Cocoa Brovas, Smif-n-Wessun presents: Tek & Steele "Reloaded"

Coming shortly!

Tragedy Khadafi, Thug Matrix (2005)

Coming shortly!

AZ, A*W*O*L (2005)

A*W*O*L is quite literally AZ's best record yet. Going into this one I knew of the mark of consistency set by the usually rock solid Brooklyn artists, yet I didn't expect this exceptional feat. His cadence has apparently been perfected, the flow is impervious, and his lyrics are like Junior's cheesecake, that good. This is an instant classic, marketh the words of Hip-Hop Reviewed! It's not a perfect 10 out of 10 simply because a couple tracks didn't send the chills down my spine like EVERY song on a perfect 10 album is supposed to. Still, it's not easy to be called a classic two days after being released.

So Sincere is reminiscent of New Life off of Pieces of a Man where A spits a short, succinct suicidal verse where he puts his whole style on the line to a sweet track and leaves you utterly convinced. On it Mr. Cruz recites "You know my persona/ let me kindly remind you, the Gucci, Gabbana/ the Louis the 'Lo, Evisu designers/ how I post up, poli amongst piranhas/ I'm the urban version of that turban wearing Osama/ last of a genre, it's nothing to mash you minors/ y'all trash, I leave half y'all niggas in trauma/ so I laugh 'cause I rather climb in vagina, splash a few grands on some hot sand in a sauna/ usually ponder when I puff my little ganja, somber/ feeling like Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda/ you know karma increase when you see shit, drama is deep but you sleep when you feel His peace upon ya!/ keep the armor, I formally greet as a charmer, but beneath is more to mystique, I'm a monster!/ came to conquer, no games I came to regain my honor, no lames it's insane what the brain could conjure/ why launder when I could outsell La Bamba, fishscale tell Mel he'll be out of jail by Kwanzaa/ from Tompkins to Gowanus to the hills in Brownsville I sponsor/ it's nothing to cock back the black p-80 launcher/ any hate could haunt ya, I'm straight from the LI, Gates in Yonkers, down to the southern states to the Great Lakes in Tonka/ young majestic, the beams from the sun reflected/ long before Bush Sr. son was elected/ eclectic, well respected like brother Umbeh from Duveh but hey/ what you expected, perfected/ connected so exit or have it all in here, we could war when? where?/ nigga I'm so sincere!"

Never Change is an amazing track with A spitting about dudes he knew and how they look now all grown. There's a real simple beat in the background with an unnamed sample with some woman hollering her lungs out. New York is a track with some monsters over another simple, yet bass focused beat. It features the Wu-Twins, none other than Raekwon and Ghostface Killah going to town. Very enjoyable. Can't Stop got AZ slowing it down saying "fat bitches get yapped for their Cheet-ohs." That was worth the price of admission by itself. The Fizzy Womack produced AZ's Chillin is real loud with what sounds like AZ freestyling. Not bad, but not great.

Street Life featuring Half-A-Mill & Begets is up there with the best in AZ's catalog behind Illmatic's Life's a Bitch and It Was Written's Affirmative Action. On it you could listen to Half (Rest In Peace) recite "Now the twin towers done blew up, niggas seen the footage and threw up/ I got platinum bullets for y'all to chew up, Mill-Laden, the dogs done grew up/ is it still Manhattan? I speak street slang, Arab and Latin/ my guns speak rata-tatin, understand my lingo/ I'm from Albany, Afghanistan, fuck Chris Cringle/ and Christopher Columbus, I shoot SCUD missles through his Kangol/ and spray Z gas on your faggot ass/ Allah U Akbar, make 767s crash/ smack Jesus Christ and smoke a half a pound of hash/ I keep a half a pound of cash, I thought I told you cats I'm not a rapper/ rock a "G" on my chest it stands for God, fuck Dan, I'm dapper/ Prada from head to toe, dollars, cherries and the Mo/ you fake ass pimps, get my chips or I'm burying you and your hoes/ I plant plutonium bombs at your each and every show/ so every artist you sign is guaranteed to blow/ I'm guaranteed to flow, puffing that magic weed/ knowledge of self, nigga, that's what you need/ so fuck you and them crabs that you feed, tell 'em to holla at me." All this over the theme to The Incredible Hulk.

