that expression means). It isn't a perfect album, and a few of the tracks (especially the two-song “sex suite”) are incredibly difficult to listen to with a straight face, but, at least for this one album, Tha Dogg Pound got it right.

BUY OR BURN? If you're a fan of gangsta rap that actually contains a heavy dose of lyricism, then you should buy this shit. If you're a hip hop historian tracing the careers of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and their extended family, then you should buy this shit. If you're at the grocery store picking up some milk and tampons, then you should buy this shit.

BEST TRACKS: “Reality”; “Dogg Pound Gangstaz”; “New York, New York”; “Smooth”; “Respect”; “Do What I Feel”; “Sooo Much Style”; “A Dogg'z Day Afternoon”; “Some Bomb Azz Pussy” (instrumental only, let's be honest)

-Max

Reader Review: eMC - The Show (March 25, 2008)

(Today's Reader Review is brought to you by Dag Diligent, who previously wrote about KRS-One's I Got Next. He tackles eMC's The Show for your reading pleasure. I'm just glad someone got to this one, because things kept getting in the way of me writing it up myself. Be sure to leave your comments below.)

Believe it or not, Masta Ace is considered by some to be a hip-hop legend. And while I loved Sittin' On Chrome when it came out in 1995, by 1996 I had completely lost interest in Ace and his music (and I thought everyone else had, too). It turns out he has been busy forming connections in the industry, gaining a strong underground following, and dropping critically acclaimed albums (Disposable Arts in 2001, and A Long Hot Summer in 2004). Before it even came out, The Show, by rap supergroup eMC, was hailed by hip hop heads as one of the greatest albums of all time. (They also used the phrases “album of the year” and “automatic purchase”.) Everyone expected absolute brilliance from Masta Ace and his Wisconsin protégé Strickland, especially since they were being joined by Lyricist Lounge veterans Wordsworth and Punchline.

The music itself had attracted positive attention while eMC was touring: it walked the line between conscious music and raw hip-hop, which was a good place to be. eMC delivered smart, positive, and uplifting lyrics, which were a nice contrast to the garbage played on the radio. They even secured solid production from big names like 9th Wonder, Ayatollah, and Nicolay. When the The Show was finally released (after leaking to the Interweb a couple of months ahead of schedule), many people called it one of the best albums of 2008, and backed up that statement by pointing out the skilled production and intelligent lyrics by some of the best emcees working today. I was excited to hear it.

Now, I’m going to go ahead and ruin the end of this review: I didn’t like this album. I really wanted to, but I just couldn’t. At first I thought my expectations were too high, so I shelved this review for a few weeks and returned to the material with a fresh mindset – and I still didn’t like it. I appreciate the lyrical skill: these boys are dope, most of the beats sound like vintage DJ Premier (which definitely isn't a bad thing), and it is clearly intended as real hip hop. But something is missing, because the music is just not engaging. But where did they go wrong?

Well, The Show is a concept album, and I have never been a fan of concept albums in hip-hop. The project describes a day in the life of eMC before one of their live shows, which means there are a lot of skits. I'll be straight up: the skits are terrible and don't enhance the album at all. In general, the songs don't help the story either, which makes the skits even more worthless. The bottom line is that the story being told by the skits is not very good. I would not even be remotely interested in the skits if they were presented without the music in between them, which is the mark of a bad story.

But what about the music?

1. WHO WE BE
The first sounds on the album come from an overproduced piano, which made me roll my eyes so hard that my head tilted back. Thankfully, after a few notes the piano is joined by a raw guitar sound which kept me from pushing the 'skip' button. But I’m tempted soon enough when I hear the first lyrics on the album, which come from what turns out to be the chorus: “What’s up to everyone that’s in the place to be? / I’m glad we could come together we’re making history / They won’t see this again for half a century / I’m telling you who we be: eMC” Fuck! You guys are all talented and this is the best chorus you could come up with? Unfortunately, this song starts a trend of wack choruses that continues all the way throughout The Show. Actually this song starts two other trends as well: overproduced syrupy smooth beats, and smart lyrics (not on the hooks, obviously). All four emcees introduce themselves and spit cleverly, with Wordsworth standing out on the first verse. But for everything that eMC does well in this song, they mess it up with something weak: the rugged beat is overcome by the lame piano, the solid rhymes are canceled out by a chorus that could have been written by an 8th grader, and the strong mic-handling of the artists involved are rendered obsolete by an embarrassing synthesizer solo. Honestly, if you were driving with someone you didn’t really know, and this keyboard solo came on, you would be ashamed.

2. THE AIRPORT (SKIT)
Oh my, the first skit. This one (actually, all of them) feature really bad voice acting and miserable jokes. Several of the skits (such as this one) are boring phone messages, while some are conversations that will just leave you depressed. While I'm glad they didn't attach the skits to the start of the songs, they still manage to drag the album down. If you want to skip the skits but still get the general idea of what's going on with the story, just listen to the song "The Show", as it describes most of the same events.

3. LEAK IT OUT
The Show was leaked online a full two months before it was officially released. Soon after the leak, Masta Ace made an official video asking fans to still buy the album. I wonder if this song was added after the album was leaked, or if was always on the track list? While it smells like a marketing ploy, in the end it doesn’t matter, because this track is great. It has a quick jump off and delivers a solid beat (which sounds like some old Gang Starr) that is upbeat and complements the emcees well. The hook is a collection of samples, which is usually something I like, but for some reason this one didn’t work out so well for me. The samples sound silly but still work well enough to keep the track moving.

4. THE CHECK IN (SKIT)
Overproduced and just not funny.

5. TRAFFIC (FEAT LITTLE BROTHER)
A smooth track that kind of has that summer jam feel, sort of like the Dove Shack's “Summertime in the LBC”, except without the singing. There are a lot of references to using cell phones, which really sounds out of date, so maybe this song was written in 1997. Otherwise, not bad.

6. SAY NOW
Contains successful mic handling all around. Wordsworth starts things out strong, Strick kills it, Punch holds his own, and Ace ends things with a couple of the best lines: "spit like we at the dentist" & "let's hold each other down like we tryin’ to drown". Nice.

7. THE MESSAGE (SKIT)
...

8. DON'T GIVE UP ON US (FEAT ADI OF GROWING NATION)
Do you like R&B? Have you ever had a hard time getting along with your lady? Then this song is perfect for you, I...ah, fuck it. I can't write about this sentimental shit. Definitely for the ladies. Skip.

9. GIT SUM (FEAT SEAN PRICE)
The guest appearance of Sean Price seems to infuse some energy into the track; The Show might have entered classic territory had it maintained the pace of this song. Sean Price doesn’t rise above his hosts here, but none of them do anything particularly great. The rugged beat matches the crew's flow much better than the smooth shit from the previous track. But I'm not saying the beat is any good: it's definitely hard, but a bit too busy. I don't think I'll be uploading it anytime soon, especially with the "eMC orchestra" that fades in and out from side to side, as if my nephew was handling the production.

10. WE ALRIGHT (FEAT STRICKIE LOVE)
I got nervous as soon as I saw "Featuring Strickie Love" after the title, and I don’t even know who that is. I started imagining a smooth and jazzy beat with some R&B singin’ and spittin’ geared for the ladies. Guess what: I was right. Actually, it's worse. The lyrics are corny, talking about people finishing school and getting a pay raise. "When the time come you gonna shine so bright, let them see your light”? Seriously? Come on, eMC. Skip. If you want to hear a good song about the struggles of everyday life (bills, jobs, etc.) check for “Life is a Movie” by Gza/Genius and The Rza.

11. THE INTERVIEW (SKIT)
...

12. EMC (WHAT IT STAND FOR)
Nicolay produces what is easily the best song on the album. The four talented emcees take turns tearing up a solid beat.

13. THE ANGRY MERCH GUY (SKIT)
...

14. THE GRUDGE
The beat is a little overpowering, with a chunky guitar and the horror movie strings. It’s almost like they were going for a rugged sound, but there are two problems: the beat is wack, and the hook is layered with that Ol' Dirty Bastard throat sound (you know what I'm talking about), which was done once (and done well) and should never be repeated. The things eMC seem to have grudges against are realistic, but somewhat light to make a rugged song about: childhood difficulties, high school girlfriends, and thieving uncles. Maybe I’m not in the demographic that this song is aimed at (pre-teens who appreciate old-school?), but I thought it lacked in the creativity department. Skip.

15. MAKE IT BETTER
Things start off well with a nice bell-based loop and a hard beat, then a couple of terrible keyboards kick in, one set to “strings” and the other to “funk”. And fuck, the hook is awful. “We can make it better if we put our heads together / We can make it better if we try to come together”. Ugh. The lyrics are on point, and deep as one would expect, but it doesn’t matter. Even if Nas spit his best on this shit, the beat and hook would make it sound wack. Skip.

16. THE LOBBY (SKIT)
...

17. WINDS OF CHANGE
This song reminded me of the Outkast album ATLiens, which was practically dedicated to the abstract concept of change, and tackled it in a creative manner. “Winds of Change” never reaches that level artistically, but it does a good job for what it is. This is a slower song, and really showcases the skills of the emcees. But the hook: “the more things change the more they stay the same.” Really? I do have one other minor complaint: the tone of the vocal track doesn’t match the instrumental track. It makes the song sound like it was made in the basement by an inexperienced producer…or my uncle. Hey Uncle Larry, stop producing for eMC and come to dinner!

18. THE SHOW (FEAT LADYBUG MECCA)
I don’t know what a Ladybug Mecca is (maybe some kind of computer?), but she ruined the chorus. (Most of you may know her from Digable Planets, but I choose to remember her as an animated member of the Dino 5, alongside, oddly, Wordsworth of eMC.) Besides that, eMC holds it down on this track. The lyrics tell a similar story to some of the skits and run through pre-show operations for the crew, listing off times and activities, with quick trade-offs over a frantic beat. The lyrics are amazing and what you would expect from such a talented bunch. The song ends with the actual live show starting. Pretty good.

19. THE BACKSTAGE (SKIT)
...

20. BORROW U (FEAT STRICKIE LOVE)
Something else for the ladies (I think). Another sugary beat with some raw overtones. Nothing I would listen to by choice. In fact, I had trouble sitting through the whole thing. The lyrics are strong, and the production is solid, but the beat is a little amateur. It’s just not my thing. The chorus is performed in a fake Nate Dogg-esque manner and sounds terrible.

21. ONCE MORE
Another Premier rehash, with a chorus that fits well with the laid back vibe of the song (think “Metropolis Gold” by All City, if you’ve ever heard it). I could jam to this if I was cooling out, but only under very specific circumstances (like if I was falling asleep or trying to do something else). Otherwise I would probably skip it. Also, I don't know if Stricklin thought his verse through: "I got more game then most of these rappers that's out / half the time I don't even know what they rappin’ about / But when I find out they might just get smacked in the mouth." So, if he hears a line in a rap, doesn’t understand it, then asks his dad on his way home, he's going to get mad and want to fight?

22. U LET ME GROW
A song dedicated to all the moms out there...well, more like Ace's mom specifically. I don’t have anything against songs about moms (2Pac did a good one), but this one is lacking. The intro to the song basically tells the same story twice, which is a little weird, and it goes downhill from there. Another candy beat, only this one has some throwaway Kanye West samples from 2003. I can't help but feel like I've heard this song a hundred times before; it’s just stale. Even four strong emcees can’t make it fresh.

23. FEEL IT (FEAT MONEY HARM OF PRODUCT G&B)
MORE R&B! This sounds like a Sunz of Man beat (with some Sunz of Man sounding lyrics to boot), but it's basically more of the same for eMC. But for some reason, I like this one. The lyrics stick to family man talk, but the beat is strong enough to keep it moving. The chorus is just as corny as the other songs, but it sounds okay within the context here. If the whole album had the musical quality of this one (or maybe the energy), I think it would have been a lot better. Before you get too comfortable, though, they end the song with a surprise skit, also known as a gut punch, because it’s another phone message and leaves you feeling like your going to vomit.

The Show also contains the following bonus track.

24. UNTITLED BONUS TRACK
I don't know who would consider this a bonus. It's a behind-the-scenes look at how they put the skits together over a beat. Not quite a track, not quite a skit, not quite worth listening to.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I found The Show frustrating because I wanted it to be more than it was. For the most part, everything that eMC did sounded out of date: there were no new ideas, the beats were a bit stale and mostly reminded me of other, better work, and no envelope was pushed. The album was just safe. While the lyrics from Masta Ace, Wordsworth, Punchline, and Stricklin are better than a lot of the stuff out there, good lyrics don’t make for a good album. This album is missing soul; these four talented emcees are just going through the motions. Everyone does their job and delivers solid rhymes and passable beats, but nothing more. You won’t be bumping this in your car because it’s just not hard enough. Likewise, you probably won’t be or jamming to it on headphones for long, unless you really like the lyrics, but even still, the lack of energy will probably hold you back. Plus, hip hop heads who appreciate sharp lyrics will probably find some of the hyperbole corny. So that leaves using this as background music while you’re doing something else, which it is perfect for.

BUY OR BURN: I know I’m in the minority on this one, but I’m going against the grain and recommend that you burn this album. None of the songs on here made it onto my iPod. I think a lot of people forced themselves to like this album because of what it should have been. It’s difficult for anyone to admit that their expectations were not met. Go ahead and set fire to the comments.

BEST TRACKS: "Say Now", "Leak it Out", "eMC (What It Stand For)", “The Show”

– Dag Diligent

(Agree? Disagree? Want to throw a brick at your computer screen? Leave some comments below instead: it's healthier, and you won't have to buy a new monitor.)

My Gut Reaction: Prop Dylan - Boombox of Lost and Found (2009)

Anybody that follows Hip Hop Isn't Dead on Twitter may have noticed that, on one of my more-sporadic-than-I-would-like tweets, I mentioned that my New Year's resolution for the blog was to do a better job with sorting through what was in my inbox. The first recipient of my e-mail cleansing is this man on the right, Prop Dylan, owner of one of the best rap names I've heard all year. Hopefully this will encourage other new and lesser-known artists to try to use HHID as a promotional stop, which I will be happy to oblige with if the music is any fucking good.

Prop Dylan is a Swedish artist who has actually been in the game since 1999, so he would hardly qualify as "new", but I had never heard of him before his e-mail, and chances are that you two hadn't, either. In his decade-plus, he's managed to work alongside such blogger favorites as Termanology, Masta Ace, and Trife da God (Theodore Unit), opened up for the likes of Talib Kweli and J-Live, and released two albums and an EP, all of which have earned him a following in his home country.

His most recent release, Boombox of Lost and Found, is a free mixtape that plays like an album: it has no intro, contains zero skits, and, as far as I can tell, none of the instrumentals (mostly provided by frequent collaborator Logophobia, although DJ Connect, Bob Air, C.H., Sakke Aalto, and ProAktive Beats all lend a hand as well) are recycled from the hits of bigger artists. Instead, Prop Dylan fills the free project with fourteen actual songs, in an effort to win over hip hop fans worldwide.

Which could very well happen.

1. FLYING PENGUINS
Prop Dylan starts Boombox of Lost and Found off with a celebratory introductory track, one with a beat that sounds familiar, but I cannot place the sample right now: I've officially listened to waaaay too many rap songs at this point. I'm still not sure what is so threatening about the imagery of a flying penguin (I keep picturing a character from the Super Mario Bros. universe that may or may not exist), but Prop's lyrical flow is engaging enough, and he sounds like a veteran artist with several hits under his belt, which is nice.

