Crate Adventures

Allright. So I finally pulled myself together and started a new hiphop blog in English: You can find it here if you're interested: Crate Adventures


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Ghostface Killah: More Fish (2LP)

Ghostface Killah

More Fish

2LP, Def Jam, 2006



"Y'all can't believe it's not butter"

The first review I wrote on this blog was about Fish Scale (2LP, Def Jam, 2006) by Ghostface Killah. In retrospect, that review is a bit too positive. Yes, Fish Scale was an interesting LP with several ill tracks, but as it turned out it was not a record that stayed in rotation for long at my house and half of the tracks were quickly forgot about.

Ghost is keeping up his insane tempo and in December 2006 he released More Fish. The title suggests that this album is sort of a sequal to Fish Scale and in a way it is. It has the same blend of experimental underground funk joints, straight ahead Wu bangers and Soul treats. But quality-wise, More Fish rates higher. This is probably in the top three of Ghost's nine LPs (counting the live album and the two Theodore Unit LPs). The album that Fish Scale should have been and that we all so desperately wanted it to be. More accesible, but also more hard hitting and more satisfying in the long run...

The street joints are more street, the funk experiments are funkier and more truly original and the Soul treats are more soulful. The Doom beats are head and shoulders above those on the previous joint...even the skits are good, for the first time since Supreme Clientele (2LP, Sony,2000).

Fish Scale seemed very thought out. Perhaps too much so, as Ghost always seemed like an inspiration-motivated MC to me. He's at his best when it seems like he hears a really nice beat for the first time and just spits over it in spontaneous joy. It seems like the Killah has a broad smile on his face all through this LP and you find yourself smiling along with him throughout.

Yes, the album seems a bit rushed, but only in the best way imaginable. The samples have that golden vintage feeling, whether they be Doom's wierd TV-show funk or the retro Soul that Ghost so expertly has been employing ever since Iron Man (2LP, Epic, 1996). Overall, the beats are just so tight. It's like someone took After The Smoke Is Clear and turned it into an entire album.

After a brief intro, the movie that is More Fish kicks off with the beat from Juice (Know The Ledge) by Eric B & Rakim, complete with flutes and all. Ghost chews through this classic spitting jewels like "Ghost got the Juice now" and quoting select lines from The Gods original verses, like "...knockin' n***as off, knockin' n***as out...". The rest of side A) and B) is more banging and chewing just the way we want it.

But on the second record's side C) and D) is where it really gets interesting. Josephine is so soulful and heart-wrenching. 100% Soul and 100% hiphop in a very refreshing way and Ghost spitting some unusually grown-up rhymes about staying away from drugs. Grew Up Hard has a sweet, compelling beat and great rhymes, especially those by Trife. Again the subject matter is mature, but endearing, with talk about the quality of the school system and the wholesome quality of eating all the food on your plate. Blue Armor features Sheek from the LOX and is very, very hardcore in a nice way. The real deal.

Side D) is the best of all. First up, You Know I'm No Good is one of the best Ghostface tracks ever. The break is cool, the horn stabs are fire, the singer is perfect for the track, the lyrics fit and the whole track just swings. On an album full of classic material, Josephine and You Know I'm No Good are the two tracks that impress the most. It's like they invented a whole new genre. As if Ghost finally understood he is at his best when weaving his tangled epics and sublime nonsense over long, luscious soul samples.

Next up is Alex, the best result so far of the collaboration between Ghostface Killah and MF Doom. A bassline to die for, an erie hook-sample and Ghost at his best and weirdest relaying some fantasy about him actually being the real innovator behind the Hollywood movie Ray. This is immediately followed by Gotta Hold On, another emotional joint, that would have fit nicely on The Pretty Toney Album (2LP, Def Jam, 2004). Much like Grew Up Hard it is a tale of struggle, hardship, survival and ultimately of comfort.

The final track is the crowd pleaser. It's the remix of Back Like That from the 12". A lot of heads hate this track by now, I know. But I still think that piano lick is sublime and I like Kanye better than usual with this hoarse voice. To me, it's the perfect ending of the movie.

I declare More Fish album of the year 2006. But where the hell did the Pete Rock beat go???

Tobias Suneson 2007

Percee P: Throwback Rap Attack (12")

Percee P

Throwback Rap Attack

12", Stones Throw, 2006


"Ey, yo, Madlib, what happened to that beat? Ey, yo, that's that shit that people wanna hear, but nobody doin' nomore..."

I have been writing a lot about new names like Termanology, Saigon and Papoose lately. I'm still in full hopeful anticipation for these truly skilled MCs' debut albums, but it's time to give some shine to a truskool legend today: The Rhyme Inspector Percee P.

It seems like Percee P has been around forever. He claims to have been rapping since the 70's, but he actually has never released a full length LP. I first heard Percee P on Lord Finesse's classic LP Return Of The Funky Man (LP, Reprise, 1991) and as full of perfect rhymes as that LP is, the two verses by Percee (on Yes You May and especially Kickin' Flavor Wit' My Man which wasn't on the original pressing of the LP) really stand out. His speed, originality and pure energetic attack knock you out every time. Not to mention his intricate rhyme structures with an average of three rhymes in every line and his flow that actually makes his advanced, complicated lyrical creations seem effortless.

