In 2011, Statik Selektah releases his seventh studio album, his fourth solo. He has several mixtapes and EPs to his credit and during the period between the previous producer album and this one, he worked with the LOX, Army of the Pharaohs, Freddie Gibbs, AZ and Edo G, launching the careers of friends Termanology, Slaine and Reks. The meaning of the title acts as an oxymoron to the record itself: here are forty rappers, nothing is controlled.
The title track opens the tape, Sean Price and Termanology deliver hardcore on a East Coast boom bap. It follows "Play the Game", with Big K.R.I.T and Freddie Gibbs, excellent flows on a light jazzy-soul rhythm. On the third cut, the solidity of the record starts to slip away: jazzy-rnb production, Mac Miller is good, but Josh Xantus' pop hook sounds bad. The next track is the best of the edition, Statik Selektah invents a sensational anthem for New York: perfect production, light, soft, incredibly New York jazzy boom bap, Statik wants to do his version of Minnelli & Sinatra by bringing to the field Styles P & Saigon. Opens Jared Evan, who sends this intro-hook into the genre anthology, Styles P kills the first part with an incredible flow and a delivery that you can rarely hear in the rap of that years, supported by the wonderful horn in the background; this sample leaves room for an equally excellent hook by Jared Evan, spectacular, subliminally modeled by Saigon. This latter assassinates the second verse with a great delivery, closes Evan with a sung part in the third verse. Statik surpasses himself and creates a timeless beat, one of his best ever, iconic cut.
For the next track, the beatmaker calls three lesser-known: on this piece, XV has uncertain flow and wobbly delivery, as well as providing a weak hook, Jon Connor and The Kid Daytona perform better. "Never a Dull Moment" has a great jazzy bap boom, boasting MCs like Bun B and the young Termanology and Action Bronson: they're all pretty pleasantly smooth, the UGK rapper tries to kill the cut. Choice number seven presents Talib Kweli and Lil' Fame, as well as Colin Munroe, but something is wrong, the production seems of poor quality under the lyrical power of Fame, energetic and sick as usual.
After a fairly acceptable and at times solid first part, comes a difficult and mediocre middle section, where some obvious b-sides rhythms of Statik meet newbie rappers and amateurs, who can't work miracles: there's a mesmerizing beat who annihilate the performers, Pill is dull, while Reks try to save the track. "Down" has a heavy rhythm that would have been fine in the previously song, these guys with unlikely names aren't up to the beat, which isn't good anyway. A decent posse track follows, light boom bap, good Statik bridge, good Nas sample, but no one impresses here. Dom Kennedy brings out a great flow in "Smoke On", with Strong Arm Steady, while the next two posse are mediocre, respectively with a heavy and a jazzy-soul rhythm (good flow by Skyzoo here).
Nitty Scott MC & Rapsody are a healthy breath of fresh air after so many generic choices, these two girls kill the almost decadent jazzy-soul boom bap of Statik Selektan in "Black Swan": Nitty Scott opens with a young and cheerful flow, Rapsody delivers beautifully flowing on an ethereal rhythm, ripping them both the track, clear highlight. "Harlem Blues" is a rare solo, assigned to Smoke DZA, which proves he can adequately cover a song by himself: jazzy-soul boom bap, good sample, reggae-like delivery, but solid. The amateurs STS and Dosage are exalted on a cheerful jazzy-soul beat, they're the latest emerging rappers on the disc. Joell Ortiz and Brother Ali get along in "Damn Right", a cheerful jazzy-soul production, Ortiz has a good flow, while Brother Ali is a certainty. Lecrae signs the latest solo cut on this long LP, on the umpteenth jazzy boom bap by Statik, which sounds cheerful but has a streak of sadness in the background. Closes a posse track dedicated to DJs, with Premier, Babu, Scram Jones and Caze, nice tribute.
Album of 19 cuts, for a total of over 72 minutes: it's extremely irregular, with bangers followed by two or three weak choices each time, there are too many guests, too much confusion and too many newcomers. It's a shame, because it has many high points, but the first part deceives you with its solidity, and the whole album collapses after twenty minutes and never gets up from the carpet.
Rating: 6/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment