I've pretty much heard all the consensus top 20 rap albums of all time by now, so I did some searches for some people's lists of "underground" rap albums; this was one that came up more than once.
The first 6 tracks on this album are unbelievable; this is the strongest-starting rap album I've ever heard. I must have thought to myself "this is everything I want from rap" at least once during each of the 4 non-interlude tracks that make up those first 6. The rhyming is dexterous and fluid and complex and effortless. One of the two MC's has a knack for delivering vowels utterly percussively, giving vowel-oriented rhymes a whip-snap staccato most people need consonants for. It changes the whole approach. The words themselves are clever and unpredictable, featuring a dozen witty similes a song, while the delivery is assertive, bordering on aggressive, without tipping into violence. Finally, the production is hooky, head bobbing, and atmospheric, worthy of instrumental hip hop. There are choruses, but they're only used twice per track, and they're surprisingly good. I've gone back to those tracks 3 times each before I even had time to write this. Really good.
As you might have guessed, the album doesn't quite live up to that level for its duration. Tracks 7 to 11 get more repetitive, with more party rap choruses, which I don't love. And then Indy 500 is a manifesto that falls flat, and Evolution of Man's 6 minute "intro" is aimless and weird. Though, as a pacing move, it does provide a nice aside on this long album. The rest falls somewhere in the middle, a bit longwinded, less propulsive, but featuring some great rapping and production.
Where does that leave us? Well, at worst its 4 great songs, followed by a decent album. If the rest of that album ends up growing on me (and it will have that chance), this will be the kind of album I keep spring-loaded to recommend to people. I'm very tempted to 5 it, but I think I'm just too seduced by that opening salvo. As an album, its still good for 4.5/5
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