The years went by and a lot of people forgot about Percee P. A guest spot here and a 12" there (try to pick up Nowhere Near Simple (12", Vmax, 1996) if you don't have it) came as a reminder every other year that Percee was still alive, but no album deal seemed to be in sight for the rhyme inspector. Rumour has it that he was living kind of rough, hanging out in front of Fat Beats, NY selling his tapes to tourists and passers-by. Imagine that; one of the true truskool legends shopping his tape in the street like he was a nobody!

Whether or not this particular rumour is true, it IS a damn shame that we don't have more Percee P material to put in the crates and the truskool history books.

In 2005 we saw the first fruits of Percee P's collaboration with Madlib and the Stones Throw label. In one way, this label based on the west coast and best known for dope-but-bohemian experiments by the likes of Madlib and Peanut Butter Wolf seemed like a strange home for a Bronx street legend known for his hard, straight flow and intricate east coast lyrics over traditional east coast beats.

But on the other hand, truskool pops up in the most unexpected places these days. Madlib makes songs about hiphop legends over funky, funky breaks while half of New York seem to be listening to "crunk", "snap", "crackle and pop" or whatever the latest hip-pop fad might be called this week.

The fruit we heard in 2005 was the Put It On The Line 12", produced by the aforementioned irrational genius Madlib. The beat was based on the same sample as Ghostface's wonderful Intro from The Pretty Toney Album (2LP, Def Jam, 2004) but Madlib turned up the bass and flipped the vocal sample even iller. Just the beat itself was an instant classic. And it was definately not west-coast in any negative sense of the word. On top of that you had Percee P spitting advanced Bronx lyricism in his most intense mood. Like he never went missing! A truly classic slice of truskool heaven that you need to own. The 12" also included a couple of remixes, that were nice, but nothing compared to the original.

A year later (which is like a week in Percee P-time) the next bomb dropped - Throwback Rap Attack (12", Stones Throw, 2006). Again the beat was produced by Madlib and again he came with one of his phattest creations ever. You can listen to this as an instrumental aswell. And Percee is 100% on point once again. If it wasn't for the crisp sound quality you could easily have fooled me that this was a forgotten gem from 1989 or 1991... It's that kind of uptempo funk break that was omnipresent in the late 80s and early 90s, that noone's been making for at least 13 or 14 years...

At the same time Percee's rhymes and flow retain that futuristic or almost other-worldly quality. Rap to the second degree, if you will. I wanted to comment on the actual lyrics and flow, but they cannot really be described. You have to hear them and feel them, more specifically how they fit the beat. How every word bounces into the right pocket in the music and how words seem to rhyme with each other more than just rhymes. A lot has been written about multi-syllable rhymes, but 90% of all rappers are too obvious and theoretical about them, sounding like mathematical theorists rather than musicians. Aside from Lord Finesse, Percee P is really the illest in making really advanced rhyme schemes sound natural and personal while at the same time intelligent.

Also included are a couple of remixes and a track with the long-ass title Lucas Flipped A 1-Sided Tape He Found In 1987 Into Stereo Remix This was produced by another west coast neo-classisist beatmaker: Cut Chemist (of Jurassic 5 fame). I don't know the story about this track. Was it recorded in 1987? From radio? From a live show? From a block party freestyle? How is it a remix of the title track? What did Cut Chemist do? Who is this "Lucas" fella? Someone drop a comment and fill me in!

Anyway, bottom line is that this track is also the proverbial BOMB! And if it is from 1987 I wouldn't hesitate to name it one of the ten illest tracks from that year...way ahead of it's time...
So the album Perceeverance or Perserverance on Stones Throw is said to be in the works, but if Percee keeps releasing perfect 12"s like this I don't care if he ever drops an album...

Tobias Suneson 2007

Saigon: Pain In My Life (12")

Saigon

Pain In My Life

12", Atlantic, 2006


I was sleeping on Saigon for a long, long while. I heard the name here and there, but you know how you hear all this new MC hype and can't even be bothered giving them a listen? It's been a long time since I was expecting a new Rakim to ever come on the scene. When I start hearing a new MC name, I kind of take it for granted that it's gonna be the new Li'l Jon or the new Slug, rather than the new Puba or Finesse.

I do like some of the new NY beat kings though. One day about a year ago I was just searching youtube for Just Blaze stuff and I accidentally found the video for Letter P (12", Word Of Mouth, 2005). Since it had both Kool G Rap and a Just Blaze beat I decided to watch it, even though I didn't know this Saigon fella and was feeling sort of suspicious against him. Bam! That track really hit me! Yeah, the beat was a sure-fire JB banger, and hell yeah, G Rap was on form, but even more than that Saigon was a revelation!

He had wordplay and intelligence, but not to the point of being nerdy. In stead he combined those skillz with original street flow and raw emotion in his voice. Not unlike a young G Rap in his prime actually. So I started listening through some Saigon stuff. He undoubtedly has a lot of skillz and feeling, but he seemed more lika freestyle MC. But a couple of the concept songs seemed nice enough to buy. So I bought Letter P and Favorite Thingz (12", Sure Shot, 2004) and I was spinning them a lot last year, along with anything I could get ahold of by that other emerging street super talent, Papoose.

Then at the very end of 2006, this 12" came out on Atlantic. I think it's a step up for Saigon. The generic Atlantic Sleeve looks great, the sound quality is Hi-Fi. It may have lost some of the raw grit from the 12"s, but that's how it always goes. Apparently he's going to release an album on Atlantic and this is the first single from that.

Pain In My Life is nothing to do with freestyling or releasing white label 12"s with murky sound quality and poor mixing. But it compensates for that street charm with class. The lyrics are emotional in a universal way, the beat is rich, the flow is pure quality and Saigon's voice has the same raw emotion as ever. The chorus is performed by someone called "Trey Songz". Granted, this R&B singer is no K-Ci Hailey, but he's just perfect for singing the R&B hook of a hiphop radio gem. In fact I think this is what radio hiphop should always sound like.

The lyrics are all about pain in people's life, from a sexually exploited teenage girl to a bum who numbs his feelings with rum. It's been a while since we heard lyrics like this on the radio. You don't get that from 50 Cent, or even from Jay-Z. It's kind of reminiscent of 2Pac at his best or Edo G in -94 or something. An emotional lyric that makes you go "Damn!" and shake your head...

So, in the case of Saigon, making "real songs" rather than street freestyles is just a step up from better to best. Cop that shit!

2007 should be the year that we get to hear Papoose (Nacirema Dream) and Saigon (The Greatest Story Never Told) make their album debuts on major labels. With the right beats, we may be looking at two modern classics. Hiphop hasn't had this kind of new blood coming in since the 90's.

Tobias Suneson, 2007

Termanology: Watch How It Go Down (12")

Termanology

Watch How It Go Down

12", Brick, 2006



"...and that's the reason little kids get hit by strays/
cause muthafu**as can't act they age..."

Remember the feeling you got the first time you heard Nasty Nas?

Whether it was on Main Source's Live At The Barbecue from Breaking Atoms (LP, Wild Pitch, 1991), The Half Time 12" (Ruff House, 1992) or his debut LP Illmatic (Columbia, 1994); you KNOW your eyes and ears opened up wide.

Here was a cat that was intense on that other level. He seemed to compress ten times as much as your average rapper into his lyrics and flow. He was an intelligent street cat who rode the beats with supreme confidence and ease and he made it seem like every word mattered, just like Miles Davis could put his soul into every note and Sinatra could make any word the vibrant heart of a tired standard.

You don't get many "Nas-moments" like that. But I and many others got one last year. Some people had heard Termanology before he hooked up with Primo, but I hadn't. To me, he was this odd-looking cat coming from nowhere suddenly debuting with an incredible video where he was spitting incredible content with an incredible flow over perfect 1996-type Premier boom bap. Almost too good to be true.

Termanology seems to have weighed every word on a golden hiphop scale and fitted them together with pure magic. And Primo must have felt the same, because he gave this cat his illest beat in about ten years.

We have to wait and see what Term's career has in store for us. Maybe he will release the next Illmatic? God knows it's time somebody did, and Term very well may be the man to do it. Or maybe he'll just go straight to Nastradamus-mode and release a halfway album with plastic beats and watered down lyrics. Nobody knows...

What we DO know is that here and now, no other 12" is more important to own than Watch How It Go Down. Spin it again and again, nod ya head, learn the words by heart and fantasize about how much truskool cred you're gonna have in the year 2020 for coppin' this the year that it came out!

"...you name one/
rapper that's lyrical/
slash latin, politcal/
passed rappin' with visuals/
past Malcom and fittin' to/
go past platinum/
it's hard but I speak the truth/
The fire that heat the booth/
the high hat, the beat, the loop/
The system it traps us in/
They tacklin' rappers in/
These shackles that pack us in/
the back of the clack is in/
I'm packin' the Mac again/
Like Capital Punishment/
Huggin' the gun and then/
runnin' and duckin' from the government..."

Rewind!

Tobias Suneson 2007

AG: Get Dirty Radio (2LP)

AG

Get Dirty Radio

2LP, Look/Fatbeats, 2006



“I can wear red or blue, if I wanna…!”

The word was out on Get Dirty Radio for a while before I could finally get my hands on it. A few things made it seem more lika a mixtape than an album. A lot of unknown names behind the boards, not a very heavy DITC presence at all, the CD came out without any signs of a vinyl release and of course the name contains the word ‘Radio’.

Then the vinyl dropped, there were no annoying voiceovers and no mixing and some heads were starting to drop Get Dirty Radio as one of their favorite albums of the year. And it did seem mouth watering to hear the first AG release since Dirty Version (2LP, Silva Dom, 1999). He was the most luminous stage presence when I caught the DITC live show in Stockholm in 2005, the production credits features names like Jay-Dee, Madlib, Showbiz and the almighty Lord Finesse. Besides, Big L’s death seems to have only made him stronger in some peculiar way.

All things considered, I’m gonna stick my neck out and call Get Dirty Radio a disappointment. It’s nicely mixed and AG has kept perfecting his flow to total crispness. But there really aren’t many unforgettable tracks on this release. The Madlib and Dilla beats are instantly forgettable and not up to their standards at all. In fact most of the beatmaking here is competent but uninspired. It works really nice as background hiphop, but only sporadically does it touch on the heights AG achieved with Show on Soul Clap EP (Showbiz, 1991), Runaway Slave (2LP, Payday, 1992), Goodfellas (2LP, Payday, 1995) and Full Scale EP (DITC, 1998). Clearly better than Fat Joe’s last 57 LPs, but far from a certified DITC classic.

You’ll definitely want to give it a good listen-through for the one-liners, the concepts (You GOT to check Hiphop Quotable if you’re a concept head) and the joy of hearing the Giant In The Mental back in business. And if you’re a fan of clean-but-dirty 00’s hiphop you might actually cherish this release. But to me, most of the tracks leave me with a longing back to the early 90’s basement grit. Also, the G-funk influence, allthough not suprising, kind of spoils it for me.

