Quasimoto - The Further Adventures of Lord Quas (CD, 2005)

I found this CD used after getting deep into Quas's first one, and did not hesitate to give it a shot.

Though it was released five years after The Unseen, it basically picks up the flow of that one and keeps going, though the production quality seems to have increased a bit. The beats are still sample-heavy as all get-out, but the helium vocal style isn't quite as dominating a presence. But it's still there. This is another long-ass album, at 26 tracks and over an hour of music, and it's noticeably denser than his debut.

I don't know for a fact that stoners love Quasimoto, but it would shock me if they didn't. (Quas is a shameless weedhead: the song "Greenery" leaves no doubt about that.) These records are so random, so long, and so filled with off-the-wall chopped-up bits and pieces, that it strikes me as a bong-hitter's dream. And while that would often be an insult, in this case, it's a compliment. I've listened to this record many times, and I still hear new slices and dices when it comes through the shuffle on the iPod.

Speaking of that - and this is totally not worth mentioning but I'm doing it anyway - my iPod loves Quasimoto. You know how sometimes your iPod will just latch onto an album or an artist and seem to play them more than anything else in your library? My iPod serves up Lord Quas more than anything. And that actually ends up being cool, because as much as I love the dude's music, I've found that I prefer it in small doses: over an hour can be a bit taxing.

But don't let me dissuade you: if you come across any Quas on the cheap, I say go for it.

"Bullyshit"

Quasimoto - The Unseen (CD, 2000)

I have a random memory of my brother telling me, probably seven years ago, that our friend Matt Fargo wouldn't stop talking about this rapper called Quasimoto. That he was Matt's favorite rapper, and that he couldn't stop listening to him. Matt's tastes were mostly to be trusted, but though the name sounded familiar to me, I didn't think much of it.

A few years later I came across this CD in a used bin, remembered the second-hand recommendation, and scooped it up. When I heard Lord Quas, I wasn't too surprised that Fargo had dug it so much.

Madlib supposedly created the alter ego of Quasimoto (and this record) during a week-long 'shrooms binge, but stories like that, while cool to reference, are most often apocryphal. I've never met anyone who got anything accomplished while on mushrooms, let alone a 24-track LP that received notable critical acclaim. But this album is weird as shit, so who knows what street pharmaceuticals were consumed during its creation. And who cares.

Trying to explain what Quasimoto sounds like is a bit difficult, but "lo-fi, sample-heavy beats with helium vocals" is probably a start. Sound a bit precious? It kind of is, but it's mostly awesome. I didn't expect to enjoy this record much (I don't know what other Madlib stuff I've even heard), but it's held a spot on my iPod for years, and it's going to stay there. It's just so odd and unlike anything else I own, that I keep sticking with it. And as a whole, the record flows brilliantly.

It's probably not for everyone, but I've grown to love it.

"Come On Feet"

Public Enemy featuring Paris - Rebirth of a Nation (2xLP, 2006)

I bought this album on CD shortly after it was released, and then somehow managed to find a used copy of the vinyl last year. I'm not sure if I'd call this album underrated, because I get the vibe that the reviews were positive, but it may not get the appreciation it deserves. Of course, I'm a big-time Paris fan, so maybe my opinion is a little skewed. But I don't think so. I really just think this is just a pretty darn good group of songs

Hearing Paris, Public Enemy, and MC Ren all on one song (the badass opener, "Raw Shit") was something I never even considered, and the track, as random as the lineup is, delivers. Ren still has one of the coolest voices in rap, and when he gets serious, he sounds like he means it. I can dig that. But shit really gets bumping with the second cut, the electric guitar-heavy "Hard Rhymin'." This is where the collabo really starts to make sense: it sounds like Chuck D rapping over a classic Paris beat.

Flavor Flav goes buckwild on the fun-as-shit "They Call Me Flava" later on the record, and by that time, after hearing serious shit from Dead Prez and Professor Griff, it's a nice break. It's those same songs (much like any record that either of these artists have recorded in the past) that might turn some people off to this. The tracks are very pro-black (their words, not mine), very angry, and very serious.

But to me, the content often takes a backseat to sweet beats, hard-ass flows, and just really good songs. And I can't argue with that.

