In 2009, DITC rappers Omar "OC" Credle and Andre "AG" Barnes release a collaborative studio album. The last disk from Brooklyn emcee is of four years ago, while for the Bronx rapper is the first solo project in three seasons. The production credits Statik Selektah, E Blaze, Davel "Bo" McKenzie, Lord Finesse, KC and Show. The female singer Mirror Image is the only guest of the tape. DJ Premier is busy with the scratches in "Two for the Money", but he's uncredited.
There's energy and excellent chemistry between the two DITC, which in the best moments of the effort, cover their respective weaknesses by raising their strengths, also thanks to the producers who put the vintage jazzy sound, New York nineties [sound], back to pay homage to the golden age.
Unfortunately, the cohesion of the duo doesn't last for all the listening, the lyrics aren't very inspired and not too different from the themes close to the blatant braggadocio already tackled previously in their career and the rhythms all more or less similar: in the middle of the disc, with the arrival of E-Blaze you enter a jazzy-generic spiral from which you no longer exit. Tight, essential, skeletal rhythms, sometimes heavy, all accessible, but with a decent delivery of the duo and functional hook that make the tracks quite average and indistinguishable.
The three cuts of Lord Finesse & Bo McKenzie ("Give It Back", "Alpha", "Get Away") are decent, without high notes, while Showbiz still proves to be up to par on pieces like "Two for the Money". "Oasis" boasts an amazing dark, tense, bouncy, well-executed boom bap jazzy, excellent rhythm created by Statik to introduce OC and AG in the collab album, pure DITC mood. Simple scratched hook, great soulful sample looped in background on the hook, good delivery of the duo, OC especially.
"God's Gift" presents an ethereal jazzy production, jewel pulled out of E-Blaze, tight rhythm, essential, shiny, polished, undertone delivery of OC, as smooth as possible on a beat congenial to him, AG also does well, a hook that remains functional. "Two for the Money". Great jazzy light beat, essential, tight, tense, with Premier cuts and rhythm invented by Showbiz, DITC vibes with Barnes and Credle in delivery, nice piece, perhaps too short.
Half CD is produced by E-Blaze (that with Show composed the duo Born Lords) and the other half of the set is provided by DITC beatmakers (Lord Finesse and Show), but Statik seems the only one to have figured out how to bring back the vintage DITC sound, props to him. Released by DITC Records and Nature Sounds, the disc features several slips including "Young With Style" (bare, tight, essential jazzy rhythm of Showbiz & KC, based on clapping, braggadocio cut), but all in all it's decent, listenable, 6/10.
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