2. WHAT GOES UP
This song just didn't work for me. The drums on here sound pretty good, and your head may, in fact, nod, but the rest of the instrumental only sounded okay, and Prop's dismissal of those who didn't support him while he was off following his dreams (these type of tracks can fill their own sub-genre of hip hop: I suppose people really don't expect much from those that proclaim that they want to rhyme for a living) hits the same points as everyone else who has complained about the same in song.

3. MARTYRS
The pseudo-reggae beat masks a dark theme within its happy-go-lucky song structure, as do a lot of pseudo-reggae beats. The sound is clean, and Prop sounds more like the fully formed guy from “Flying Penguin” and not the guy from “What Goes Up”, but I still didn't care for this one. I'll give you a hint: it was the hook that killed it for me. Not much of a surprise, I know.

4. RADIOHEAD
Prop Dylan twists the average underground rapper's hatred toward the fake-ass “artists” who populate radio airwaves into a diatribe as to how these same guys are destroying our chosen genre. It's a valid complaint, and he expresses it well. The hook is detrimental to the song overall, though: for some reason, the combination of the chorus and the instrumental reminded me of some of Eminem's self-produced piffle, although I will quickly note that this track is much better than that terrible comparison. Alas, no Radiohead references appear, but what can you do?

5. 4 SEASONS
Meh.

6. BIG HIPHOP
The boom-bap on here sounds like a more-than-decent impersonation of DJ Premier; in fact, the “hook” is also made up of sampled sound bites a la Primo. This isn't just a serviceable imitation, though: Sakke Aalto's beat could actually be mistaken for one of those instrumentals that Chris Martin gives to underground rappers in New York at bargain-basement rates. For his part, Prop's rhymes are also engaging: when put to this beat, there is no way they could fail. This shit was pretty nice.

7. RAW RAP
Prop rhymes his ass off over a simple buzz of a beat. The scratching (and boardwork)from DJ Connect was a nice touch, but this track left me feeling a bit empty. It just felt like it was missing something: it didn't hit me as hard as I had hoped, given the song's title.

8. PHOENIX BIRD
The title is kind of redundant, and the song contains R&B vocal samples that actually get in the way, but other than that, the instrumental isn't bad. Lyrically, Prop Dylan dons his best Talib Kweli impression, and it doesn't suit him, so this was disappointing. Then again, I think Cannibal Ox own the hip hop patent with their own “Scream Phoenix”, so...

9. PRIME
C.H.'s beat sounds like something Ghostface Killah would build a fucking six bedroom/four bath home in, and Prop does pretty good for himself as well. In fact, a remix featuring Ghost may be in order. I'm just saying, Prop.

10. I SEE THE LIGHT
The typical “self-aware rapper” track. You know, the one where the artist talks about following his dreams, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst, blessed (cursed?) with the knowledge that it is entirely possible that he may not hit it big. Prop seems to be ready for either outcome, with a soulful beat that goes down easily.

11. LIVE IT UP
Maybe it's the beat, which sounds like it could have come from Just Blaze's third cousin twice removed on his mother's side, but Prop comes across as a cross between Joell Ortiz and Freeway. I like both of those guys, so that combination works for me. For a song called “Live It Up”, I was expecting the rampant optimism to be so overwhelming that it would push me out of the window, and that didn't quite happen, but this still wasn't that bad.

12. STRESS (FEAT PROFESSOR P)
This was dope as fuck. ProAktive Beats provides an instrumental that is calm but moving, as if it's actually trying to help alleviate your high blood pressure. Both Prop Dylan and his guest also come off as impressive as hell together. I imagine fans of late 1990s reflective hip hop will fucking love this song, and they will have every right to.

13. OH YEAH SHIT!
Logophobia's beat fucking bangs on here. It sounds so good that it could become the man's anthem, the song that plays whenever he enters the building. Any building. The lyrics are also pretty on point, except for the hook, which runs a bit too long for my attention span. This shit is begging for a remix with other hip hop luminaries, not unlike a crackhead that needs a few bucks for their next fix.

14. NUMBER ONE
This was a pretty good way to cap off Boombox of Lost and Found. Prop Dylan spits four verses with the confidence and swagger of a rapper who is already a bit jaded with how the major labels treat their artists, minus the actual life experience of being dropped from a major. The production is punchy and entertaining, and Prop should convince the listeners that have made it this far that he is worth checking for.

THE LAST WORD: Boombox of Lost and Found starts off strong, falters a bit in the middle, and then picks the fuck up for the last six tracks. Prop Dylan, seemingly forgetting that this is a free album, throws his all into the project, knocking most of these tracks out of the park with a lyrical delivery that quickly makes you forget that he's an artist straight out of Sweden: he's simply a real hip hop fan who has been studying the classics, proving that our chosen genre is truly universal. The production work is also very impressive: while not every song works, the ones that do fire on all cylinders, confronting hip hop fans and demanding to be heard. This album isn't a game-changer, but it has the capability of becoming a sleeper crowd-pleaser for those of you who are interest enough to venture out of your comfort zone. I enjoyed a lot of Boombox of Lost and Found, and I think most of you two will also, but you don't have to take my word for it: download it for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments below. You'll get some good music, and you can't beat the price.

