This is a very interesting release from Anticon. It’s revealing that these doyens of intellectualised hip hop infused aural aesthetics, are re-issuing a straight up Hip Hop record dating from as far back as 1995. This attempt at revisionist Hip Hop history shows a real reverence for the genre from which they’ve gained so much.
The premise is that this album, had it been released on time in 1997, could have changed the course of history by proving that honest, intelligent material was still possible within the orthodoxy, thus at least in part preventing the slide into crass, commercialised R’n’B, and gangsta posturing.
But, the labyrinth of Hip Hop philosophising aside for a second, this is a great record. Kevroc lives up to all the hype with his dense, rhythmically complex rhymes, musing intelligently on everything from his sens eof self worth, to b-boy braggadocio, the ins and outs of the game, and a little political commentary. All in a voice possibly lower in the register than any MC to date.
GM Webb D’ beats are billed as a “Shadowy take on DITCâ€, which is not too far from the truth. Though they do of course sound a little dated, particularly the tinny synth chords that generally set the mood, but having said that the album holds up remarkably well over ten years later. This album points toward what could have been in hip hop, and it just might re-invigorate a few cynical heads out there.
