In 2004, Sunz of Man released a reissue of "The First Testament", the album bootlegged in 1999. The effort takes shape with songs borrowed directly from that album, combined with other Hell Razah songs from his debut album "When All Hell Breaks Loose", released in 2001. The music is therefore a mixture of mid-nineties rhythms made very well by the historic producer of the group Supreme aka Supreme Kourt, by Y-Kim of Royal Fam and by Priority Records' in-house producer Dropsect who at that time was recording tracks with Shabazz the Disciple for his never-released debut album, and of sparse and simplistic early 2000s rhythms credited to amateur guys like Data, Joe Loopz, Mark V, David Burnette and Nitro.
The other performers in addition to the group members are Baghdad aka Tray Bag, Hell Razah's older brother, Kavalier, Bambue, and former Sunz of Man members Shabazz the Disciple and Zodiac Killah (even credited as 7th Ambassador). The note cover credited even 4th Disciple (for the song "Sunz of Man Court", possibly) and Pedro as producers and mixing, while Shabazz the Disciple, 7th Ambassador, Baghdad and Timbo King are all part of Sunz of Man, while 60 Second Assassin, appearing seven times in this effort, isn't named.
1. "In the Beginning" (Killah Priest ft. Shabazz the Disciple)
Originally, this is the outro of the LP "The First Testament" programmed to be released in 1999. Track recorded around 1995. Almost a Shabazz solo cut, with a couple of final bars from Priest and the outro performed by him. Solid and excellent boom bap production provided by Dropsect, vibrant bassline, melodic samples, tight dry drum. Shabazz comes in with good energy and delivers a few bars, Killah Priest is reserved a couple of lines, then the guy does the outro. This is a cut of The Disciples (of Armageddon) aka D.O.A., a short-lived duo formed by Shabazz the Disciple and Killah Priest, but the act didn't find the success the duo hoped for, and they soon disbanded. This is one of the two tracks in which Hell Razah isn't present.
2. "Must B tha Music" (Killah Priest, 60 Second Assassin, Hell Razah & Prodigal Sunn)
Track taken from Hell Razah's debut "When All Hell Breaks Loose" (2001). Originally, Timbo King is featured along with Killah Priest, but here his verse is removed and replaced with those of 60 Second Assassin and Prodigal Sunn. Cheap production from Joe Loopz, but somehow better than many others on Hell Razah's first CD. Liveable rhythm, even melodic, good piano in the background, weak and sparse drum, almost hidden. Good rapping by Killah Priest and 60 Second, kind of lame and simplistic hook, hardcore rap by Hell Razah which tries to rip the track, P Sunn closes it. This isn't a great track and is one of the few discreet choices from that record, surely not among the highlights of this compilation.
3. "Who Are the Sunz of Man?" (Hell Razah, Prodigal Sunn, Killah Priest & 60 Second Assassin ft. 7th Ambassador)
Tune taken from the original "The First Testament". On this track there are the four members of Sunz of Man featured on the first official LP in addition to 7th Ambassador, one of the members of the original Da Last Future group and even earlier of the Red Hook Mad Mob group. The production is done by Supreme, also a member of Da Last Future and Mad Mob. Lively sax, deep powerful bassline, midtempo sparse dry drum, fresh rhythm. Simple hook, Hell Razah's syncopated hardcore delivery. Prodigal Sunn with a rougher voice drops hardcore bars. 7th Ambassador spits hardcore with rough, raw style. Hook. Killah Priest with a more cautious, calm, almost spoken word, whispered style. 60 Second Assassin closes the cut with an extra verse, delivery inspired, confident, good flow. The song is all an indecipherable abstract battle rap that mixes bars between the metaphysical, the spiritual, crime and bragging. The least casual verse of the track is that of Killah Priest who builds a narrative completely imbued with biblical and religious references.
4. "Oh! Now You Bangin'" (Hell Razah)
This song is taken from the same LP released by Hell Razah in 2001 and is a solo by Chron Smith on a cheap production that's hard to define "boom bap", created by the beatmaker Data. Poor and squallid rhythm, the rapper is trying hard but he can't bring the track among the best of his debut CD due to a terrible beat that is going against him for three minutes, this loop is awful.
5. "Bring Back the Mic" (Killah Priest, 60 Second Assassin, Prodigal Sunn & Hell Razah)
Choice taken from the original "The First Testament", with the four rappers from the first official LP. Dark beat by Royal Fam producer Y-Kim. Booming bassline, boom bap, vinyl crackling sound, dry midtempo dusty gaunt dry drum, intro and inspired delivery by Killah Priest, who delivers some rough lyrics of bragging with his own lyrical style, over a great beat. Almost chanted rap from 60 Second Assassin in an abstract battle rap. P Sunn rabidly shouts metatemporal bars, hardcore, wall against wall with the track and with the rhythm. The track is closed by Hell Razah on the fourth verse, bringing the joint back to the streets amidst crime, hardcore, energetic, good flow.
Crucial to understanding the recording period, the intro by Killah Priest in which he pays homage to Y-Kim of Royal Fam, members of Sunz of Man (including Holy Psychiatrist, which is one of the monikers of Shabazz the Disciple; the track is therefore recorded when both 60 Sec and Shabazz were part of the group together with Priest, P Sunn and Hell Razah; even Zodiac Killah is shout out), Dreddy Kruger of Royal Fam, the Population Click crew, the Wu-Tang Clan and also RZA, this means that the song was recorded before 1996, probably between the end of 1994 and early 1995, while Shabazz was recording songs with Penalty Recordings.
6. "Ghetto Government" (Hell Razah & Killah Priest)
The original version included on the first CD published by Hell Razah few years ago is a remix with Timbo King on the first verse, chorus and stanza by Killah Priest, third verse recited by Razah and last verse performed by Priest again. Cheap production by Mark V, almost decent dark piano, poor drums, weak rhythm. Good opening verse from Hell Razah, Killah Priest takes the cut with a smooth rapping style, closes Razah again on the third verse. Timbo King stanza, who with the other two makes up both the Maccabees and the Black Market Militia, present in the original cut is removed. Unmemorable cut.
7. "Champagne Room" (Hell Razah ft. Baghdad)
Track always taken from the same Hell Razah debut album. The track features Baghdad, one of his older brother's many monikers. Triumphant, cheap musical carpet provided by Data, bad boom bap, bad drums, hardcore rap from the Smith brothers. Hook and opening verse of Baghdad, hook and second verse of Hell Razah, the guys celebrate themselves by describing a night at the club in a club song, bad club song. Avoidable cut. It's also the worst one on Hell Razah's debut album by a margin.
8. "Deep in the Water" (Killah Priest, Prodigal Sunn & Hell Razah ft. Shabazz the Disciple)
Song from "The First Testament" in which the performers return to be four of the original rappers of the group. Dropsect first production on the record, heavy bassline in the background, dark, dark piano loop, dirty dusty downtempo drum, beautiful beat. Killah Priest at his best on these kinds of beats gives one of his best performances, pulling off a stream-of-consciousness narrative filled with biblical references. The same cannot be said for Hell Razah, who delivers as he wants, even too fast for the tempo of the rhythm, flow ok, decent stream of consciousness, but he doesn't prove to be completely suitable for this type of production. Prodigal Sunn's raw, dirty, rough, rusty flow, hardcore delivery, again not exactly suited to the beat, but still better than Hellraizor. Shabazz closes going away hardcore, shouting, madly performs his verse and he has good reasons being a dark verse.
9. "Elements" (Killah Priest, Hell Razah & Prodigal Sunn ft. Shabazz the Disciple)
The title track of the third official studio album released by Wu-Tang Clan affiliate hip-hop group from Brooklyn, New York, Sunz of Man is originally "Writing Rhymes With a Liquid Pen". This is a song recorded around 1995 by The Disciples aka The Disciples of Armageddon (D.O.A.), a duo formed by Killah Priest & Shabazz the Disciple who released this track on vinyl in 1997 on the minor label Gotta Pay Da Rent Recordings. The track features the Sunz of Man as guests, represented by Hell Razah & Prodigal Sunn, because Priest and Shabazz are no longer part of the group at that time, although Priest was present as a credited member when Sunz of Man released their first solo album in summer 1998. "Elements", "Writing Rhymes With a Liquid Pen" and "Combinations of Death" are the same song with different titles: the latter is inserted in "The Old Testament", greatest hits of the group released in 2006.
The track features the same performers as the previous song, four of the original rappers of the B'klyn group, instead of 60 Second Assassin there's again Shabazz the Disciple. Dropsect production, vibrant bass line, dry, very hard, ruthless drum, downtempo, extraordinary melodic sample, Dropsect invents one of the most beautiful rhythms in the group catalogue. Killah Priest flies on this splendid soundscape, excellent flowing, silky, clean, dope flow. Shabazz the Disciple on verse number two, with a calm, smooth, flowing flow, good delivery. Killah Priest introduces Shabazz as "the Holy Wizard", another of Shabazz's several aliases. The third stanza is one of Hell Razah's best imitations of Shabazz, who's clearly paying homage to him here.
His flow looks good, I think a lot of the credit goes to the soundscape, even if the guy is still doing a great work, this time he can make his flow run as much as he wants, the beat accompanies him pleasantly. Prodigal Sunn enters straight leg, shouting totally, purely hardcore, allowing himself to easily distinguish himself from previous performers: he creates an evident dissonance between his agitated, hasty, raw and rough style and the beat which is calm, calm, glossy, clean. Fantastic, excellent cut, among the best in the Sunz of Man discography. Even without going through the credits, you can figure out how this joint is recorded before 1996, because P Sunn is still shouting his bars as if he were in Da Last Future, then in time he will adopt a style more similar to that of Killah Priest and GZA in both execution and lyric research.
10. "Like It or Not" (Hell Razah & Prodigal Sunn ft. Baghdad)
Another track from "When All Hell Breaks Loose", with Sunzini and Baghdad. Incredibly annoying production done by David Burnette, unlistenable rhythm, uncontrollable messy dry drum, poor beat, wasted rap from Sunz of Man in these four minutes due to a terrible weak rhythm. The structure of the song is weak: skit from a movie, chorus, Baghdad interlude, infinte chorus, first verse by Hell Razah, chorus, interlude, second verse by Baghdad, third verse by P Sunn, long chorus, interlude, outro.
11. "Hell Hole" (Hell Razah ft. Zodiac Killah)
From the original "The First Testament". This is one of Da Last Future's songs released in an EP in 1994. Da Last Future is a progenitor group of Sunz of Man. The performers are Hell Razah and Zodiac Killah aka 7th Ambassador, both members of a local Red Hook group, the Mad Mob, which also included Supreme, then internal producer of the group for a short time, and Shabazz the Disciple. Haunting loop, vinyl crackle, powerful rumbling bassline, midtempo heavy hard drum, dirty and dusty, Supreme's excellent rhythm. Hell Razah slow delivery, simple hook, Zodiac Killah verse. The boy boasts a more defined style, rough, raw, flowing, personal, good flow. Second stanza of Hell Razah, hook, second verse of Zodiac Killah with a hardcore style, rough, raw, he rips the cut.
12. "Hot Line" (Hell Razah)
Even this choice is taken from the original bootlegged album "The First Testament". Hell Razah solo on a crazy production realized by the genius of Su-Preme. Boom bap, powerful bassline, tight minimal drum, melodic samples, confident, clean, fresh, flowing delivery by Hell Razah, dope rapping. Track recorded around 1994, probably.
13. "The Law" (60 Second Assassin, Killah Priest, Prodigal Sunn & Hell Razah)
Track from "The First Testament" with the four group emcees who made the first LP, so recorded after 1995. After two tracks, P Sunn and Hell Razah return, the pillars of the group from the point of view of mere presence. Supreme's excellent rhythm, lively sax in the background, vinyl crackling sound, sparse, dusty, dirty downtempo drum, kicking dust off the street, good powerful bassline. Slow, calm delivery by Killah Priest. Hook sung by 60 Second Assassin, P Sunn's clean flowing delivery, boasting a different style than his pre-1996 cuts. Hell Razah on the third stanza, smooth, raw, good flow. 62nd closes by singing the final verse.
14. "The Sins of Man" (Killah Priest ft. Shabazz the Disciple)
Another one from "The First Testament". Haunting beat by Dropsect, who does an excellent job here. This is a production that would fit perfectly on the Gravediggaz album, and indeed there are two guest performers on that record, Killah Priest and Shabazz the Disciple. Very cold dark piano key looped, there are multiple overlapping piano keys, creepy female laughter, forgotten scratches, burlesque dark violins, finger snap loop that sounds like a kick or vice versa, drum in the background, from a shadow behind a wall in the dark pops a killer bass. The drum waits for something to happen and that something happens moments later, in fact. Manic entrance of Shabazz, bassline thickens, irregular delivery, unorthodox, rapid, agitated, creates panic, excellent spectacular style in a clearly cinematic cut.
There's no hook, unlike the original where there was a short hook and three Shabazz verses. Right here this track becomes one of the most curious of the Sunz of Man. The album should have been released in 1999 and the song sees the two exiles from the group, Shabazz the Disciple, who left it way back in 1995, and Killah Priest, who hasn't been part of the group unofficially for at least two years, since more or less 1997, when he began recording his solo debut album, focusing almost exclusively on that and leaving the crumbs to the Sunz of Man guys for the official debut album of what was to be his group, he was the leader, undoubtedly. Also because Hell Razah and Prodigal Sunn were much younger and certainly more inexperienced than Lord Messiah.
Killah Priest's verse replaces what was Shabazz's second verse in the original song. Priest doesn't start right away, he intelligently leaves room for rhythm and track, and he creates a sense of tension in the listener, what's next? Then he enters, with a style similar to that performed by Shabazz, agitated flow, more regular, more flowing, spectacular, he too manages to create and maintain a feeling of restlessness in the listener, also thanks to the beautiful production of Dropsect. Shabazz comes back with his third verse, the same as in the original cut, and gives another jab to the track, great flow. Killah Priest returns for the final verse, bloody, suffering, scary flow, sublime performance by the boys. The emcee refers to Shabazz as "the Holy Wizard" in this instance. The soundscape breathes over half a minute and he definitely deserved it, Dropsect was a genius here, genius.
"The Sins of Man" is the last piece with Killah Priest in this disk.
15. "What We Came to Do" (Hell Razah)
After four tracks to breathe, it's back to digging into Hell Razah's first CD to find something decent to bring to this new Sunz effort. Supreme, Sunz of Man's longtime producer, invents one of the least crappy beats on the record and it's still not a good or a decent one. But for two minutes it's acceptable. Weak piano loop, poor drum, very cheap boom bap rhythm, violins hinted at in the background, good rapping by Hell Razah, fluid, energetic, helps to make a track flow more quickly which fortunately doesn't exceed the length.
16. "Lulla Bye" (Hell Razah & Prodigal Sunn ft. Zodiac Killah)
Third and last of the three tracks recorded in 1994 for the "Da Last Future EP". In addition to the usual two, the song sees the presence of Prodigal Sunn and Killah Priest, while the first has a verse, the second recites only the outro. Supreme resounding production, booming bassline, fresh horns around the beat, elegant piano scale, dry, grumpy, midtempo drum. Syncopated, fragmented, erratic delivery of Hell Razah in its extra verse. Zodiac Killah has a shorter verse, but it kills the edge with a rough, raw, hardcore style, creating a dissonance with the shy elegance of the beat, which has some dark outlines, Supreme did an excellent job here too. Prodigal Sunn in the final verse, shouted, hardcore, gives us a taste of his style in 1993/1994, which will last for a few years, as can also be heard in the previous choices, before changing between 1995 and 1996. Outro by Killah Priest that pays homage to Da Last Future, Hell Razah, Holy Psychiatrist, P Sunn, Population Click, Wu-Tang and Gravediggaz.
This is the last track with Prodigal Sunn in the record.
17. "Combat" (Hell Razah ft. Zodiac Killah)
Track from "Da Last Future EP" released by the hip-hop group Da Last Future in 1994. The protagonists are again Hell Razah and Zodiac Killah, practically the group is a duo made up of them. Superlative production of Supreme, deep bassline, dry midtempo drum, elegant piano keys, dark sounds, some scattered bright sax touches. Extra verse from Hell Razah with a better than usual flow, Zodiac Killah destroys the beat with a rough, raw, smoothness flow.
18. "Sunz of Man Court" (ft. Kavalier & Shabazz the Disciple)
This choice is taken from "The First Testament". In this song there are no members of Sunz of Man in the current composition of the group. Shabazz the Disciple is the only one to have been part of the group that is present in this track, practically a solo cut by him produced by Dropsect. This song is one of his best and most-known tracks by Shabazz, it boasts more or less the same beat and lyrics as the original, just the beat is cleaned up, credits a different producer, because instead of 4th Disciple is credited Dropsect, and stops the track after Shabazz's second verse, removing the hook and outro from the 1995 original. Kavalier is sometimes uncredited on the original track and guest credited on the track released in this effort.
Dropsect does an excellent job behind the keyboards: the song starts with a thunderstorm, rain starts to fall, great bass line, hard, heavy, dirty, dusty drum, heavenly elegant piano scale, melodic samples, resounding beat. Energetic hardcore delivery from Shabazz, crediting himself as Scientific Shabazz aka The Holy Psychiatrist (he's repeatedly honored with this moniker in other tracks on this CD), and soaring over this spectacular soundscape. Kavalier guest hook sounding like a verse, the guy is close to the rapper, maybe he's his manager or one of his managers. Shabazz returns to close the song with his hook and a short final second verse.
Last track with Shabazz and one of the two without Hell Razah, the main rapper of this tape.
19. "B.B.P....Business Before Pleasure" (Hell Razah ft. Bambue & 7th Ambassador)
Track taken from Razah's debut. Sometimes the producer of this cheesy boom bap beat isn't credited, in any case this choice is provided by Nitro. The rhythm is terrible, shoddy drum, horrible loop, poor hook from Bambue and Razah, 7th Ambassador worthy in the first verse, Hell Razah not good in the second, Bambue closes with an outro. This is one of the worst tracks on Hell Razah's first LP, not recommended.
20. "Rowdy, Rowdy" (Hell Razah)
The last song of this album is taken again from "When All Hell Breaks Loose". Nitro also produces this Hell Razah solo. The beat isn't as bad as the other one, it's still minimal, sparse and skeletal with downtempo drum, decent loop, slow hardcore rap from Hell Razah which alone makes this tune decent, even if never essential.
Final Thoughts
Hell Razah is the biggest performer on the album with 18 out of 20 songs, he's practically everywhere, ahead of Killah Priest (9), Prodigal Sunn (9), 60 Second Assassin (7), Shabazz the Disciple (6) and Zodiac Killah aka 7th Ambassadors (5). It almost sounds like a Hell Razah solo album with the other guys as guests, also because eight of the twenty tracks included on the album come directly from his debut album and most of them are without guests.
From this sort of compilation published by X-Ray Records, the tracks originally intended for the bootlegged album "The First Testament" emerge forcefully, while the rest of the pieces are quite weak, resulting in 73 minutes of uneven and incoherent material. Not recommended, 6.5/10.
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