In the 5th installment of RH's review column we take a look at Nas' high profile release, tempt Fate with Dr. Dog, visit The 3rd World with Immortal Technique, pause at Ave.To's Three Way Intersection, and open up Skillz' Million Dollar Backpack.  Check it out...

The rating system is as follows.
Let It Ride: Just press play and relax…A near perfect LP
Breathe & Stop: A couple joints here, a couple joints there…But overall a solid LP
One & Done:  There maybe a hit single here, but not much else…

Artist: Nas
Album: Untitled –Def Jam
Rating: Breathe and Stop
Synopsis:  “So I’m deadly now for one reason, they’re listening,” raps Nas on his new LP, Untitled, an album whose impact we really have yet to see.  Different factions of America held different breathes for different reason in anticipation of the 9th album from the Hip Hop artist named Nasir Jones.  The album’s hype was fueled by Nas’ original title, which was criticized by Bill O’Reily and Al Sharpton alike, and set the stage for the exploration of language, as well as America’s racial past, present, and future.  There were those who deemed it ignorant without listening, and others who believed regardless that given Nas’ prior rap record, the album would be brilliant.  After ten plus listens, I think that Untitled reaches brilliance on certain tracks, but also includes filler songs that artistically and creatively just aren’t up to par, very much making the album a breathe and stop release for me.  The first three tracks (“Queens Get The Money”, “You Can’t Stop Us Now”, and “Breathe”) are very well done and thought provoking, as Nas links past to future with lines such as “cotton fields to Wrigley Field” and references of Sammy Davis Jr.  Yet “Make The World Go Round” with Chris Brown and The Game is tired, and The Game should be embarrassed by his verse, which gives a full four bar count to Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. “Testify” is a standout track, and poses a question to Nas’ listening audience.  “Sly Fox” combines clever wordplay and crunchy guitar riffs with a biting critique at Fox News and the aforementioned Bill O’Reily as Nas spits, “The only Fox I love is a Red one/the only Black man Fox loves is a dead one.”  Sonically, Nas utilizes more mellow beats heavily entrenched in pianos and strings, and what’s missing are the bangers such as “Made You Look” or “Hip Hop Is Dead.”   Overall, I just don’t think Nas fully reaches the LP’s potential, and it’s like he lyrically cocks back, but never fully unleashes that knock out blow.  

Artist: Ave.to
Album: Three Way Intersection-Asahra
Rating: Let It Ride
Synopsis: The Nu Jazz fusion band’s album, Threeway-Intersection, is definitely an album worth listening to “Front to Back.”  According to the band, the LP is a fusion of Jazz, Hip-hop, and Soul, but you can also hear other influences such as Latin jazz, funk, rock, and electronic. As soon as I put this album in, I started to nod my head to the very laid back and chill instrumental sounds of Ave.To. The first song “Mama’s Kool-Aid” set the stage to for what was to come and showcased the great fusion of musical genres that makes the Ave.To. sound. The 4th track “Cuba Libre” is something J.Dilla (R.I.P) would have sampled to make his neo-soul like beats for the likes of Common or Talib. As a whole, the album is great, even though at times there are some obscure moments of sounds and noises that made me question exactly where this Three Way Intersection was heading. Ave.  But there’s no confusion about the album’s shape as something you can just put it in and “let it ride.” If it’s for a dinner party or you’re chilling at a lounge where the music is in the background, this is a perfect LP as you can hold a conversation or just groove with it.  Ave. To.‘s Three-way Intersection gets the RH stamp, especially from Benny Rocs. RH Favorites: “Cuba Libre”, “Mama’s Kool-Aid.”
 

