Ninth solo studio album from the most famous Wu-Tang affiliate ever, Killah Priest. The project is produced, recorded, mixed and mastered entirely by Kount Fif. RML is credited with him in production. On the mic, the emcee is joined by Cappadonna of Wu-Tang Clan, Canibus & Ras Kass of The Four Horsemen, Ill Bill & Sabac Red of Non Phixion, Copywrite, Jakki da Motamouth, Empuls, Sonsee, Steven King, iCon the Mic King, Jay-Notes, Redd Mudd, Lyrik, 2Mex, The Last Emperor and Mr. Probz.
As a big fan of 2Pac, the author chooses the same title that was originally intended for Shakur's mixtape under the moniker Makaveli in 1996. Without a precise concept, the album remains lyrically faithful to the themes dear to the rapper raised in Brooklyn, who carves out raw, abstract lyrics, with biblical, religious, historical, street wisdom, socio-political references, profound and mixed with a lot of braggadocio. Supporting the narratives, battles and heavy and resonant lyrics provided by Masada, there are some of the best beats that have happened to him in the last decade, Kount Fif does a great job behind the keyboards. The introductory cut for example is an excellent dark boom bap that takes a sample from Meiko Kaji's "Watashi No li Hito", a song that I can't stop listening to. "Circles" also maintains dark totalities, as does the whole album, in this case there's a nice sample from Nina Simone's "Wild is the Wind". Wu-Tang Clan member Cappadonna is welcomed on a splendid musical backdrop composed of soul samples taken from Millie Jackson's "A Child of God (It's Hard to Believe)", Killah Priest's verses are wrapped in gorgeous strings and a fresh bass line, the sample breathes between the verses without a hook, Cappachino the Great is at home on this type of beat.
Canibus, one of the members of the Four Horsemen with Killah Priest, proves to be lethal again and eats up the beat of "Democracy" built on David Axelrod's "The Mental Traveler". The other member of the same group Ras Kass also makes his mark on the project's closing pick, "When I Speak", over a dark production by Kount Fif. Non Phixion show up in form on an appropriately dark beat to trade bars with Priest on "Psalm of Satan". "Brolic" and the autobiographical "Priest History" draw from the Dramatics, in this latest choice Priest retraces his artistic history again by delivering a single verse without adding anything new. "The Rose" has ballad contours with the soft hook sung by Lyrik and strings that gently swirl, "Birds" boasts a smooth music with a solid sample of Charles Bernstein's "Laying the Trap", while "Outer Body Experience" takes you somewhere else, thanks to a precious soundscape and a sample from the immense Sade's "Cherish the Day".
Released by Man Bites Dog Records, the effort is polarizing: the lyricism seems a little less focused than the average established by the author over the years, his execution is effortless, there's plenty of room for friends and unknown guys, the tracks are just passable, there are no truly bad tunes but no bangers or classics either, while the set of beats seems hastily constructed, cheap, poor, low budget and finished quickly. Somehow it works, in my opinion. Kount Fif, who previously worked with Priest only on the historic track "Gun 4 Gun" in which the emcee is joined by Nas, manages to do a good job and constructs a pleasant tape, 7/10.
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