Bronx native Percee P finally breaks through with a full length solo release. According to the press, Percee picked up a mic at 10 years of age, in about 1978, and after stints in retail, and years flogging tapes on the street, has finally risen to prominence. Needless to say, perseverance has been one of Percee’s most valuable assets. His discography seems to confirm this – featuring on no less than 60 releases since the early nineties without a solo LP is a serious achievement. Stones Throw have also put some serious effort into venerating all this, printing all the lyrics (there’s a lot in a whole album of speed rapping), and an incredible list of shout outs.
Context to the side for a second, Perseverance is a great record. It’s not that the content of Percee’s lyrics is groundbreaking; it’s mostly about the game, working hard, bitches, nostalgia and all that. But the flows carry it all so ably, the rhymes are so relentless and dizzying that what he’s rapping about seems secondary. Madlib’s contribution is invaluable, his trademark brilliant, swinging, booming mixes provide an ideal template for Percee to fill. Vinnie Paz of Jedi Mind Tricks and Guilty Simpson make typical appearances, rapping mostly about guns, on an epic beat recycled from a recent Beat Konducta release; it’s that cartoonish representation of violence on which so many careers have been built. Aesop Rock’s appearance ‘The Dirt and Filth’ is like a nod to the grim, uncompromising sounds of Def Jux’s landmark releases. Raw Heat is probably my favourite cut, with a beat so tight you can literally hear the levels pumping as the compressors kick in, a kick that sounds like a depth charge, and flows so cyclical and punctuated they swing in time to the millisecond, it’s perfect.
This is a strong release that fits seamlessly into the Stones Throw catalogue. It probably won’t convert too many new fans, there aren’t really any curve balls here, but for those like myself with an ear for this sort of thing, it’s nice.
Tom Smith