The DJ Premier produced The Come Up is a basic knocker. Envious has that dirty dancehall feel to it, with Bounty Killer chanting half reckless. A.W.O.L., the album's title track, is as real as they come on here... basically an extended version of So Sincere with different lyrics and a different beat. The bonus tracks are off of AZ's unreleased Final Call album and includes Live Wire which isn't too impressive but Magic Hour featuring CL Smooth is special. CL blesses AZ with one of the smoothest verses I've heard in a while, effortless. The Truth is real too with one of A's Quiet Money crew members talking a bunch of greasiness in between verses which makes for a real head nodding effect.

Rating: One notch before perfection. Personally, I don't give half points, but if I did this deserves it. 9 of 10.

Buy or Copy: If you buy the bootleg to this you should never be allowed to vote, you're a liability to society.

Capone-N-Noreaga - The War Report (1997)

Not to be confused with the Walt Report, CNN's opus is one very few rappers with little advertising and little exposure could ever hope to accomplish. Deep dark beats with excellent production and an abundance of fresh new lyrical content is what made this 1997 hit a classic. With Capone in prison for some of its recording Tragedy came through and laced joint after joint with saving grace lyrical competence. Noreaga skips through this album shouting "What! What!" at every corner and sounds like he was on methamphetamines everytime he steps in front of the microphone. And Capone drops some devilish bars that complement songs to the tee. The chemistry is not to be fucked with.

Bloody Money is certainly a danger to your health with the EZ Elpee production and Noreaga hollaring that illegal drug money shit. Stick You is another drug money cut where CNN has to get on the job after getting jerked for some weak product. On it Tragedy crushes "From 41-12 to the USA building in Iraq/ my crew bust back with cap peeling/ the crew dealing in the box with no feeling/ informer type, that's what you get for squealing/ it's the money or the morgue son, ready to die/ black Infiniti, yo, papi cold guy/ the coke connect don't trust us, he wanna rush us/ and call Russ, tell him to scoop me in the Lexus/ it's all good, in the hood/ nobody know sh--/ infrared off the roof, some old scope sh--/ CNN, desert men, holding the chrome with gorilla grip/ Sing Sing, straight convict/ strap the door, C4, detonate sh--/ blow the spot, don't give a fuck who you go and get/ we want the Yayo and the cash that's in the stash/ drip his Tommy drawers, yo check the crack of his ass/ (yo on some homo sh--) nah kid, we on some real shit/ and since we here we may as well get all of it..."

Tragedy was really at the top of his game recording this album.

T.O.N.Y. deserves massive spins with tight production, booming bassline and futuristic keyboard synths. Can't forget LA., LA., the response track to Snoop's NY., NY. Black Gangstas has 'Pone shining! "I never sweat Ds, I let trees blow, get bent on benches/ hopping fences, here they come in long trenches/ crack, chase 'em, lace 'em let the Chef bake 'em/ jake taste 'em take 'em wonder where we make 'em/ roll dice and break 'em on the street corners/ betting stacks, holding packs hoping police don't run deep on us/ peep the 3rd floor shade that never rises/ from jake our hallway, plus gats in greater sizes/ bulletproof down to my Nikes, now who the livest?/ survivest, open off of lye contact/ combat, twisting your cap and listen to rap/ position the mack to blow out your back/ hoes, across the map/ foes, eat a dick in fact/ I'm a score, flip more raw than Domonique Dawes."

This is vintage East Coast mid-nineties rap. The Mobb Deep comes through and provides back up as well. The only hiccups here being a couple deeply dissatisfying interludes and a lost Capone Bone where the supplied Marley Marl track is a weak one. Nonetheless, the flaws are easily overlooked as the energy is in abundance and the underground and commercial thug appeal is super satiating.

Rating: 9 Platinum Teefs

Buy or Copy: Buy!!!!!!!!!!!

Wu-Tang Clan, Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers (1993)

We have everything from Method Man sitcoms and movies, to Wu-Tang Clan PS1 games, to RZA scoring Kill Bill and Blade Trinty, to manuals on the Wu, to shoes and ODB sour cream and onion chips, and my infamous Wu-Tang Name Generator ("Get a Wu-Name")

But a look at the monumental release that started this madness is needed. Enter the Wu-Tang.

From the first time the beat fades out and we hear the words "Ghostface, catch the blast of a hype verse!" and we get a slamming snare and finger snaps on "Bring Da Ruckus", you know its gonna be special.

And this is before we get to the whole 'nother universe that ODB is on his first appearence (at one point he rhymes "diarrhea" with "ghonorrea"), and before we hear Method Man bragging for the first time on "Shame On a N*gga".

The buzzing sounds and low basslines and the later atmospheric piano and hard break on "Clan In Da Front" continue RZA's incredibly innovative Wu sound that has basically shaped a whole 10+ years of music.

On "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber", we hear verses from just about Wu member, including the particularly memorable "I be that insane n*gga from the psycho ward / I'm on the trigga, plus I got the Wu-Tang sword!" verse from the Meth himself.

"Can It All Be So Simple?" features a fairly minimalistic beat, keeping the particularly grimy, lo-fi sound he has established. On "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" the vocal effects give it a particular thump accentueted by oriental keys, and we get another crazy amount of verses (even U-God and the Masta Killa rhyme on this) - including another crazy, sometimes unitelligable ODB verse ("at the party when I move my body / gotta get up and be-eeeeee somebodyyyy! / Grab the microphone, put strenght to the bone /TAN TAN TAN - enter the Wu-Tang zone!"

The anthemic "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit" we get a gully and completely chantable chorus over a hardcore beat. "If ya wanna brawl, then bring da ruckus / Wu-Tang Clan aint nuttin ta fuck wit."

Following up is the certifiable classic "C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)" with verses from Inspecah Deck and Raekwon the Chef and Meth on the chorus. The beat has a slow piano and certain vocal effects and strings. The song is a lament on what we do for money - funny that when you make a song about money, you can end up with great shit like this or Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid In Full" or, the tragedy known to us as motherfucking "Bling Bling".

Follwoing that we get to the slamming drums and funky piano of the self-titled anthem "M-E-T-H-O-D Man".

Next, we get to another classic, "Protect Ya Neck" where we get verses from another large group of people, including a memorable Deck verse and a nice closing verse from GZA. The rough yet funky "Tearz" follows up before the closing "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber - Part II", which differentiates with Part I in the beat and almost nothing else (I prefer Part I).

Overall, the hype is right - this album is one of the best ever. The RZA beats all slam hard and every member has a unique style and personality that make every song enjoyable

Rating: 10 Mr. T chains
Buy or Copy: Buy it!

Big L, Livestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous (1995)

Note: I'm on a fuckin' roll. 4 reviews in 4 days or whatever the fuck. Check out my blog, I guess.

Big L. Big motherfuckin' L. Why did it take us so long to notice our generation's finest punchline rapper? Yes, Big L, not Chino, not Canibus.

From the beggining of this album, with the lighthearted xylophones of "Put It On" produced by Buckwild and featuring Kid Capri on the chorus, you not only hear a very radio-friendly record, but you hear an incredible multi-syllabic flow, smooth voice, and clever punchlines that have made us miss him so much, n/h.

The Lord Finesse-produced "MVP" continues this trend with a sample some might recognize from Biggie's "One More Chance" remix. Big L kills it - and I won't quote him every time I should because then this review will never end.

On the self-explanatory "No Endz, No Skinz" we get a funkier beat from Showbiz and some talk about not gettin chicks with no dough. On the posse cut "8 Iz Enuff" featuring the 8 Iz Enuff Crew (notable members: Big L, McGruff, Killa Kam) we get a bare-bones beat reminiscent of "Halftime" by Nas. I should probably say that the song is best with Big L's short verse and then its a buncha other kids who arent a fourth as talented.

The oddly funky beat to "All Black" isn't the highlight - its Big L's incredibly clever "gangsta" bragging - not the trite shit you hear everday - that really makes this album great. This continues on "Dangerzone" till we get to the "social consciousness" of "Street Struck" - the beats are minimalistic - which is very appropiate to L's rhyme style.

Then we get to the hard posse cut "Da Graveyard" featuring Jay-Z, Lord Finesse, Mic Nut, YU and Party Arty. This has Big L spitting more angry and with still a great array of punchlines.

The title track has a eerie bass line and chimes and extremely dark rhymes with a really dark ending. "I Don't Understand It" is about fake MC's and its great lyrically as well as "Fed Up With The Bullsh*t," which is about racist police - both not exactly the freshest topics but both executed incredibly well. Btw, I know I've heard that bassline before on "Fed Up..." Oh shit! "Big Poppa"! The album ends on a high note with "Let 'Em Have It L" in another lyrical attack combined with a fairly bare-bones beat.

This album is one of the greatest albums in terms of punchlines, so if that's your thing this album is mos def a must-have. The beats are alot of times not the radio-friendly of the first 2 songs but are very dark and based on samples that sound...weird, really. At times you wonder if Pete Rock and Premier couldve shown up on this album and not only the other album and made this even better. I dont like criticizing Buckwild or Finesse, or none of them, but some beats just work because of L and hardly are masterpieces by themselves. ultimeatly this album has enough in terms of beats to hang with the lyrics, and it's definetly and enjoyable listen.

Rating: 9.5 Mr. T chains
Buy or Copy: Buy, especially if punchlines are your thing.

Masta Killa, No Said Date (2004)

Go back more than 10 years. The Wu-Tang Clan just released their incredible classic - "Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers." Masta Killa might've caught your attention a little bit with a verse, but Method Man was becoming a star - he even had a song named after him.

Back to the present: Method Man has becomed a star - put out his latest album recently, was in a couple of movies, had his own TV show and documentary, etc. Masta Killa is putting out his FIRST album with very little mainstream media coverage.

So guess which album is better, Method's or the Masta's?

After the standard kung-fu dialogue on the "Born Chamber" intro - we get to the fucking ill yet relaxed beat on the first song, "Grab the Microphone," where we are introduced to the Masta's slow and gritty flow. The third track is the even iller title track, with a real hype chorus and string samples.

The hip-hop love song has been corrupted by bullshit like Fabolous, but "Love Spell" is a pretty good song, and after that we get to the unnecessary raps of his children to a Wu-Tang-creepy beat on "The Future", although its still his children.

Then the guests come in, with the piano-oriented "D.T.D. (Do That Dance)" featuring Ghostface Killah and Raekwon the Chef, and predictably this song is awesome. Btw, this is the first album to have all Wu-Tang members since like.....way too fucking long.

Next, we get the crazy, crazy, crazy good Shallah Mathematics beat featuring Wu WC's Streetlife and Prodigal Sunn. The beat makes this song rise above alot others, but dont get me wrong, the vocals are good.

Slowing down to the thick, hard break and guitar-sample-oriented "Secret Rivals" song featuring Killah Priest (one of the most underrated people ever, but thats another story) and the own Method Man dropping a nice verse.

After a skit, we get to the old-school electro-sounding RZA beat of "Digi Warfare" featuring RZA and U-God. Next, we get the funky beat of "Old Man" again featuring RZA and more importantly featuring Dirt McGirt (RIP) on the chorus just being ODB. We'll miss him, n/h.

We get another love rap song, "Queen," kind of a little too much for me to have 2, even if this song is pretty good. This beat is actually very un-love like with a very thick bassline and such.

"School" featuring RZA is pretty cool lyric-wise and the beat switches up a bit, but actually Im not a good fan of the beat. Heading into another Wu lo-fi, gritty beat of the song "Silverbacks" featuing the last 2 members of the Wu, Inspectah Deck and GZA. Some would say those 2 are the best, but really you could pretty much take your pick with any Wu rapper as "the best" except, like, U-God.

The self-titled song "Masta Killa" has another set of RZA production trademarks - sped-up samples and Asian influences. The closer is "The Day After," another eery beat with bangin drums and thick strings, another winner.

At the end, it is kind of hard to think that the over-looked Masta Killa's new album completely DESTROYS Method's own new album, but thats how life is.

One of the likelyest gripes people have about this album is that the Masta is no passionate, abstract poet like Ghostface, no intellectual sophistacated rhymer like GZA, no insane, high ODB. Really, he lacks the personality and some would say talent to be looked as by some as a top-flight Wu member.

However, for those people, the RZA beats and the ample guest appearances make the Masta's life easier in that if you like the Wu, you'll definetily like at least SOME of the songs on here. A must-buy for any self-respecting Clan fan.

Rating: 9 Mr. T chains
Buy or Copy: Buy, especially if youre a Wu fan.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992)

In 2000, the Baltimore Ravens had a defense that could hold it's own against the greatest of all time. On offense, however, they lacked an abudance of stars. Not to say that they had a bad offense, it was great, but there were certainly better ones out there.

Pete Rock in 1992, in his prime, is that defense at its height. C.L. Smooth is that offense - it couldnt win by itself, but it certainly did its half. So how good is this album? Well, the Ravens won the Superbowl.

Not to compare C.L. to Trent Dilfer tho, because C.L. hit his stride with this album and positioned himself in more than a few 100 best lists and the like.

Pete creates everything from the slow R&B-tinged "Lots of Lovin" to the funkiness and speed of "Act Like You Know."

Continuing with the classic horns of "Straighten It Out," you can appreciate C.L.'s mistake-free rapping and an incredible knack for feeling right at home over any Pete R beat.

Pete Rock raps himself as well on songs like "Soul Brother #1" and he performs like Ray Lewis at Wide Receiver but with things like sampling the classic JB's instrumental, "The Grunt," this song is a winner.

And then we get to the absolute classic "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" which may likely be the best rap beat ever. This song is incredible in its vocals as well - the song is about fallen (oh shit, no pun intended) Heavy D Boy and friend Trouble T-Roy. This song is impossible not to like.

After a quick beatbox/freestyle interlude from Rob-O, we get to yet another incredible creative and funky use of sampling of horns, piano and vocals on "On and On." The next songs is the likeable horn loops and drumming of "It's Like That" and "Can't Front On Me" and the weirdly funky posse cut "The Basement" featuring Grap Luva, Dida, Rob-O and Heavy D.

The album closes with the sexually explicit "Skinz" featuring microphone wizard Grand Puba of Brand Nubian, a pretty strong closer.

This album is an incredible audio experience, to hear one of the best ever to do it in his magnum opus - calling it "classic" is pretty fuckin accurate. As a matter of fact, the beat to "T.R.O.Y." alone is worth the price of admission. Add to that another 16 songs that never fall below good, and this is a must-have.

Rating: 10 Mr. T chains
Buy or Copy: Buy it!

Showbiz & A.G., Runaway Slave (1992)

Note: This album was reviewed by DJXplicit, and it was literally written as soon as he got the invitation to review on this blog. Excuse him in advance if its not the best review he's written, he's sill getting my shit together. Ok, here we go.

This album has been mentioned in more than a few "Best Album Ever" lists. Does this rare 1992 gem hold up to it's billing?

From the opener "Stil Diggin'", you can tell that it's another extremely well-produced DITC album, including Diamond D famously saying "Holy Mackarel!"

Most of these beats sample some really hard drums and horns. Unfortuneatly, sometimes the beats run together a little. None of them are individually less than awesome, but if you listen through to them, they kind of do get just a little repetitive.

"Fat Pockets" is one of my early favorites, with an AG verse that switches beats from their hits such as "Soul Clap" and "Party Groove"

The album sticks to mostly a party flavor, but songs like "More Than One Way Out Of the Ghetto" show a deeper side through a first person narrative from the Giant himself, while never becoming overly preachy or self-righteous.

Another standout is the DITC posse cut, "Represent" featuring punchline kings Big L and Lord Finesse and unknown D'Shawn and ending with another quality AG verse.

The self-explanatory "Party Groove (Bass Mix)" helps move things along with an addictive horn loop and a Chuck D sample on the hooks while the "Soul Clap (Short Version)" keeps things up with another great party mix of bass and horns and creative sampling. The album ends with an intsrumental version of "Party Groove (Bass Mix)," which isn't just a direct instrumental version but it adds more elements to the mix.

"Runaway Slave" may not be cracking my legendary top 12 albums ever list, but it certainly makes for a really enjoyable listen - not one song is bad or subpar in any way, just that the great songs it has dont measure up to, say, "Long Live the Kane." I recommend to buy this album if you can find it - the beats are exceptional and so is the rapping, mainly provided by A.G. but his partner (no homo) Showbiz shows up to rap as well a fair amount.

Rating: 9 Mr. T chains
Buy or Copy: Buy if you can find it, it's kinda rare.