In 2008 this first volume is published, which collects unreleased songs and appearances by Hell Razah for a total of thirteen songs. Only four producers are credited for less than a third of the collection: IAM on “School of The Silver Mic”, Sam Sneed on “Till the Angels Come”, Kanye West on “Under the Vatican” and True Master for the beat on “Love of the Money". The guests practically all come from Killa Beez and are Killah Priest, Prodigal Sunn and 60 Second Assassin of Sunz of Man, the former Sunz of Man member 7th Ambassador, Timbo King & Dreddy Kruger of Royal Fam, Beretta 9 of Killarmy, Lord Superb of American Cream Team, Heart and Lazarus. IAM are credited as guests but actually have no contribution on the mic.
The compilation is introduced by "Power". Bouncy production, honest bass, weak samples, poor drums, Heart's chorus in the background and her own hook, hardcore verse by Timbo King, hardcore verse by Killah Priest, third verse by Hell Razah ending this Maccabeez cut. The next piece is "School of the Silver Mic", one of the few to have a production credit. The beat is the work of the French group IAM. The tune is practically the American version of "L'école du micro d'Argent (US Version)": over a dark, thick and difficult beat created by Imhotep, Prodigal Sunn and Hell Razah drop bars with hardcore rapping.
The third choice comes directly from Killah Priest's album "The Offering", this is also one of the few cuts to boast a production credit, Sam Sneed is behind the keyboards. Masada brings together Hell Razah and 7th Ambassador and creates a track that has the flavor of Last Future, when Priest's two childhood friends were just starting out and delivering bars over Supreme beats. This Sam Sneed beat is excellent, dark and beautiful, and in part it's reminiscent of those Supreme Kourt sound solutions. Priest, Hellraizor and Zodiac Killah fly on this type of production. It's easily one of the best moments of "The Offering" and also of this Hell Razah collection which seems a bit improvised by Chambermusik.
The fourth choice is an outrageous bouncy beat for "Streets to the Studio": this is another Maccabeez choice with Priest and Royal Fam leader Timbo King finding themselves delivering verses over questionable, cheap production. "Embarassed" features a haunting beat with a tight loop, sparse drumming and good rapping from Killah Priest, Dreddy Kruger, Hell Razah and Prodigal Sunn, in a piece that brings together three members of Sunz of Man and Dreddy Kruger of Royal Fam, continuing a collaboration between the two groups that has already occurred three times in this collection in five tracks. In particular, Dreddy Kruger's contribution is recycled from "Medina 718", Royal Fam's song from their debut "Yesterday, Today Iz Tomorrow" (2000) and is also present in "La Saga 2000" from DJ Kheops' album "Sad Hill Impact", a song that also features Prodigal Sunn as a guest. Sunzini's contribution is instead recycled from "Trilogy", Killarmy's song from their third album "Fear, Love and War" (2001). This is a track made up of recycled verses.
"Free Love" is presented by DJ Kay Slay, boasts a melodic production close to dance with a wonderful sample, fantastic lively bass, frenetic young drum, dance-funky rhythm. Inside Timbo King, Killah Priest, Hell Razah and William Cooper in what seems to be a piece by Black Market Militia left out of their first album because it was too commercial and which also sees the absence of Tragedy Khadafi. I don't know how legit "Under the Vatican" is, because the guys take Kanye West's beat straight from his "We Major" with Nas. Either way, you have a beat from West supporting raps from Hell Razah and Killah Priest, easily flying over a superlative soundscape and carving a high point for this compilation. "Medusa's Eyes" features a more bouncy, club-like beat, with snappy drums, synthesized club sounds, slimy rap by Hell Razah who makes one of the worst tracks of his career: this is in fact "Mental Orgasm", one of his worst songs proposed for his recent new album "Ultra Sounds of a Renaissance Child" (2008). Another Maccabeez joint follows, Timbo King, Killah Priest and Hell Razah on a bouncy economical production, weak drums, dance samples, a piece aimed at a relaxed and syncopated pace towards the club.
"Grey Goose" is a track taken from the Beretta 9 aka Kinetic 9 mixtape, "Kinetic Radio Vol. 1" (2008), a tape in which the song is titled "Showdown": inside Lord Superb and Hell Razah guests of the Killarmy rapper, the piece is the same. Decent boom bap, ridiculous looped sample, weak drum, honest rap from the performers, but the beat is poor. The eleventh choice in this collection is "Love of the Money" aka "For the Lust of Money", Sunz of Man song which comes directly from their first album "The Last Shall Be First" (1998): inside 60 Second Assassin, Sunzini and Razah, that is, the only three members who remained in the group at that time. You can't go wrong with True Master behind the keyboards even if this piece isn't among the strongest moments of their official debut: Hell Razah destroys the track after contributions from the other two Brooklyn rappers.
"Watchin' Me" is a track taken from the never officially released Maccabeez album "The Spooks Who Kicked Down Tha Doorz", later released as a mixtape/bootleg in 2005: over a haunting dark production that seems to echo and distantly recall Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells, Pt. 1", made famous by the soundtrack of the cult film "The Exorcist" (1973). Singer Heart performs the hook, while the trio that makes up Maccabeez delivers bars for five minutes, featuring Timbo King, Killah Priest and Hell Razah with good rapping. In the version inserted here, only the Hell Razah verse and the Heart hook with Priest are present, the contribution of the other two rappers of the group is cut and the song ends after a couple of minutes. This compilation ends with "Messengers", another name for the track "Let It Off" from Hell Razah's mixtape "Back to the Renaissance" (2007), with the addition of a guest verse performed by one Lazarus: flat production, weak drums, terrible samples, poor loop, weak rap from the performers, quite lackluster ending for this tape.
Killah Priest is the main guest with eight appearances, it's almost his tape, succeeded by Timbo King with five appearances and Prodigal Sunn with three. The identity of this thing is not immediately understandable. This could easily be a collection of Hell Razah's best tracks, but it isn't. It looks like half a mixtape not very well edited. There are some great moments from the author, which coincide with three appearances by Killah Priest, I don't think it's a coincidence. However, overall, this tape isn't essential in the Hell Razah catalogue. 6/10.
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