This effort is released digitally for free without a label and many years later is collected by Chambermusik Special Product in 2015 and put on a physical CD. The Chambermusik version removes skits and interludes bringing the album from 35 to 27 tracks. Behind the keyboards are DJ Rated R, MF DOOM, 4th Disciple, Smokeshop, Get Large Production, Godz Wrath and L.E.S. The guests are Grymereaper, Sunz of Man, RZA, Lazarus, Midaz, Ras Kass, Timbo King, Beenie Man, 4-Ize and Psycho Les.
The mixtape is introduced by "Digital Dope", the same track that a few months later is released (as "Digital Dope Spoons") on the album "Ultra Sounds of a Renaissance Child". Similar speech for "Over Dosage" where, after some scratches, Hell Razah delivers bars with a slow and heavy style on a tight and minimal rhythm, the song is "After Life" on the album released the following September. "Project Jazz" needs no introduction, the boy spits in his most inspired moment of his career on a beat that is signed by the legend MF DOOM.
The original song from "Renaissance Child" (2007) sees the same Viktor Vaughn guest together with Talib Kweli, both their contributions are cut in this mixtape. 4th Disciple comes behind the keyboards in the following piece, "Who Gonna Die Next?", taken directly from "Freedom of Speech" (2004), where the author seems to be inspired by "Poppa Was a Playa" by Nas ("The Lost Tapes", 2002) to start the piece, using an inflection that seemed similar to me. The next choice is titled "Black Kingz", later published in the mixtape "Razah Reborn" (2011) in which it is glued together with a verse by Killah Priest, and also re-proposed in the Sunz of Man album "The Rebirth" (2019), as "Kingz". The next choice is "Burning Bushes", in which the Brooklyn rapper spits bars over an effective chipmunk soul rhythm. In my notes I wrote that it's a joint already included somewhere, I am sure [that it is] in one of his previous albums or in some compilation. Instead I had never listened to it, it's hard to believe. The piece is then included in his mixtape "G.G.O. Patriot Act", obviously with another title, "Coffee Shop".
The seventh track is the homonymous one from "Renaissance Child" with production by 4th Disciple, tight rap by Hellraizor. Then there's "It Iz What It Iz". A few years before the release of this album, Wu-Tang Clan rapper Masta Killa released his second studio album, "Made in Brooklyn". It's a really well-made album, among the best of the year, and it boasts a few bangers. Among the many, there's a stratospheric production by PF Cuttin. I honestly would have bet 10 dollars on Mathematics with the certainty of winning them. The beat is fantastic, in addition to the Master Killer there are Ghostface Killah & Raekwon, the song is sensational, obviously. If a Wu-Tang Clan affiliate like Hell Razah can come out a few years later with a song with an almost identical title, I expect there to be a freestyle on the beat by PF Cuttin from that song. But no. The veteran emcee of Sunz of Man steals from elsewhere to drop this freestyle, the beat is a classic. A true classic, the beat is beautiful.
I don't get it. I don't remember what it is, where it came from. This thing is driving me crazy. But I don't feel like going to look for the sample myself. The main problem is that Hell Razah keeps mumbling random things all the time even in the intro, so there are never two consecutive seconds of the original beat, which complicates things. After letting the apps do their thing for an hour without any success, I decide to look for it myself. The beat, for some reason, tells me "Mobb Deep", I've heard that beat before in a Mobb Deep song. After having scanned the first two albums, the most logical solution seems to be "Back at You", the bass line is the same. Almost the same. It's similar, it's not the same. That's not the rhythm. Continuing to search for another ten minutes, I finally come across a cut from "Murda Muzik", "The Realest". With Kool G Rap. On a magic by The Alchemist. The beat is a real masterpiece, even if it sounds similar to "Back at You", Hell Razah spits on it for a few minutes.
A freestyle performed by Razah, Grymreaper aka Poetic, Prodigal Sunn and The RZA follows over the beat of "8th Wonder" by the Sugarhill Gang, with a couple of switches. "Repentence Day" is a Gravediggaz cut from their second album, "The Pick, the Sickle, and the Shovel" (1997): inside Grymreaper, Hell Razah and Killah Priest over a fairly average beat created by Poetic. Choice number eleven is a track from "Renaissance Child" in which the author drops bars with good execution over a tight boom bap beat created by SmokeShop. The next track is taken from "Freedom of Speech", his collaborative disk with 4th Disciple, with the difference that this production is credited to Large Prod aka Get Large Production. The beat is melancholic, honest, not great. There's a solo by guest Lazarus on "Lazarus Risen" over a pleasantly melancholic and simple production.
