Second studio album by Prodigal Sunn, Sunz of Man rapper and affiliate of the Wu-Tang Clan. Production is mainly performed by Salvee One and DJ B. Original, with five beats each respectively, together with Shroom Beatz, B. Cayer, M. Archacki, St. Peter, Fonkytaff, Fatal Sunn, Kinetic and Shaka Amazulu. Guests are Ghostface Killah, Cappadonna and Masta Killa of Wu-Tang Clan, Heaven Razah, Killah Priest and 60 Second Assassin of Sunz of Man, 12 O'Clock of Brooklyn Zu, Shogun the Assassin and Dom Pachino of Killarmy, Black Knights, Shaka Amazulu, Leggezin, an artist affiliated with Killa Beez, Makeba Mooncycle, sister of Prodigal Sunn, and Big Twins who participates as the only external guest to the Killa Beez.
The album is a Killa Beez party featuring some of the major groups affiliated with the Staten Island supergroup, as well as the Wu-Tang Clan itself: Sunz of Man, Killarmy, Black Knights and Brooklyn Zu. The production is competent, cohesive, solid and accessible, flows smoothly for over an hour: the drums are dry, thin, hard and tight, often slow but sometimes uptempo too, and accompany melodic samples, sometimes dark, and haunting loops. P Sunn delivers his verses in a style that's often regular, clear and calm, sometimes hardcore. Heaven Razah, who along with the author is part of Sunz of Man, offers the first highlight of the album after several solo tracks, on a simple boom bap. The first Wu-Tang Clan rapper to make an appearance on the LP is Ghostface Killah, who makes a top entry into "Big Manufacturers" and smashes the boom bap with energetic style and dope flow.
"The Habitat" features two other Wu-Tang rappers, yet the song doesn't take off as much as the previous one, on a dark uptempo beat. Big Twins' raw vocals stand out clearly from that of the other guests, the Queens rapper delivers well along with P Sunn on a beautiful downtempo drum and strings, in a ballad track. "All Is Fair" is one of the latest masterpiece tracks by Two on the Road, a duo formed by Prodigal Sunn and 12 O'Clock: boom bap uptempo, excellent drum, splendid strings, good sample chipmunk soul, energetic and regular rap of the two MCs. "Black History" is a good track featuring Makeba and the Black Knights, and precedes "Trialz of Life": chipmunk soul sample followed by a beautiful heavenly soul loop, both taken from "That's All Right With Me" by Esther Phillips.
Sunz of Man's MC lets the beat breathe, which features a hard and wicked drum, and delivers with a flowing style, making one of his best songs. "Moonlight" is blessed with the performer's crisp, velvet rap: boasts gorgeous strings, heavy hard midtempo drum machine and another chipmunk soul sample, pitched up from "Where Do I Go From Here (Sonny Carson's Theme)" by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, one of the many masterpieces from that film's soundtrack. This is the latest solo song, before the final section, which features several Sunz of Man and Killarmy acts: among these boom bap rhythms, with dusty, dry and minimal drums, first midtempo then uptempo, the songs with Killah Priest definitely stand out, proving to be in excellent shape.
Prodigal Sunn has been making good music for three decades and this document is another confirmation of the goodness of his contribution to hip-hop. In the cover, the planets, including one with the Sunz of Man symbol and one with the Wu-Tang logo, revolve around the sun, which bears the artist's logo.
Highlights: "Legendary", "Big Manufacturers", "Entrepreshooterz", "All Is Fair", "Trialz of Life", "Moonlight", "World News", "Vintage".
Rating: 7.2/10.
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