DOWNLOAD: Prop Dylan – Boombox of Lost and Found

Visit Prop Dylan's MySpace
Visit Prop Dylan's Official Site

-Max

Reader Review: Tanya Morgan - Brooklynatti (May 12, 2009)

(Today's Reader Review comes from Keeshawn, who decided that what HHID was missing was a Tanya Morgan review. And you know what? He's right. Brooklynati is the sophomore effort from one of Blogland's most beloved and curiously named rap trios: after reading though his thoughts, be sure to leave some comments for Keeshawn.)

Tanya Morgan is a rap group consisting of Von Pea, Ilyas, and Donwill. Not many people know about this group, which is a damn shame, but I'll go into a brief description. Basically, Von Pea (from Brooklyn) met Donwill and Ilyas (from Cincinnati) through the hip hop website okayplayer.com. They shared similar interests in music, and decided that it would be a good idea to work together. Since they lived so far apart, most of their debut album, Moonlighting, was done through AOL Instant Messenger, and it was pretty much well received by the few people who actually listened to it. Soon after, they released an EP and a mixtape, and their sophomore effort, Brooklynati, came three years later.

I told you it would be brief.

Released a week before Method Man and Redman's Blackout! 2, Eminem's Relapse, and Back On My B.S. by Busta Rhymes, it's fairly obvious why Brooklynati was overlooked by so many. It may not help that this was crafted as a concept album, based around a fictional city they call Brooklynati (which, of course, is a fusion of the two cities that they hail from, but I'm assuming you already knew that). Those who were lucky enough to have already heard this album drew comparisons with older hip hop groups such as A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul, which is kinda like a big deal.

Now, let’s sauce this bitch up.

1. ON OUR WAY
Fuck rap album intros. After a brief bit of dialogue, we're hit with a beat that we can't help but like. The beat starts Brooklynati off in the right direction, the hook is surprisingly pleasant, and every verse is delivered well. If we keep getting songs like this throughout the album, you might have a new favorite hip hop group to listen to.

2. ALLEYE NEED (FEAT PIAKHAN)
This really isn't anything special. In fact, it’s kind of atrocious.

3. SO DAMN DOWN
This is the song that introduced me to Tanya Morgan in the first place. I ended up tracking down their entire discography, so that goes to show how flippin’ fantastic this is. If this review doesn't convince you into listening to the entire album, you should at least listen to this song.

4. BANG AND BOOGIE
I'll start off by saying that the instrumental on this song is simply brilliant. You'll find yourself laughing at a few of the humorous lyrics on this one. Great lyricism, great instrumental. What more can you ask for?

5. DON'T U HOLLA (FEAT JERMISIDE)
This is quite a change-up. I appreciate the daring effort, but the song itself isn’t very good.

6. HARDCORE GENTLEMEN
This leans more towards the hardcore than the gentlemen. Wu-Tang Clan fans will find a pleasant surprise within the lyrics of this song. This shit is nice overall.

7. PLAN B (FEAT NAPOLEON)
A pretty touching song. This is a better way of discovering who Tanya Morgan is, as it works much better than my brief description at the beginning of this post. As for the song: good stuff.

8. INTERMISSION (FEAT PETER HADAR)
Expands on the concept of the album some more. That's all I got. I mean, it is an intermission, after all.

9. SHE'S GONE (A/K/A WITHOUT YOU) (FEAT BRITTANY BOSCO & PHONTE)
A fucking fantastic song. These guys get their Common on, delivering a slower paced song where hip hop is metaphorically described as a woman. From the lyrics to the instrumental, this is brilliant. The last verse stood out to me the most.

10. NEVER 2NDARY (FEAT JERMISIDE, CHE GRAND, ELUCID, & SPEC BOOGIE)
I have no idea who the guest stars are, but they hold their own. Still a pretty ordinary song, though.

11. JUST NOT TRUE (FEAT BRICK BEATS)
Now this is much better. You can tell that the guys of Tanya Morgan are having some fun with their music, and as a result, the songs are entertaining to listen to. Whatever happened to that concept?

12. MORGAN BLU (FEAT BLU)
Blu, a respected rapper in his own right, appears, doing a good enough job that he could be considered the fourth member of Tanya Morgan, which is kind of like being the fifth Beatle or the tenth guy in the Wu-Tang Clan. A definite highlight of the album. Color me impressed.

13. NEVER ENOUGH (CRAZY LOVE) (FEAT CARLITTA DURAND)
One of my favorites on the album. This happy-go-lucky song will put anyone in a good mood. The singing was pretty okay, the verses were extremely entertaining, and the instrumental was enjoyable. Yet another highlight on the album.

14. WE'RE FLY (FEAT CHOP & KAY OF THE FOUNDATION)
My personal favorite song on Brooklynati. The word play on this song was unexpected and lyrically amazing, succeeding in a way that blew me away. Everyone I've showed this song to liked it right off the bat. I really don't know how anyone can dislike this song.

15. JUST ARRIVED (NOW WHAT?) (FEAT MISS INFO)
A clever way to end the album. We get the feeling that the members of Tanya Morgan don't want to end the album yet. They have a lot of talent to show to the public, but the album has to end eventually. A great way to wrap it up.

The album ends here, but we have a bonus track to cap off Brooklynati.

16. FORGOT 2 SAY
This is a damtastically great song, one which should have been placed on the original track list of the album, unless you think of this as kind of a encore of sorts. I keep thinking that I'm at a concert, and Tanya Morgan wraps the show up with "Just Arrived (Now What?)", and leave the stage. Seconds later, they come back out saying "Oh, by the way, we 'Forgot 2 Say'", and blam! This song starts playing.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I'm gonna be honest and say that I had completely given up on hip hop. All I could listen to was old albums from the 1980’s & 1990's, or new albums that artists from the 1980’s & 1990's were still putting out. While I still checked for some artists from the underground, I chose to ignore the new generation of rappers. I then discovered Tanya Morgan on another blog (not Max’s) , one which posted a review of Brooklynati, and it interested me enough to give it a spin. This is the album made me believe in hip hop again, which just shows how incredibly great this album is. New artists can still come up with some marvelous shit to keep our mouths watering.

BUY OR BURN? Buy this. It’ll make you believe again.

BEST TRACKS: “We’re Fly”; “So Damn Down”; “She’s Gone (a/k/a Without You)”; “Bang and Boogie”

-Keeshawn

(Thoughts? Comments? Frustrated that you didn't get a chance to review this first? I kind of am. Be sure to leave your comments below.)

Reader Review: The Rza Presents - Afro Samurai Resurrection: The Soundtrack (January 29, 2009)

(Confession time: while I have the Afro Samurai Resurrection: The Soundtrack that A.R. Marks is about to launch into, I have never actually listened to it. I know, some Wu stan I am, right? Some things just take precedence over the soundtrack to the sequel to a miniseries on Adult Swim. But fuck it, I've heard the first one, at least, and hopefully a write-up will be forthcoming. Until then, enjoy this Reader Review on Afro Samurai Resurrection from A.R. Marks. Be sure to leave your comments below. Oh, and if you're not into the Wu-Tang Clan, you have my permission to try back in a few days for another review.)

As a reader of Max's blog, you probably have a good grasp on the history of the Wu-Tang Clan, whether you're a fan or not. For the uninitiated, I will give a brief take (and yes, in terms of the Wu-Tang Clan's history, this is brief): in the early-1990's, the Clan essentially tore the focus of the hip-hop nation in half when they reminded people that Dr. Dre wasn't the only producer-extraordinaire with a set of foaming-at-the-mouth battle rappers slinging vocal barbed wire all over his instrumentals. The Rza and the other eight members of the Clan swiftly helped bludgeon the commercial spotlight out of Dre's chronic-gripping hand (not actively, as they weren't rivals or anything) by 1995; while he jumped the Death Row ship around that time, Rza had produced a highly-acclaimed group project, two massively-selling/critically praised solo albums (not even for himself), and had just fully produced what would become the two highest jewels in his career crown, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... and Liquid Swords, two of the most notorious albums in hip-hop, period.

After 1997, after reluctantly adhering to his five-year-old promise to give the rappers in the Wu-Tang Clan control of their own careers (several of them before they even had their own careers), Rza's wife left him, and his crew basically disbanded, so he did the one thing an ultra-mega-rap star seems to find to be sensible in that situation: he started smoking weed dipped in the least-desirable drug anyone can somehow be addicted to - PCP (or "Digi"), smoking so much of it he rechristened himself Bobby Digital. With that, you can imagine the quality and quantity of his following work. Three questionable albums, too many years and several faltering Wu-Tang Clansmen careers later, Rza finally resurfaced in 2006 as more than a shadow of his former self, thanks to giving up the psycho-sticks and finding a new steady girlfriend. Stepping up his film scoring game and dipping his feet back into the Wu-Tang Clan production pool eventually resulted in the soundtrack to 2007's Afro Samurai, the score for an American television attempt at Japanese anime starring Samuel L. Jackson's voice as its only other main draw. Two years later, he did the same for the second season of the show, following the same blueprint for Afro Samurai Resurrection.

With Rza working to move back toward the kung fu-influenced sound of years past, what held back his first soundtrack installment for the series was his ill-advised tendency toward nepotism, consorting with a bunch of weed carriers, family members and loosely-related or entirely new Wu-Tang affiliates (presumably to replace the old ones, who at long last have seen that their association with the Wu will not be making them rich or famous in any real capacity). Unfortunately, that trend continues here: why the producer/rapper couldn't rope in his Wu-Tang Clansmen for more collaborations - or even put in more work on the mic himself - is subject to much debate, but Rza should have learned by now that it's okay to experiment all you want, but you have to remember to at least meet the public's expectations.

1. COMBAT (RZA & P. DOT)
With a Samuel L. Jackson spoken-word introduction which is useless, this "song" devolves into Rza screaming "Afro!!" in a distorted fashion while a no-name artist chants a hook, with voice so rough it sounds like he was forced to practice the mantra over and over and over before he could even make the track. Rza spits a short verse which sounds good, but it only highlights how much more he could have done with this wasted marching beat.

2. YOU ALREADY KNOW (KOOL G RAP, INSPECTAH DECK, & SUGA BANG BANG)
Rakeem's beat on here is pretty engaging: so far the production itself completely trumps absolutely anything Rza produced from and including the years 1999-2002, except for the Bobby Digital song "Do U." While G Rap's verse is vintage, Deck's is competent but disappointingly elementary (as usual, of late), and even worse, Suga Bang Bang's cheap Ol' Dirty Bastard-knockoff hook sounds six or seven kinds of cheesy and unnecessary. I would personally surgically remove him straight off the track to even make this a good listen.

3. BLOOD THICKER THAN MUD (FAMILY AFFAIR) (RZA, REV. WILLIAM BURKE, SLY STONE, & STONE MECCA)
Rza's heavily-touted collaboration with Sly Stone, who shares essentially the same backstory as Rza except that he sings (it was cocaine, and he was a funk legend) is a remake of one of the latter's best-known tracks, "Family Affair." Strangely enough, Stone himself only moans or mutters incomprehensibly in the background. Still, this song is one of Afro Samurai Resurrection's standouts, as the beat is pure vintage Rza kung funk (ahem, kung fu funk) and just plain enjoyable. Additionally I actually like Rev. William Burke the most out of all of Rza's most recent litter-bearing, lunch-picking-up, paid-in-studio-time disciples; his verses are nuanced, his delivery is confident and his voice is noticeable but not annoying as all fuck. For the finishing touch, Dionna Nichelle of the R&B group Stone Mecca (it's just her, though the feature is credited to the whole group) can actually sing without making my ears bleed, unlike, say, a Thea Van Seijen or a Blue Raspberry (although since she sings very little, it could also be smart to limit this praise to only her contribution).

4. WHAR (KOOL G RAP, GHOSTFACE KILLAH, RZA, & TASH MAHOGANY)
The beat for this song bothered me for a while, for two reasons: one, I knew I'd heard it before but I couldn't place it; and two, in comparison to what we've heard on the album so far, it seemed alarmingly simple. Then I realized that it was from the introductory beat to "Clan In Da Front” (from Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)), and this fact both enamored me to the song and neutralized my concerns about its simplicity, as Rza clearly makes the play to bring his past credibility into the present. It works because Rza again brings in legend Kool G Rap to trade bars with GFK, one of the only original members of the Wu still respected to the extent that he was ten years ago, and because the choruses, especially the final one, provide a much-needed instrumentation build with a nicely-fitting hook by Tash Mahogany, whose singing is in fact rather smooth and pleasant while conveying a message in fact not heard much in hip-hop.

5. GIRL SAMURAI LULLABY (RAH DIGGA & STONE MECCA)
God damn. And the winning streak is over. Can't expect too much these days, can we? The beat to this ill-advised and obvious crossover attempt (on a samurai-themed soundtrack!?) kills the momentum: the entire sample itself completely apes the Nas song "The Rise and Fall," which is much better in every way, as that song is not as slow as a blind baby turtle and actually features a rapper who can carry a whole song (read: Nas, even circa I Am, always trumps Rah Digga).

6. FIGHT FOR YOU (THEA VAN SEIJEN)
The aforementioned female singer, who always sounds like English is a barely-grasped second language for her, somehow got her own track on this album. The very second her vocals come in you want to fast-forward, so for the love of all things holy, do it.

7. BITCH GONNA GET YA (RAH DIGGA)
This sounds even worse than the first Rah Digga feature on this record: foregoing (naturally) Rah Digga's bland boasts and her consistent "look, a tough female rapper" gimmick, the beat is just a total and utterly discordant, jarring mess. In the words of a wig-wearing, hook-toting Dustin Hoffman, bad form!

8. BLOODY DAYS, BLOODY NIGHTS (PRODIGAL SUNN & THEA VAN SEIJEN)
Having just proclaimed my distaste for Thea Van Seijen, it's strange that I can actually stand her on this song even though she technically dominates it, because the beat is actually dynamic, with a dark atmosphere: it adds something to her vocals that makes them less painful somehow. Prodigal Sunn is also one of my top choices for Wu-affiliates, so the fact that he spits only one verse is only a slight disappointment, as he isn't Cilvaringz, Shabazz the Disciple or (God forbid) Rza's cousin Freemurda.

9. KILL KILL KILL (RUGGED MONK)
I don't know who the fuck this guy is, but he sounds like a generic version of Rev. Burke, and his verse just comes off as paint-by-numbers, largely because the song's every single sentiment is a retread of things we've heard eleventy-million times in hip-hop. Plus the beat is just "wsshhh" and "psssshhh" sounds, a whispered "kill kill kill, afro samurai" and an extra-extra-basic horn sample. SKIP.

10. NAPPY AFRO (BOY JONES)
The son of Ol' Dirty Bastard drops in to pay homage to his father and, unfortunately, ends up paying homage to the fucked-up, erratic, illogical portion of his pop's legacy instead of the hidden-insight, entertainment-avant-garde piece. The beat is as fresh as a lost 1998 Bad Boy cookie-cutter, and Jones-the-younger's attempts to bring out his father's quirkiness comes off as firmly on par with the most annoying thing I've ever heard in hip-hop.