"Raw Shit"

Proz and Conz - Life I Lead (CD, 2000)

Turn-of-the-century Portland hip hop in the heezy.

My brother will have to refresh my memory as to how we got into this group. I seem to remember seeing them live and thinking they were pretty sweet, but I can't for the life of me remember what show they would have been the opener for. Now I'm doubting the fact that I ever saw them. That doesn't really matter. What does matter is that these dudes were some up-and-comers in the Portland hip hop scene when that label barely existed, so we thought they were pretty cool. I still do. This CD has some sweet cuts on it.

I think my brother had both of their CDs (I believe Posanegavybe was the other one, and it came out the year before this one), but this is the only one I ever ended up with, and I don't think I even bought it until maybe five years ago. And talk about discs I haven't played in a long time. I forgot I even had this thing. And while some of it's coming back to me now, there's really only a few songs that stand out, and among those, one in particular: "Master of Ceremonies," a song that we used to rock repeatedly in car rides, because it is supremely awesome. Of course I can't find a full version of it online. Bleh.

I always got the vibe that these guys weren't too far out of high school when they released this, so it's no surprise that they didn't stay together for a long time. But good local hip hop was tough to come by back then, so we were happy to have discovered these dudes. I'm going to have to go back and get to know this one again.

"Life Story"

Proof - Searching for Jerry Garcia (CD, 2005)

I haven't listened to this CD in years, and though I know I got it for free, I can't exactly remember how that happened. Maybe through my job?

However it happened, I was happy, because I was actually really curious to hear this album, but not curious enough to shell out the money to make that occur. I listen to Eminem and I listen to D12, and Proof's shape-shifting has always been intriguing to me. He's the only one in the D12 posse who doesn't stick with one style, and maybe it's because of that that he struck me as the one with the most to offer.

I'm listening to this now and not much is coming back to me, so I don't know how much I can really say about it. But Proof was a solid rapper, and though I guess this record didn't hit me hard enough to keep me coming back, I still have it, so there must me something to it. Right...? I remember being floored that Eminem only shows up on one song, and his name's not even listed on the back of the disc (he's just included in D12 on the song "Pimplikeness"). I figured he'd be all over this thing.

Method Man and B-Real guest on "High Rollers," and if you can't guess what that song's about, you're not allowed to listen to rap music anymore. 50 Cent and Obie Trice also show up (on separate songs), and so does Nate Dogg, so you know Proof's got his guest spot game on lock.

At 20 tracks and almost 70 minutes, I think I'm starting to remember why I didn't listen to this thing a ton: it's a beast. But it's cool to have, and there's even a DVD that comes with it. I should watch that sometime... And as usual, Bizarre can bring an entire album to a halt with his shittiness. It still floors me that this guy ever got on a record. (Just like to throw that out there whenever I can.)

"Biboa's Theme"

Princess Superstar - Is (CD, 2001)

The Princess gets a little poppier on this one, turning up the hooks and leaning noticeably harder on the sex kitten persona that she pulls off well. Thankfully, cutesy songs like "Bad Babysitter" and "Wet! Wet! Wet!" don't tarnish the overall feel of this record, and they don't even suck (somehow).

But she's still at her best when she's putting witty rhymes together over beats she makes herself, and that's why the second half of this record ends up, for my money, being better than the first. "You Get Mad at Napster" is one of the dopest tracks on the whole damn thing, and considering this came out a decade ago, a song about an MC blaming the internet for not selling any records must have been hyper-modern at the time. It's still extremely relevant today, probably even more so.

So, while I don't care for her sexy raps as much as I care for her I'm-a-better-MC-than-you raps, this record balances it out nicely. The production ends up sounding a little random, because some of the tracks (the ones she didn't produce) are ultra-clean and even a bit mainstream-y, and when pushed up against some of the more lo-fi-ish stuff, there's a clear divide. But whatever. This is a fun-ass album, and she flexes some solid lyrical skills here. And a duet with Kool Keith is always encouraged.

"Keith 'N Me"

Princess Superstar - Last of the Great 20th Century Composers (CD, 2000)

I've never fully embraced Princess Superstar, but I do enjoy listening to her from time to time. I guess that would explain why I only own two of her albums, and why they're the ones that fall pretty much smack-dab in the middle of her catalog.

This is her third, and though I haven't listened to this one a ton, I do like it. The beats are a little fractured, and the whole thing, while not being decidedly lo-fi, does have that recorded-at-home sound. Which I dig. She produced or co-produced most of the beats on this thing, and her beat style's not lazy. In fact, trying to pin down the direction of the music on this thing is tough.

"Do it Like a Robot" is appropriately blippy, while "Sex (I Like)" is way more punk rock than hip hop. The rest of the stuff falls somewhere in between, with vintage drum samples that pound and distort, and synth flurries that aren't ever predictable. She doesn't sound overly confident on the mic on this record, and sometimes her matter-of-factness is frustrating. When she duets with Baron Ricks (?) on "Come Up to My Room," dude comes out aggressive while she stays laid-back, and the end result feels a little uneven.

But whatever. This record has a lot of depth to it, and it might be her last one before she tried going for some mainstream-ish cred. Or at least that's the way it looks to me. But I don't really know her catalog well enough to say that. But I'm saying it anyway.

"Do it Like a Robot"

Prince Paul - Politics of the Business (CD, 2003)

After A Prince Among Thieves failed to hit as hard as it should have, Paul took some time to do his Handsome Boy Modeling School thing and eventually came back with this, a semi-vitriolic assessment of how fucked-up the record industry is.

I'm not going to act like I was down with this since day one. I didn't buy this until a few years ago, and hadn't really heard much about it before that. But when I found it in the five-dollar bin at one of my local record stores, I figured I'd give it a shot. And, while this record is definitely a little pissy in places (Dave Chappelle's record exec portrayal is not meant to be flattering, but it is his hilarious) - almost reaching the point of sour grapes - the beats are awesome, and the guest spots are well-chosen.

Again, Paul gathers some of the dudes in hip hop who "get it" (Chubb Rock, Guru, Chuck D, Ice-T, and a bunch more), and gets the most out of them. I don't know who Horror City is (though I plan to download this after I'm done writing this), but the dudes are rough-edged and a little bit dope. Prince Paul's beats also make anyone sound better than they usually are: I've always thought Tash was a pretty sweet rapper, but the guy kills it on "Original Chryme Pays."

Coming back with another concept/message album after his previous one was a bold move, and since this wasn't a huge hit, I guess you could argue that it didn't really work. But I enjoy this album just as much as A Prince Among Thieves, and might even say that it flows a little better because there's not as much narration.

And I can't believe I only own two Prince Paul albums. I guess there's only five real solo albums from him, but I should have them. Something to work on.

"Make Room"

Phife Dawg - Ventilation: Da LP (2xLP, 2000)

I'm not the biggest Tribe Called Quest fan, but I got into their stuff for a while. Q-Tip had some solid lyricism, but for me, Phifey was always the one I looked forward to. He had some insane verses on all the Tribe records, with one of my favorites being, "And if I ever went solo my favorite MC would be me."

Phife Dawg did go solo, and while Q-Tip was wearing fur coats and rocking the idiotic "Vivrant Thing," Phife was keeping it realer than real. And I dug the shit out of it. This record never got the props it deserved, and that's probably because Phife made a point of calling out all the materialism in hip hop. Funny how that works. The beats on this LP aren't all winners, but they're solid, and the Five-Footer drops some serious knowledge.

It's a shame he hasn't put anything out since. I got really into this record for a year or two and then sort of lost track of it, but it's always nice to come back to when I want to hear some full-on MCing. It's good to have records like that around. Someone's got to keep these rappers in line.

"Flawless"

Park-Like Setting - School Day 2, Garbage Day 4 (CD, 2000)

Man, it's been a decade since this album dropped? Craziness.

Park-Like Setting is one of the earlier offshoot groups from mcenroe's Peanuts & Corn label, and in their first incarnation it featured mcenroe, John Smith, and DJ Hunnicutt. My brother discovered mcenroe through his Ethics EP, when it showed up used at the record store he worked at. He liked it, and soon, he was a fan of everything the P&C label released. It took me a little while, but I eventually got into their music, too.

