This is the divisive beauty of Cappadonna, stage name of Darryl Hill, native of Staten Island, original member, then close affiliate, finally definitive member of the Wu-Tang Clan. Cappadonna albums are a bit like coffee at Starbucks, by now you know it's rubbish and you won't want to go back to them, but they have that almost irresistible charm of their own.
In the underground circuit for almost twenty years, Cappa releases the eleventh studio album through his own label, and drops 12 tracks for a total of over 43 minutes: he no longer holds a solo album, no longer holds even half a solo album, is forced to place an average of at least two guests for each track in order to be able to carry the weight of an entire LP on his shoulders. Great protagonists of this edition are Big Nate All Star, guest in the first seven choices, and PBS Skinz, guest in five of the first six tracks. In the second part of the record there's room for Desert Eagle of U-God's group The Hillside Scramblers, Carlton Fisk of Inspectah Deck's group The Housegang, Kennedy Price (all with two appearances), JoJo Pellegrino (in "Trouble"), Zeph Mcfly, Micah, Reallidoe and Lounge Mode, Cappadonna's brother. Half of all, sound bad on this record.
Fusha, the record's major producer, provides an acceptable jazzy boom bap for the first track, with light soul female samples, but Cappadonna delivers badly and the other two do worse than him. The second rhythm is made by Son Soul, light beat, same performers. The third song is a reggae filler, while the next one has an extravagant production, I think boom bap hip dance. Son Soul completes the work by placing a trap rhythm for the fifth piece, "Money Bags", Cappadonna and the metric have never met, there's a lame hook and the others deliver badly. The record doesn't end its surprises, because on track number six comes what is probably the first effortless delivery by everyone, in the first twenty minutes Cappa hasn't yet given up, but here he does, on another extravagant boom bap created by Fusha.
Halfway point, track number seven, the last with Big Nate All Star, Fusha makes a boom bap hip house and is also the second guest (not well) in a song where Cappadonna also sings. So, "Trouble". It's a sudden glow, a deep and unexpected light in the murky darkness of the icy waters this album is descending into. Immense sample, from "Fourth Movement: Passacaglia" by Yusef Lateef (1970), dark, deep, supported by scattered bells and a skinny drum, hard and pounding, rapid: Cappadonna brings out the best performance of the whole project and, perhaps, of his last five years, then Desert Eagle, smooth, decent, even Lounge Mode goes well. JoJo Pellegrino rips the cut with a smooth and effortless flow; Carlton Fisk's turn comes, attempting to annihilate everyone with a remarkable delivery, however, it's simply a good prelude to Kennedy Price's final verse. She kills the track with an extra-verse, lethal, devastating, hardcore, smoothness flow. There hasn't been a flow of this kind on a Cappadonna album since "The Pillage", when Ghostface provided a titanic performance in the last song of that debut.
In this second part of the record, Cappadonna is continually overshadowed by guests: Desert Eagle does better on Micah's light rhythm, with a great sample, and Kennedy Price also rips "Give You Up", with a spoken-sung delivery on honest rhythm with good male soulful sample. Carlton Fisk takes the stage on the penultimate song's decent jazzy boom bap, while the Wu-Tang rapper returns to show up in the last joint, on a decent energetic boom bap.
Bottom line: as a Cappadonna album, it's a bad product. As a Big Nate All Star & PBS Skinz album, it's a bad product. The first part clearly sinks the entire effort into the mud, from which it's difficult to pull it and clean it properly. The "Trouble" posse somehow works, I think with those guests in the first section, the guy would have built a tape worth listening to, at least. This isn't, despite the praiseworthy efforts of the guests: Carlton Fisk, Desert Eagle and even Lounge Mode understand they're on a Wu-Tang Clan album and act accordingly, and I thank them for that.
Kennedy Price clearly MVP.
Rating: 4.5/10.
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