"Wanted Dead or Alive 2008" takes its beat right from the iconic cut by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, the title track of the album released in 1990. More freestyle by Razah here, production that is not very well cared for here and sounds a bit low compared to the rapid voice of the Sunz of Man emcee. Still on the topic of Sunz, the next cut is a highlight of both the career of Hell Razah and his guest, the veteran Prodigal Sunn, who comes to the mic to bless "Written in Blood" produced by Blue Sky Black Death. The San Francisco production duo delivers one of the best beats of the year, the two Wu-Tang affiliates don't fail to deliver one of the strongest cuts of 2007. The back cover of the CD released by Chambermusik in 2015 states that Midaz is also featured here, but I have no idea what his contribution is.
Ras Kass joins the lead rapper on "Musical Murder", which is the same track as "Renaissance Child" but with a different spelling. Also, instead of crediting the single producer Jordan River Banks, his group Godz Wrath is included as the beatmaker of the track. The remix of "Gemstars", a track by Black Market Militia, is replaced by "Black House": I had a harder time than necessary to fish out the real track even though the author himself shouts the name of the track at the beginning of the track. It's "Burn Babylon Burn", which is also the title of a mixtape of his released a few years earlier. The track comes from "Ultra Sounds of a Renaissance Child". I have to go back and look at the production credits, not present here, which say Ciph Barker, member of the production team Godz Wrath. It's not over, because the back cover of the CD credits Timbo King as a guest, instead this is a solo cut by Razah. Timbo King actually appears on the next two tracks, freestyling with his friend on "Make Me Better" (on the same beat as Fabolous's track of the same name) and penning the solo cut "Street Scholars", which is lifted from a cut of the same name that Timbuktu released years earlier with the producer Krimewave on a collaborative EP.
At track number twenty, the mixtape dives back into "Razah's Ladder," bringing back the title track from the album made with the entire production of Blue Sky Black Death: over an impeccable beat, Hell Razah delivers his best and rips the cut. This mixtape gives us another classic cut with the next choice, "Bloody Choices", from Sunz of Man's never-released album "Nothing New Under the Sun": over a dope soundscape by 4th Disciple, Hell Razah flies with Prodigal Sunn on a joint that's simply brilliant in its darkness. There's a track from "Freedom of Speech" preceding "Chapters", which is another classic. The title makes you think it's "As It Was Written (Chapterz)", also from "Nothing New Under the Sun", which is where Nas supposedly stole the title for his second album. Instead, this track is identical to another track from that same never-released album, "Let's All Agree", with no production credits, but I'd guess 4th Disciple. Hook and first verse by Sunzini on this dark magic soundscape, short verses by 60 Second Assassin and Killah Priest, final verse by Hell Razah.
One of the last tracks is the remix of "Shining Star", the main single of the Sunz discography. Over a disastrous mainstream production by Trackmasterz (the back cover credits L.E.S. behind the keyboards, for whatever reason), Hell Razah cuts the contributions of the other Sunz (60 Sec, Killah Pries and P Sunn), lowers the beat and keeps his own. "Baby Girl" is the same track from his second album and "Angel Tears" is from his debut, both produced by 4th Disciple: in reality, this second piece is not "Angel Tears", but "We the People" from the same album, also produced by the Wu-Elements beatmaker. The album closes with a track where Hell Razah drops a verse on Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name". Yes. Also featuring the first verse of the piece sung by Bruce Dickinson. Razah is joined by 4-Ize and Psycho Les to close the mixtape.
The CD printed by Chambermusik drops from 35 to 27 tracks, offering 80 minutes of Hell Razah's best material. It's impressive at times. For about a third of the album, you get 4th Disciple rhythms, the other guys also keep the quality of the tape high. The Brooklyn emcee is often joined by Sunz on rapping and shines on some occasions. It would be a good starting point to listen to Razah's discography if it weren't for the inexplicable fact of having to change the name of his songs to attract more listeners, among the credits there's a mess that if it's voluntary is criminal if it's involuntary is amateurish for an artist of this level. 6.5/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment