Rockness Monsta — Ether Rocks

Five years after his last effort, Jahmal Bush aka Rockness Monsta bka Rock of Heltah Skeltah is back to releasing something. The tape is entirely produced by Ron Browz.

A few years ago Ron Browz abandoned hip-hop production for high-profile artists, Rock brings him back to the forefront for his second CD as soloist, which is an entirely battle/braggadocio project. The first eight minutes aren't bad. They don't even stand out too much from the gigantic offering presented by the hip-hop scene this season, Rockness Monsta sounds good on these boom bap productions, even if the music is quite generic. When "Beastie Boyz" arrives you begin to understand one of the few big problems with this collaboration.

Ron Browz decides to alternate boom bap production with trap one after the other, it can happen that there are two trap tracks in a row, but that's a coincidence. It's a big problem, because the veteran Brooklyn emcee sounds good on boom bap and sounds terrible on more modern beats. Not even Method Man, who comes from the same school and dominated boom bap for decades, releasing one hit after another and killing every guest spot, manages to save “Beastie Boyz” due to a cheap, sleazy trap beat.

Ron Browz guesses the beat for "Faith" with a sound based on boom bap with more soulful nuances than usual, unfortunately, Rock is joined at the mic by the same producer, who is also the main guest of the project, together with his collaborator The Last American B-Boy, that sink the track. The other guests are unable to make an impact in the effort, falling on poor beats, in addition to the aforementioned Method Man from Shaolin, also Steele and Ruste Juxx both from Boot Camp Clik, Frankie Storm, Bo Blackk and Milly D.O.D.

The album takes on some quite curious contours. Made in Czech Republic, published by American Bboy and distributed by Fat Beats in vinyl format, a red sticker present on the vinyl credits Tek of Smif-n-Wessun as a guest, when the correct guest is the other half of the duo, Steele, who is credited correctly on both the vinyl cover and the vinyl. Later, a CD edition was also released where the sticker was removed. Bad effort for Rock, not recommended. 4/10.