Collaborative studio album between Pete Rock and Smif-N-Wessun. The Bronx-native producer doesn't work to a collab records with another artist since 1995, while the Brooklyn-native duo is in its first collab LP ever. The music is provided by Peter "Pete Rock" Phillips. Tekomin "Tek" Williams from Bedford–Stuyvesant and Darrell "Steele" Yates from Brownsville, are the main rapper, otherwise, there are several guests covering most of the tracks: the Boot Camp Clik members Sean P, Rock, Buckshot and Top Dog, with Tyler Woods, Pete Rock, Raekwon, Styles P, Memphis Bleek, Bun B, Freeway, Jahdan Blakkamoore, Hurricane G and Black Rob. Besides Boot Camp Clik and affiliated groups, in this LP are represented Wu-Tang Clan, The LOX, State Property and UGK.
Intro, title track: the song is unsurprising, there's a sample of Millie Jackson who's theoretically good, if not great, but Pete Rock can't flip it. I'm aware I just wrote a blasphemy, Pete Rock is one of my favorite producers, but listen to what he did. I think he's in the mix and he decides to keep the sound in the background to prefer that of the drum. It's a good drum. But it's a choice that I personally don't agree with. The rapping of him and that of Tek & Steele are forgettable, they seem to have tried to do a sort of ballad rap, or a half ballad. I don't know, it's such a bland and easy-going, beige cut that it sounds as low as a ballad. Cocoa Brovaz sound better in "Prevail", on a simple boom bap: Raekwon annihilates the piece by offering one of the best performances of the project. "That's Hard" features a tight production with violins in the background, Tek and Steele flow worthily, Styles P comes in and rips the cut with a sharp flow, Sean P kills the track.
Memphis Bleek is enhanced by Pete Rock's production on track number five, then Bun B delivers bars with Rock and the band on "Feel Me". Freeway is yet another guest who rips his own track in "Roses", on a cheerful production by Pete Rock, with an aggressive and raw style, typical of the MC of Philly. In the second part, in the last seven tracks, the LP drops from good to decent. Top guests are finished and three solo songs of Smif-N-Wessun arrive, plus, Pete Rock's production no longer looks as good as it did in the previous half hour. "Fire" is still ok, then the reggae choice with Top Dog and Jahdan just sounds acceptable. The tenth song is too long despite the guitar licks, and "Night Time" tries to lift the whole final section by itself: sample by Sylvia Robinson, light jazzy boom bap, great, slowed down, chipmunk vibes, Buckshot spits better than the other three performers. Black Rob is the last guest on the tape before two pieces without guests, they're fine, the production is discreet, the rap is discreet, there's nothing memorable.
Pete Rock produces an entirely Smif-N-Wessun album. It's an old school project. From old heads to old heads. It should be an easy winner. As most of these collaborative albums between veterans — by now, I think I can safely say — it's not. It doesn't seem to work. The boys are unwilling. All of them. Including Pete Rock. Its selection is forgettable and minimal, he still plays heavily on the samples, that is, well, it seems: if you go to whosampled, you can read all these names, Mobb Deep, Jay-Z, MC Shan, Nas, Audio Two, they are just quotes to the lyrics and not real samples. Rapping sounds monotonous, without inspiration, devoid of any energy, Yates & Williams are far from the golden years and seem to look back with an air halfway between nostalgia and indifference, as if to say "yes it's true, we're far away and we don't care. We can still rap and do it as we like".
Yeh, yeh, whateva. What can I tell you? This release doesn't stand out among those of the year. Their lyricism is average, the music is average, guests save most of the tracks, which is why the first part is solid, while the second half is a bit wobbly. Collaboration on paper is monumental, yet there's nothing monumental about it. I feel that it doesn't deserve infamy, nor praise. Distributed by Duck Down, it manages to carve out a place in the charts up to the top 15 of rap records and is only noticed by specialized critics, while most of the audience and passionate listeners tend to ignore it. The cover is the emblem of this artificial and cheap product: the faces of the authors seem to represent the Riace Bronzes found in the village of Riace Marina, in Reggio Calabria, they seem to have been made by pupils of the Greek masters of the first centuries B.C., students of the recovery classes. I believe that someone has been rejected for these sculptures. The title, at the top, is a raw white that seems to come directly from Carrara, but in reality, it's not telling you anything, except for the "O" that contains the initials of the authors. Under the title, the name of the authors, with a refined, clean and glossy font, an architectural firm's signature, which contrasts with the roughness with which it's composed the rest of the cover. Not rec Oh, wait, wait, just a moment: the "n" between "Smif" and "Wessun" is in cursive. Lol, why? 6/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment