Trinity Garden Cartel is a collective from the Houston neighborhood of the same name. During its few years of activity, the collective has made use of several artists: for its debut album, Darrell "D of Trinity Garden Cartel" Williams (producer of the tape and co-author of the lyrics together with Darren Lewis, other member of the group), Derek Paxton (aka DJ Freestyle) and Michael "Mike B" Banks. The samples chosen are simple, Isaac Hayes, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Whiters; Stick 1 from Screwed Up Click to fix the sound, while the disk is distributed by the locals labels Cartel Records and Revolution Records, the latter is a subsidiary of the giant Ichiban.
The production, credited to Williams, Paxton and Banks, is made up of tight, minimal, skinny, cheap beats, slow skinny syncopated drum machine on which the group delivers with a slow syncopated style generic bars that are mainly gangsta, hardcore and braggadocio. "Nothing Personal" is the first track of the tape: splendid light jazzy rhythm for the intro, boom bap midtempo with heavy skinny syncopated drum machine, slow syncopated delivery of the group.
Police sirens open the next track, there's a helicopter I think and a guy running away, cheerful festive intro, jazzy cheerful boom bap simple, tight looped trumpet sample, delivery in the same unchanged style as before. The title track has a ballad, jazzy rhythm with light piano and smooth syncopated delivery with which the group spits out the best lyrics of the tape, supported by a jazzy beat with light piano and a splendid outro with strings.
It follows "It Ain't What It Used to Be", simple production, lean boom bap with tight and flat syncopated drum with sample dope in the background, female functional chorus. The fifth choice has a midtempo boom bap with g-funk synths in the background, while the next three pieces are quite simplistic: skinny boom bap, simple deliveries, "Nines Kept Loaded" has an annoying beat. "Talk Your A... Off" has a light funky rhythm, simple boom bap, lean syncopated drum and slow syncopated delivery. "Dyme Bagg" features a gaunt jazzy-funky boom bap, with lean midtempo syncopated drum and slow syncopated delivery. Two identical versions of "Nines Kept Loaded" and "Laws Out to Get Me" close.
Overall, it's an album that shouldn't stand up, it's born not to stand up, it's born to fall, and in fact the group will be picked up by Rap-A-Lot later, but somehow this album still manages to stand up worthily, with some discreet cuts. Maybe the second listen could give you better feelings than the first one, but don't go any further.
Rating: 6/10.
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