Othorized FAM — Hot Like Sahara Sand

Second studio album released by Othorized FAM, a hip-hop group from Staten Island. The group consists of Molly-Q, Lounge Lo, Wigs and Crunch Lo. There are no production credits. Guests are Lounge Lo's big brother — and new member of the Wu-Tang Clan for about a year when ChamberMusik picked up the project and legitimized it among the Wu releases — Cappadonna, the affiliate of the group Lighter Shade, Polite of American Cream Team, Franky Boots, Clocka, Killerman Archer and Son Don Moet, already a guest on several Solomon Childs records.

The record starts off in surprisingly good fashion with first cut "Ironfist Pillage": the boys deliver bars with an energetic, lively and fluid rapping style over praiseworthy and epic boom bap production, even Cappadonna sounds worthy on this beat. Immediately after the album drops and the following songs feature boom bap rhythms with dark and haunting sounds and tough, hard and heavy drums, while the execution simply sounds without infamy and without praise. “You Shine” is another highlight in these 80 minutes of material: I have no idea who made the beat, I imagine it could be someone from the production team 140 Productions (Shortree maybe?) or Mizza, but can't be sure.

Quality boom bap, tight and sparse drums, dark and echoing vocal samples, frenetic piano keys that randomly fall in the middle of the track giving a feeling of uneasiness and fear amidst the bars of Othorized FAM. Unfortunately, after these few minutes there are no more similar moments, even if the product never has really bad tracks. There's some honest boom bap, okay rap, then the album rests on its laurels in the final part with a series of negligible and unnecessary choices, recycled from albums released a dozen years earlier  ("Basic Killer Instinct" and "Choose Ya Weapon" both come from "New Life 4 the Hunted" by Genaside II, a hip hop and electronic album released in 1996, whose production is credited to Charlie Meatz, Chilly Phatz, Kao Bonez and James from Shit as co-producers) which last up to seven and eight minutes.

Released by Chambermusik in 2008, about a year after they also released their first CD, this is an effort that has its moments and that certainly with about half an hour less material would be a much more solid and cohesive album than it actually is. 6/10.