Artist: Dr. Dog
Album: Fate –Park The Van
Rating: Let It Ride
Synopsis:  The third proper album from Philadelphia’s folk/rock band Dr. Dog  was heavily anticipated, and appears to be their strongest set to date.  The LP, Fate, which dropped yesterday on Park The Van Records rocks in the classic sense of the word, as the good doctors channel the vintage sounds of Led Zeppelin, while maintaining modern sensibilities.  The band’s sound has garnered them comparisons to the aforementioned Zeppelin, as well as The Band, and, gasp, The Beatles yet also allowed them to fit in nicely with tourmates such as the Raconteurs and My Morning Jacket.  While nobody is saying that Dr. Dog is the second coming of the Fab Five, they have put together a solid album to satisfy any fan’s hunger for something musically similar as well as timeless.  Dr. Dog utilizes funky piano and organ riffs coupled with guitars and drums, to ensure that the majority of the album maintains an upbeat sound. The album’s first song, “The Breeze” opens with a question, which the rest of the album seems to answer through ditties that seem to harken back to friendship in one way or another.  On the album’s second track,  “Hang On”, Dr. Dog’s lead vocalist, Taxi, sings “And what you thought was a hurricane is just a rustling of the wind” over a piano, drum, and guitar marriage that represents the musical aesthetics of this album as well as the band.  Fate continues on, and reaches another apex with the middle tracks of “The Army of Ancients”, “The Rabbit, The Bat, and The Reindeer,” and “The Ark” three joints that seem to roll together and carry listeners into the final stretch of the LP.  It’s on “The Rabbit, The Bat, and The Reindeer” that Taxi sings again of friendship, “Well I don’t want nothing to do with your kind, and I ain’t go not time to kill on your dime/strung up hanging around, looking like your upside down/I ain’t one to shed no blood that’s your crime, and I ain’t one to sling no mud, I clean it up/ You ain’t what I call a friend.”  With the quality of this album, Dr. Dog is sure to pick up more friends, as well as fans in the very near future.

Artist: Immortal Technique
Album: The Third World –Viper Records
Rating: Let It Ride
Synopsis:  One can only hope that Nas approached his Untitled album with the same tenacity and fearlessness that Immortal Technique shows on his latest release, The 3rd World.  While Nas is a much more high profile artist, and also one on a major label, it is Tech who better backs up his boasts of revolutionary music.  But there is a fine line that both artists must walk, and that is of making such material easily digestible to listeners.  Nas’ record is more mainstream, while Tech’s is harder, rawer, and more uncut.  And that’s how he likes it as demonstrated on damn near every song.  Just in case it’s unclear he spits on “Lick Shots” “this is only for the hardcore where ever you at.”  On  “Hollywood Driveby”, a track that starts with Tech plotting a takeover at the VMA’s,  Tech demonstrates his seriousness, he raps, “I don’t look at revolution, I live it/what you think? Everyone else is fake cause you’re just a gimmick?”  Tech is definitely not a gimmick or concerned about industry standards on this Green Lantern assisted project that tackles housing laws and gentrification (“Harlem Renaissance”), exploitation (“Death March” and “Reverse Pimpology”), racism (“Adios Uncle Tom”, “Stronghold Grip”) and capitalism (“Open Your Eyes”).  His own growth and past is explored as well on joints such as “That’s What It Is” and “Mistakes.”  Solid appearances from Poison Pen, Psychorealm, Sick Symphonies, and Mojo only add to the LP, and further build on Immortal Technique’s reputation as an emcee with more than music in mind.  When it comes to the music, DJ Green Lantern greatly helps to keep things moving, as well as supplying a gritty mixtape feel to complement Tech’s rhymes and demeanor.  As far as reaching the masses, Tech knows his vehicle and is staying the course as he says, “the hood is not stupid, we know the mathematics, I make double what I would going gold on Atlantic, cause EMI, Sony BMG, Interscope would never sign a rapper with the White House in his scope.”  RH Favorites: “Hollywood Driveby” “Third World” “Harlem Renaissance”

 

Artist: Skillz
Album: Million Dollar Backpack-Koch
Rating: Breathe and Stop
Synopsis:  The long awaited new LP from Skillz rounds out a fairly stacked edition of RH’s Front to Back.  This is another album that was enjoyed thoroughly in our office, but contained a couple hiccups that got skipped over.  Skillz opens the new LP cleanly with “The Million Dollar Backpack Intro”, which is somewhat reminiscent of Common’s opener on “Be,” and sets the stage for the rest of the LP.  For the most part, Skillz shows his lyrical dominance, yet the album stalls at points as concept tracks like the Jake One produced traveling song, “Where I Been” and the famous female track “My Phone” somewhat miss the mark and come off boring.  Skillz is at his best on tracks like “Sick” and “Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know” featuring Freeway. Skillz proves that his backpack definitely still has gems, but also seems to be carrying a little extra baggage.  If he lets go of the filler, this album could be counted amongst ‘08’s best Hip Hop releases.
RH Favorites: “Sick” “You Don’t Know” “So Far So Good”

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