11. BLOODY SAMURAI (BLACK KNIGHTS, DEXTER WIGGLES, & THEA VAN SEIJEN)
What is it about Van Seijen that makes Rza slap her all over this album? He must have the best ear in hip-hop, because I sure as hell don't hear anything good. The beat is nice, at first, barring her contribution (which, thankfully, is limited); however it's one of those beats that just endlessly repeats itself over and over, and not in an interesting way, either. It doesn't help that the third- or fourth-generation Wu-Tang affiliate group Black Knights (along with some guy named Dexter Wiggles - nice name, by the way; did you get your ass beat in high school? A lot?) has complete control of the track. All around grating.

12. DEAD BIRDS (KILLAH PRIEST, PRODIGAL SUNN, & SHAVO (OF SYSTEM OF A DOWN))
The relatively all-star lineup here looks promising on paper, and is meant to foreshadow Rza's supposed collaboration with Shavo, with the group Achozen. If they're supposed to sound like this, then I'm glad I haven't heard anything about it for months. Furthermore, the song's sloppy, tiresome guitar backdrop makes me glad I haven't heard any new System music in years, too. Thankfully the song ends pretty fucking fast, as in "oh shit, this song actually really sucks" fast.

13. ARCH NEMESIS (ACE & MOE ROC)
Around this point is when you finally realize that the vocal samples culled from the show are seemingly just slapped on here for their own sake, when Rakeem even bothers to include them; many of the songs that feature them aren't inventive or vivid enough to justify them in any real way. That is about the most interesting thing I can say for this song, except that this might very well be the worst beat on this album, and shows that Rza apparently hasn't completely let go of his Bobby Digital persona (of course, he did release a Bobby Digital record around the same time as this record came out, so there you go).

14. BROTHER'S KEEPER (REV. WILLIAM BURKE, RZA, & INFINITE)
This song takes a little of the edge off the last few tracks by refusing to be repetitive, but the hard trashcan drums completely overshadow the rest of the beat, as well as Rza and Burke's vocals. The hook, which is not done by a trained vocalist and which is completely unnecessary, is sung by Infinite, who actually is Rza's brother, which makes this track's title nice and literal.

15. YELLOW JACKETS (ACE & MOE ROC)
So these two no-names pop up once again. Why? Only Rza knows, I would think. This beat should have gone to Gza/Genius instead: it's a nice construction of complex synthesizer playing, but it's ruined by the constant sound of what could be some kind of heavy exhaling. Oh, and the two amateurs attempting to rock the beat and failing.

16. TAKE THE SWORD PT III (60 SECOND ASSASSIN, LEGGEZIN, CHRISTBEARER, RUGGED MONK, TRE IRIE, BERETTA 9, RZA (AS BOBBY DIGITAL), & REV. WILLIAM BURKE)
I like the first two installments of “Take The Sword”, both from the first Afro Samurai soundtrack, but this one does nothing to live up to either one, not unlike the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie (I'd throw in The Godfather series as a comparison, but these songs aren't good enough to warrant that grand of a comparison). There just isn't much to say about it (literally: the beat is so sparse, there's not much to comment on) other than the fact that this posse cut features about as many rappers as there are in the Wu-Tang Clan but I've only heard of five of them before today, and I only want to hear two of them spit ever again.

17. NUMBER ONE SAMURAI (AFRO SEASON II OUTRO) (RZA & 9TH PRINCE)
Kicking off with a deliciously nostalgia-inspiring, off-kilter sample from a kung-fu film score, Rza kicks off the proceedings with a beautifully-distorted verse, in the guise of the main character himself, Afro Samurai. 9th Prince's non-distorted and technically non-good verse does derail things somewhat, but the beat and Rza's verse are so good it's easy to overlook that last bit.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Although the high-points of this record illustrate that The Rza may be moving back toward his pre-sherm days, the vast majority of Afro Samurai Resurrection consists of throwaway tracks, as can be expected when at the most only clips of some of these songs will be played, briefly, throughout the show for which they were recorded. I suppose Prince Rakeem felt that this was a lower-profile platform that would only be picked up by his diehard fans, and as such would allow some experimentation, in the way of musical choices and in collaborators. I suppose it's good that some of these tracks didn't make it on to 8 Diagrams. However, the double-edged blade of that statement is that some of them probably should have (featuring core Wu-Tang members instead, of course). Musically, the lack of boring all-instrumental compositions here show that The Rza is moving in the right direction, and Afro Samurai Resurrection's Japanese influence do well to bring him back to his kung fu roots.

BUY OR BURN: If you purchased a copy of this album, you may have already burned that motherfucker (literally, mind you, with real flames and real gasoline), so what I would personally recommend is what I did: Take the very best songs from this record and its predecessor, shuffle them up really good, and slap that playlist onto your iPod and pretend that you're listening to The Rza's The Cure. But don't bother even touching a physical copy of this shit.

BEST SONGS: “You Already Know”; “Blood Thicker Than Mud (Family Affair)”; “Whar”; “Bloody Days Bloody Nights”

-A.R. Marks

(That left me curious enough to actually listen to the fucking album now. What did you think of it, or do you even care? Leave your comments below.)