So what’s really good? What’s timeless truskool on this joint?

Well first of all; A Giant By Design has been bad mouthed by a lot of heads, but I love it. DJ Design flips Culture Club’s 80’s kitch pop hit Do You Really Want To hurt Me? into a lurking menace behind Andre’s rhymes. There’s also added spooky jamaican chatter.

Design’s Real Right Now interlude is really atmospheric and is followed immediately by the illest beat on the record; We Don’t Care by Finesse. A banger!

Showbiz provides the track for The Struggle, the most traditional and perhaps most satisfying track included. Melancholy strings and hell yeah, we heard it all before-lyrics, but AG does it heartfelt and with presence and you could put this next to any classic. Should be a 12”, perhaps with We Don’t Care as the b-side.

I like the outro a lot too. And the last track, Who Dat? (DJ Design again), will put chills up a truskool spine. I won’t reveal too much, but let’s just say the beat is kinda old, but with a twist!

Andre the Giant was first heard on Funky Technician (LP, Wild Pitch, 1990) and he deserves lots of props for still sounding this fresh and hungry sixteen years later. I just hope he thought of this as a mixtape and will soon join forces with Show again for another classic EP or LP…

Tobias Suneson 2007

Sadat X: Black October (2LP)

Sadat X

Black October

2LP, Riverside Drive, 2006



The X-man used to be one of those artists you'd be waiting for to drop a new LP, EP or even a 12". Nowadays "X Is A Machine" and seems to aim toward being second only to Ghostface in frequency of releases.

After Sadat's solo debut, the classic 1996 LP Wild Cowboys (2LP, Loud, 1996), he had the fans waiting until 2000. And even then, all we got was an EP, (The State Of New York Vs. Derek Murphy (Stimulated, 2000)), which contained his best track ever You Can't Deny, but mostly filler besides that.

Then something happened. In 2005 Sadat X released the album of the year, Experience And Education (2LP, Female Fun, 2005). A rich, varied, intelligent and sensitive, yet banging and very truskool LP containing heaps of ill production and quotable lyrics. Then, right before going to prison in 2006, Sadat put out Black October to little acclaim. On the back of this cover is printed: "'The Healing Process'...coming Summer 2007."

So is Sadat now one of those "one-album-a-year"-artists with one or two phat tracks and lots of filler, rather than one of those legends who return with a banger every five years, just to confirm his name is spotless? I think the truth lies somewhere in between...

This album obviously seems a bit rushed. Sadat even remarks so himself on a couple of the tracks, talking about the "tight time frame" he had to record it and put it out, before going to jail. The mixing of the record seems to have been stressed too; as the sound quality hides the good parts, rather than accentuates them.

Much like KMD's Black Bastards (2LP, SubVerse, 1995) and the first bootleg of INI's Center Of Attention (LP, 1995) you can sometimes hear really banging and swinging tracks somewhere behind a wall of muffling. That's really annoying - KNOWING there's classic material on a record, but never being able to fully hear it.

Such is the case with tracks like Throw Tha Ball, a cozy, laidback house party kind of track. I know it could be one of those tracks you can't stand still to, because it really has a groove, a couple of perfect samples and a vocal chorus up there with the best. But you really have to listen to it in headphones, concentrated as heck to get the full feeling. Too bad. Still a spotless track though.

Gregg Nice makes a highly unexpected appearance as both producer and guest MC on My Mind. I always get that nice gut feeling from hearing Gregg Nice; his strong presence on the mic is welcome on any LP. On this particular track he has hooked up a phat and funky beat with an R. Kelly sample and a thumping bassline. The lyrics are really both Sadat and Gregg saying nothing about nothing. So I can't call the track classic by any means, but it is strangely funky and it does stand out as one of the best tracks of the album.

Other highlights include the thoughtful Eternally Yours and Million Dolla Deal, both in the vein of Experience And Education. The unwelcome filler includes The Post (Sadat rapping the news headlines again, but this time over a boring beat) and the downright annoying Who.

There are two main reasons you need to buy this LP, besides keeping your Brand Nubian collection complete and gaining insight into Sadat's thoughts and feelings regarding the whole legal situation.

The first is called If You and features Boss Money Gangstas, Big Meg and Tommy Gibbs. The beat hits hard and the thugged out lyrics are more hardcore than we're used to from the X-man. It's the most street track on the LP and you'll find yourself playing it over and over, banging your head. Shit ain't even funny.

The second is called Chosen Few. It's a strong contender for song of the year 2006 and features Lord Jamar, Sadat X and Grand Puba playing ill, iller, illest like it was 1990. A simple, timeless future classic type beat that grows on every listen forms the background for a nice Jamar verse (containing a couple of lines that can make a grown man cry: "...if I could I'd throw a rope over the wall"), the best Sadat verse on the album and a truly ridiculos Puba verse that leaves you all fuzzy. Best verse from Puba in years. I'd quote it, but I want you to hear him say it. Let's just say he makes it seem like no other rappers really matter.

This uneven LP could have been an excellent li'l EP...I still have very high hopes for The Healing Process though. Sadat X is one of those MCs who can make a rushed, partly unfocused LP and still make it one of the most interesting of the year. Imagine what an album called The Healing Process released hot on the heals after his jail time might contain...

Tobias Suneson 2007

Pete Rock: Underground Classics (2LP)

Pete Rock

Underground Classics

2LP, Rapster, 2006



First of all I gotta explain something I call “Lex Pete Rock”. Any Pete Rock song or album can only be judged and reviewed in comparison with other Pete Rock creations. If you compare them to any other producer, you just have to give them all 10/10 and that doesn’t really give you any information.

So here comes yet another Pete Rock compilation. There have been a lot of them lately, but this one stands out as being an official release with decent sound quality and some pretty nice cover art. It also stands out from the rest because it divides it’s focus evenly between 90’s joints and more recent material. This last quality is a particularly satisfying one. Sure, Pete Rock deserves nostalgic retrospectives as much as any producer. But, unlike other 90’s super producers, Pete has kept on developing new interesting, inspiring methods of beatmaking and his 00’s material definitely deserves more shine, so kudos to Rapster records for this.

I already have all of these tracks, but as usual I will buy any record that says “Pete Rock” somewhere on the cover. Also, this compilation seems more like one of the cassettes full of Pete’s beats I’ve been making for myself lately, than the bootleg compilations have. Some thought seems to have gone in to both the selections and the sequencing, which is really nice. And compiler Amir hasn’t just picked the tracks featuring the most well known rappers, but seems to have focused on the quality of the actual beats.

Underground Classics kicks off with Nothin’ Lesser and Give It To Y’all. Both of them are from 2001. Nothin’ Lesser is from PeteStrumentals (2LP, BBE, 2001) and this vocal version of Give It To Y’all first surfaced on the Nothin’ Lesser 12”(12”, BBE, 2001 ). 2001 is actually one of the greatest years so far in Pete’s career, so I applaud these choices. Next up is Boston from Edo G and Pete’s recent My Own Worst Enemy (2LP, Fat Beats, 2004 ). A dope beat, if not one of the best tracks off that, and nice in sequence with the PeteStrumentals era tracks.

The 2004 sequence continues with two top notch tracks off The U.N.’s fantastic debut LP UN Or U Out (2LP, World, 2004). Game Of Death has an original vibe and unusual mixing. It stands out on The UN album and it stands out here. But Ain’t No Thang is even better. It was the best track on the album and it might be the best track on this compilation. Hopefully these selection will finally get a few more people buy UN Or U Out, cause that got nowhere near the attention it deserves. Buy that if you don’t have it. Before you even buy this one, cause you probably have most of these tracks already.

Next comes two tracks from the INI album. Two of the best ones in fact. But I already have Center Of Attention (2LP, Bootleg, 1998?) in three different editions and I can’t imagine any Pete Rock fan not having heard these tracks to death by now. Also, the sound of Center Of Attention is so much in a place of its own and doesn’t really mix perfectly with anything.

Then it’s back to PeteStrumentals again. Back On Da Block was never one of my favorites off that joint. But it seems to be to most people so the inclusion of this is no surprise. The remixes of Militia and Can’t Stop The Prophet, from 1998 and 94 respectively, represent two other eras in Pete Rock’s ouvre and gives some nice variation to this smorgasbord.

The next Edo G. track is Situations. The best and most surprising Edo G. selection. Rather than picking just another track from My Own Worst Enemy, Amir went for this little piano-jazz gem from Edos underrated The Truth Hurts (2LP, Nu Gruv Alliance, 2001) with Edo at his one-liner-dropping best. GREAT choice.

Side D) is just three INI tracks. It’s kind of an anti-klimax. Like they just threw in an entire side from Center Of Attention at the end because they couldn’t be bothered selecting tracks anymore. And where is the greatest track, The Life I Live? Also gone missing are a couple of the real bangers from My Own Worst Enemy.

Still, as can be expected, not a weak track here, nice variation and the kind of compilation that will inspire people to buy one or two great records that they don’t have. So on the internal "Lex Pete Rock" scale, this is probably a 7 or an 8 out of 10. If you don't know your Pete Rock and want to know how this compares to other people's releases, consider it a 10/10...

Tobias Suneson, 2006.

M.O.P.: Ghetto Warfare (3LP)

M.O.P.

Ghetto Warfare

3LP, Coppertop, 2006



"Don't fu** with my integrity!"
- Billy Danze

First up, let’s be honest and realistic. We heard a lot of these tracks before, a couple of the beats are sub-par, a few of the choruses just don’t sound right, Put It In The Air is more annoying than inspiring and a some verses lack the 100% focus we have come to expect from M.O.P. And yet this album is a must-have. Why?

Well, a good friend of mine recently sighed: “There’s something deeply irrational about your love for M.O.P.”. Very well…I love M.O.P. And I think the only way to relate to the roaring force of nature that is M.O.P., is to be alive, alert and emotional enough to love them or hate them. Let the Jurassic 5-fans and the Common followers be “rational”. M.O.P. was never about that in the first place.

“It’s the most intelligent ignorant shit…”

There are a lot of reasons why the Mash Out Possee is the greatest hiphop group of all time and why Ghetto Warfare is a strong contender for album of the year, despite not even coming close to their classic second and third albums. But this review will focus on the three main reasons, as I see them: The BEATS, the RHYMES and the LIFE that Li’l Fame and Billy Danze breathe into their art.

BEATS

Just like the Marxmen Cinema (4LP, Family First, 2004) quadruple LP mixtape monster, the best chunks of Ghetto Warfare are deeply soaked in 70’s soul. These MC's have the ability to sound awe-inspiring over any music. Ranging from youthful, energetic 93-style DR Period minimalism to Primo’s trademark funk bangers, they always seem to bring out the best in any beatmaker. But all beats considered – you gotta love Fame chewing some punk’s a** off or Billy pouring his heart out over these luscious soul samples as much as anything.

I think there’s an implicit relation between 70’s soul and M.O.P. in the double 0’s. They share an irresistable dynamic of raw emotion and style. Some of the originals are certified classics, some are well known from other hiphop beats and some I never heard before. But they all sound like they were composed with the sole purpose of forming the perfect emotional backdrop for M.O.P.’s street stories.

“It’s for the listeners, the ones who got a ear for this”

RHYMES

If there’s one aspect of M.O.P. that people don’t recognize enough, it’s the lyrics. To diss the beats on Firing Squad (LP, Relativity, 1996) and First Family For Life (2LP, Relativity, 1998) - you have to hate hiphop or be deaf. To deny the emotional impact of Bill and Fame’s delivery – you probably have to be in a coma. But with all that classic beatbanging and sanctified shouting going on, people just don’t hear the lyrics sometimes.

"The gang get deep/But y'all just see the surface/Ya'll don't see no purpose/Ya'll just sleep"

Only Lord Finesse has more quotable one-liners and only Mobb Deep ever came close to that rare combination of sorrow and aggression in their lyrics. And Mobb Deep never had a sense of humour.

“…if you feelin’ like chimp, ni**a go on brush your shoulders off…I’m a pop yo’ mothaf****n head of your shoulders…“

People who don’t listen to M.O.P. think the lyrics are all about different ways and means to “Stomp-da-shit-out-u”. Granted – there is a lot of that going on and, granted, the Mash Out Possee excell in that. But there’s also humour, sorrow, raw emotion, even anxiety – if you pay attention. Remember the classic lines from the First Family 4 Life LP: “I’m not a gangsta and I won’t lie/I’ve always been afraid to die…”. All about pain. It’s these counterpoints that create their special dynamic and make the anger and violence so tangible and real.

LIFE

“I still got a black cloud over my head/And I still keep a bottle of ‘gac and a mac by my bed”

A whole lot of the M.O.P. lyrics would just sound corny delivered by anyone else. But Billy Danze could probably just rap a shopping list and make it sound heartfelt. Enter the eternal dilemma of writing about music, or any art form I guess. This intangible quality of life in art is at the same time the only quality that sets great art apart from "good stuff" and something that is impossible to desribe in words. But listen to Muddy Waters and tell me that sh** ain’t real…

Very often this vivid feeling is a feeling of rage. Other times it's pain, disappointment, experience or just energy. But it's all about integrity and you gotta respect that.

Just buy the album, turn up the bass, crank up the volume and feel. Feel the rage, feel the pain, feel the realness, feel the life. Everyone else is just play pretend.

Tobias Suneson, 2006.

Boot Camp Clik: The Last Stand (2LP)

Boot Camp Clik

The Last Stand

2LP, Duck Down, 2006



When it comes to making tracks that sound ignorant and generic when you first hear them, but turn out to be undying truskool classics in retrospect, nobody beats the Boot Camp Clik. This is why I'm a bit worried about reviewing the new Boot Camp LP. Anything negative I say I'm probably gonna regret sorely five years from now. But never mind the future, here's my opinions from the here and now:

The Last Stand is the new album from everyone's favorite Brooklyn bad boys: The Boot Camp Clik. It kicks off with a track called "Here We Come", that puts Heltah Skeltah in the spotlight and bears a nice resemblance to the Intro from their classic debut LP Nocturnal (2LP, Duck Down, 1996).

9th Wonder brings a beat that is banging in the cozy southern-fried way his beats always are, but also subtle and sophisticated beyond anything we heard from him on the Little Brother and Triple Threat records. It reminds me more of something from Pete & CL's Main Ingredient (2LP, Elektra, 1994) or from the aforementioned Nocturnal. I think this is 9th Wonder's illest beat to date and an instant classic. The vocals will not surprise anyone, but features Ruck, Rock and Buck at their tightest and most quotable. As usual they're not really saying anything, but the way they say it sticks instantly.

Next up is Let's Go, which starts with the drums from Run-DMC's 1983 classic Here We Go (more recently featured on Dizzee Rascal's mind blowing Fix Up, Look Sharp). Can't go wrong with those drums, right? Wrong. The beat, by Illmind, instantly deteriorates into a watered down Dr. Dre-sounding mess. And I don't mean Dr. Dre in 1989 or 1992 either. I'm talking boring album track on a 50 Cent album. The chorus sounds like something Nate Dogg would lay down in his sleep. The vocals are nice of course, especially Starang Wondah's verse, but the beat makes it almost unlistenable.

The whole album continues in this uneven fashion. Fat quality beats by people like Pete Rock, Large Professor and Da Beatminerz are mixed with true fast-forward material. All the BCC MC's seem to be in a good mood throughout though, so the feeling is more that of a nice little mixtape than of an album to put next to Enta Da Stage (LP, Duck Down, 1993), Dah Shinin' (2LP, Wreck, 1995) and Total Eclipse (2LP, Duck Down, 2003) in your shelf. The most immediate parallel would be MOP's Marxmen Cinema (4LP, Family First, 2004) which also had several almost perfect tracks, but as a whole didn't come near their "real" albums.

Besides Here We Come, the album has a few more standout tracks. The rest of this review will be about these and I will ignore the filler. 1-2-3 is Pete Rock in a relaxed, sentimental mood and marks the first time in years where Pete Rock's contribution is actually the best beat on the album. As it should be. Be sure to turn up the bass on your amplifier when listening to this one, close your eyes and drift away.

Marco Polo puts in better than average work. Yeah is a banger and He Gave His Life is even better. Personally I feel guest vocalist Jahdan is overdoing the Gentleman-sounding raggamuffin' wailing a bit, but the beat and chorus put you instantly in a serious emotional state and the lyrics are heart-felt and interesting. Sometimes you get the feeling that the BCC is stuck in their 1993 adolesence, but this is some grown up sh*t for real.

If you've read the truskool blog before, you know I'm orthodox, so it should come as no surprise that I think Boot Camp generally sound best over Beatminerz tracks. Total Eclipse is still my BCC favorite of this century by far and "...But The Game Iz Still The Same", the only Beatminerz track on The Last Stand is a delight and a glimpse of perfection. Da Beatminerz produce the perfect blend of traditional and experimental sound for these rappers. They can put it down comfortably tight while reinventing themselves slightly every time. "...But The Game Iz Still The Same" is no exception.

The up tempo Everybody Knows Now, produced by Coptic, is as close to danceable as these hard rocks get. A soulful head nodder with total mic presence from the gang. One for your headphones. This is followed immediately by World Wide. Large Professor produced some guitar-and-organ funk with a mid-90s feel that suit especially Sean P like hand-in-glove.

Somebody named "Mr. Attic" produced the closing track Soul Jah which features interesting drum patterns and an ill bassline. A typical middle of the road track on any 90's album, but a true standout in 2006.

So: great mixtape or disappointing album? You be the judge...I look at it as a means to create a BCC buzz in time for the coming onslaught of Duck Down releases. And it does that job well.

Tobias Suneson 2006.

Lord Jamar: The 5% Album (2LP)

Lord Jamar

The 5% Album

2LP, BabyGrande, 2006



Among the most important tru skool crews, Brand Nubian is the most underrated. Ask any tru skool head for a list of their top 10 releases from Pete Rock, DITC, Gang Starr Foundation, Boot Camp or Wu-Tang and you will get a quick and well thought-out reply. Ask the same about Brand Nubian and you will usually get "Well I love One For All and Reel To Reel, but..." and a distant look.

This is a shame; Brand Nubian have released five solid albums as a group, only two of which have gotten anywhere near the recognition they deserve. Grand Puba has released two CLASSIC albums. I hold Reel To Reel (2LP, Elektra, 1992) as one of the top five hiphop LP's ever recorded. Vivacious, lustful, bass heavy drums and samples form a perfect beat sallad over which Puba pours his wonderful flow-dressing. 2000 (LP, Elektra, 1995) is very different, but just as good. Soulful vocals over some of the smoothest, phattest beats ever. Sadat X has now also released two near-perfect LPs and an uneven EP with high peaks. And so it's time for Lord Jamar, the third Brand Nubian, to step into the spotlight.

It doesn't take a lot of imagination to calculate who brought what to the Brand Nu table, when listening to the solo efforts of Puba, Sadat and Jamar respectively. Grand Puba's solo work is funky, soulful, danceable, romancable, happy and suave.

Sadat's records are down to earth, sincere and deal mostly and most expertly with relationships and personal struggles. And Jamar obviously supplies the over-the-top religious and political rhetoric and a significant part of the righteous fury.

You can hear this in his lyrics all through Brand Nu history. But if you ever doubted Jamar was a conscious rapper, just have a listen to this new LP.

The 5% Album just came out on BabyGrande records. I understand the CD comes with a 90 page book, which I would love to get my hands on. But since CD's ain't truskool I have just the two records.

The album title kind of speaks for itself. Lyrically, half of the album is 5% theoretics and rhetoric and the other half is bascially love, street life and the industry - from a 5%:er perspective. Lord Jamar is one of those artists who will make a love song and then sprinkle it with 5% references.

Beatwise, the entire album is banging. Rather than the Brand Nubian sound of One For All (2LP, Elektra, 1990) or Everything Is Everything (2LP, Elektra, 1994), Jamar and his co-producers have gone for a swinging, spacious, updated sound. If you've heard Brand Nubians Fire In The Hole (2LP, BabyGrande, 2004) you will recognize the general direction. Then add a sprinkle of the sound of the more satisfying Wu-Tang beats of late and we're home.

There are no weak joints on this album. But there are a few standout tracks. Some of you may have heard The Corner, The Streets before as it has been out as a 12" for a while. If so, you know it's all about street reality and morality. Jamar spits in his inimitable way along with Grand Puba over luscious Soul samples. What more could you ask for?

The Greatest Story Never Told is the crash course on the history of the 5% Nation and it's founder. Again, the beat and the vocal samples hit you in all the right spots, while Jamar shows off his storytelling talents.

Perhaps the most interesting lyric for those interested in the artistic choices and leanings of Jamar is Givin' Up. Again lovely soul samples and a beat to die for while Jamar shares his thoughts on the so-called "conscious" rap music, its motivations and even his own doubts. It is both refreshing and a bit worrying to hear the normally super confident Lord Jamar express his self doubts, but fear not - his conclusion is of course that:

"Somebody gotta be the voice of reason/Especially when its killa season"

But even greater is the simple love song of the album. Anyone in a steady relationship can relate to Same Ole Girl. And anyone with an ear and a heart can feel the beat. Headnodder and heart throbber rolled into one.

Some of the other tracks have a more affrontive sound and granted, some of the lyrics are pretty militant and out there. But as a package deal, this LP is pure quality through and through.

Don't sleep!

Tobias Suneson 2006.

Ghostface Killah: Fishscale (2LP)

Ghostface Killah

Fishscale

2LP, Def Jam, 2006



The Wu-Tang Clan and it's members have released dozens of halfway and wack albums. Still that Wu-Bird somehow represents quality for most of us. A lot of the credit for this goes to Ghostface Killah. Since his debut album Ironman (2LP, Sony, 1996) his output has always been interesting, varied and straight up ill.

His second LP Supreme Clientele (2LP, Sony, 2000) arrived at a time when a lot of us had started to lose faith in the clan, but proved to be his masterpiece and one of the top three Wu-Tang related releases ever. Supreme Clientele also marked the start of Ghost's transformation into arguably the most original and almost avant garde member of the Clan.

The next step, Bulletproof Wallets (2LP. Sony, 2001) was not so much a step at all, but rather a standstill. A good album, but pale in comparison to the banging Ironman and the mindbending, but no less banging Supreme Clientele.

The Pretty Toney Album (2LP, Def Jam, 2004) was overlooked and underrated by many. To me it marked a return to top form for Ghostface. The album seemed directly or indirectly inspired by Jay-Z's The Blueprint (2LP, Roc-A-Fella, 2001). Soaked in Soul vocal samples and filled with vivid storytelling and endearing emotion, the album may not have sounded experimental in an affrontive way, but it still pushed the envelope of 21st century tru skool with it's combination of raw street edge and heart wrenching Soul.

Ghostface Killah's fourth official and highly anticipated studio LP has finally arrived in 2006. Fishscale was almost legendary already in pre-production. The rumours surrounding Ghostface in the year before the release of Fishscale spoke about him recording an entire LP with beats by underground super-producer MF Doom (formerly known as Zev Luv X of KMD fame). There was also talk about extensive collaborational efforts between Ghostface and Jay-Dee A.K.A. J-Dilla (R.I.P.). When the pre-album single Be Easy (12", Def Jam, 2005) arrived and revealed an uptempo, vintage-sounding Pete Rock banger, anticipations skyrocketed. One of the illest MCs of the mainstream, laced by three of the illest underground producers. This could hardly go wrong!

And it didn't go wrong. But at the same time, the anticipations were so high, they could only have been met by another Supreme Clientele or Operation: Doomsday (2LP, Fondle 'Em, 1999). Fishscale is a disappontment to the most hopeful underground talibans and a pleasent eye-opening surprise to many mainstream Wu-heads who might be treated to their first taste of MF Doom post-KMD and some of the first major label appearances by Pete Rock and Dilla in years.

In some ways, the album might fall between two chairs. It's too experimental for some of the regular Def Jam fans while not experimental or diggin'-infused enough for the Doom and Dilla diehards. Still it's clearly heads and shoulders above most other mainstream hiphop LPs of the 21st century.

You might have heard most of the Doom and Dilla beats before on various recent albums and compilations. The Pete Rock beats are nice of course, but still pretty standard Pete Rock fare, and not up to the level of Soul Survivor II (2LP, BBE, 2004) or Edo G.'s My Own Worst Enemy (2LP, FatBeats, 2004).

Ghost continues to cultivate his sublime storytelling and surreal wordplay on Fishscale. The drug dealer thematics that were so brilliantly utilized on Wu-Tang classics like Ironman and Raekwon's Only Built For Cuban Linx N****s (2LP, Loud, 1995), are still ever present. But if you ask me it is starting to get a bit tiresome. Few people can tell drug caper stories like Ghostface, but he has always been at his best when getting a bit more personal.

This more sensitive side of Ghost was present already in All That I Got Is You, the huge single off Ironman, and flourished on some tracks off The Pretty Toney Album. On Fishscale we get a few emotional highlights where Ghost seems to be acting more his age. The best Jay-Dee track on the album is Whip Me With A Strap; a touching childhood memory-type thing with an ill bassline and a wonderful soul chorus.

To his credit, Ghostface really manages to pull off an LP full of production by people like Pete Rock, Jay-Dee and MF Doom. You don't think of it as a compilation album; what you hear is an organic, complete Ghostface Killah album. There are no wack tracks and all songs weave together nicely. In fact, after listening to the LP the first time it is not as easy as it sounds to pinpoint which tracks were produced by legends and which ones weren't.

Back Like That featuring Ne-Yo is a light hearted, but endearing tale of infidelity. It works fine as a classic Rap/R&B duet and kicks off a sequence of top notch tracks on the LP. Be Easy follows and once your head has stopped shaking from that, The Clipse Of Doom featuring Trife takes you into Dooms warped world of dirty, cinematic beats. Later on, Underwater is a totally original track. Aiming at a true "underwater" sound, the beat is dream-like and other worldly, but in a dope, dope way.

The final track is perhaps the most straight ahead traditional Wu-Banger. Three Bricks features Raekwon and classic, sampled Biggie lyrics. It's gratitious, but also effective. One traditional Wu-banger per album is actually minimum for the fans.

All in all, Fish Scale is not on par with Supreme Clientele. But it's better, more interesting and fascinating than the entire Method Man catalogue. In 2006, that is no mean feat. I would still hesitate to smack the big "classic" sticker on this album, but I think that time will place this somewhere right below the classics in the Wu-Tang hall of fame. Don't set your expectations too high, but at the same time don't miss this LP. Only album iller this year so far is the Lord Jamar, which will be my next review.

Tobias Suneson, 2006