LISTED REVIEWS
'The War Of Art' is something that stands out in originality. It's a welcome alternative to most of rap’s current releases, showing just how far the boundaries of this music can be stretched, without loosing the old-school spirit.
POSTED 04|22|2006
Chances are slim you’ve ever heard of this young rapper/entrepreneur, but it’s one of those struggling artists fighting himself a way above the troubled water of rap’s infected pool of facsimiles. 'Vipassana' is not excellent, not mind-blowing but it's a decent effort and a proof of Small Eyez' persistence and lyrical tightness.
POSTED 04|19|2006
Combine that with the duality of production: sunshine jazzy boombap as opposed to dark guitars that so well match the Shape Shifters style, and you’ll have not only an album that will be savoured by merely the Shape Shifter/Visionaries fans but by many lovers of the West Coast underground’s finesse and freshness.
POSTED 04|19|2006
The army literally goes for lyrical war. AOTP stands for murder-death-kill rhymes that – metaphorically – trash the competition and the half-assed. Almost every track has that raw war edge, and whether you’re wondering if the whole CD is about bragging and boasting.
POSTED 04|18|2006
This album, sometimes R&B-ish, but never boring (except for 'Baby'), grows on you with every spin you give it. Include the nice scratching, the samples and oversee a few of Term’s incapabilites and 'Out The Gate' turns out to be a very decent debut album!
POSTED 04|17|2006
Chamber music to bang your head to, raw and soulful with serious lyrics, it’s clear why MF Grimm gave these cats a chance to let the world hear their work. It lasted a few albums (I’m guessin The Longshots' 'Hunger (!) Music' album) since we heard this kind of raw underground vibes. With only a few minors, this record is a winner.
POSTED 04|08|2006
Since his group Babbletron is on a (short) hiatus, Cool Calm Pete ought the time ready for a solo project. And hell, time was ready! The Korean-born Queens representative managed to put together a fresh album with creative productions, lazy raps and a healthy dose of cynicism.
POSTED 04|01|2006
'The Red Giants' is a pleasant surprise to us. There’s a lot of resemblance with other artists, you can easily tell the influences, but through this background, they manage to create a style that will entertain every rap fan, soundin oh so smooth to the ear.
POSTED 04|01|2006
No need to introduce Madlib, unless you’ve been in a distant galaxy for the last ten or something years, although I wouldn’t bet my VW Polo on it if they haven’t heard of him yet over there too.
POSTED 04|01|2006
A collection of B-sides is always a hit or a miss, and mostly arouses contempt with the consumer. What’s a B-side anyway? An abundant extra, a minor remix of the original or merely a collection item for the vinyl heads to treasure?
POSTED 03|28|2006from the vaults