This album was one of the first ones I really attempted to wrap my head around, and it was a great place to start. It's framed a concept record, and while it loosely is, there's no need to get wrapped up in that aspect of it. (Though the song titles make it a little bit difficult not to.) This is simply some great turn-of-the-century indie Canadian hip hop, and though all the members of the group have progressed greatly in their skills since this point, it's still dope as all get out. A young John Smith ready to take over the world; mcenroe trying his best to make sure the drums hit as hard as possible (those snares are rugged); DJ Hunnicutt sampling shit that nicely reflects his solid taste in hip hop: there's no reason not to like this.

My brother made me a tape of this when he had it, but I always felt guilty about not buying my own. This is as indie as hip hop gets, and I know how that goes. I got the chance to buy a copy from the man himself when my brother and I went to see mcenroe and Pip Skid in Portland many years ago. He was nice enough to sign it for me, and I still have it. He wrote, "Keep it rilly rill." And I did.

Seriously though, if you're not listening to the artists on Peanuts & Corn, you're missing out on some great music. Check out a few other ones I wrote up here and here.

And if you know this CD at all, you've got to check out John Smith's blog about it from a few years back.

You can listen to some samples here, but that's the best I can find, apparently.

Paris - Acid Reflex (2xLP, 2008)

I am terrible at keeping up with when Paris is going to release an album. You've probably got a few artists like this in life. You love their music, but their output is so sporadic that you don't bother waiting for their next album to drop. You figure you'll find out when it's released one way or another, and it'll be a sweet surprise. So it goes with Paris for me.

I received both Unleashed and Sonic Jihad as Christmas gifts from my brother, and I had no idea either of them were out. Amazon has Unleashed's official release date as March 17, 1998. That means I went on with my life for nine months having no idea the thing was out. Sonic Jihad was released in October, so that one wasn't as bad. Still. I never know when the shit's hitting the stores. With Acid Reflex, I just came across it while shopping for other records. Everyday Music in Beaverton had it in a rack near a register, and I spotted it on my way out. A nice surprise.

You might remember that I named this record my third best album of 2008, and I still think that was a good call. Like Sonic Jihad, Acid Reflex is Paris doing what he does best. There's no major shift between the two records, though Paris does seem a bit more laid back here - he is getting older - and it finds him really favoring R&B hooks. There's nothing wrong with that, though on a song like "Get Fired Up," it sort of stops the furor of the track and calms things down a bit too much.

Still, it's tough to stop Paris from getting pissed once he gets rolling, and he's got plenty of anger to get out here. After the Bush-blasting he did on Sonic Jihad, it's nice to hear him go outside of that zone and take on other targets. I still think "The Hustle" is one of his best songs, an anti-religion tirade that is brilliant in its calculation and execution. With so many rappers giving the perfunctory props to god, it's fantastic to hear somebody really dissecting what that means. Yeah, it's heavy shit, but it's what Paris does best.

"Winter in America" features Chuck D (realizing that I said it was "Rebels without Applause" in my best-of post), and though it's not the most stomping track, it's a great cut. And that ends up being able to be said about a lot of these songs. Paris is a master beatmaker at this point, and while he used to just juice the bpm's and bowl you over, he's now just as comfortable laying back a bit and making sure you can understand all he's got to say. And I'm still with it.

"Don't Stop the Movement"

Paris - Sonic Jihad (CD, 2003)

From the mid-90's to the early-2000s, Paris was mostly silent. Yeah, he put out Unleashed, but that was hardly a full-fledged solo outing. After the events of September 11, it wasn't like I was saying to myself, "the world needs Paris now more than ever," but when he popped up a couple years later with this record, it made perfect sense, and reminded me that I was indeed curious about what the dude had to say regarding recent events.

By the time this album dropped (October 2003), it obviously wasn't going to be quite as relevant as it would have been a few years earlier, but you can tell from the cover that Paris was still interested in getting some play out of the still-sensitive issue. (However, when the album shipped, it came in an all-black cardboard sleeve that featured a warning about the "hard truth" contained within. Sure, it was overly dramatic, but it was a good move in my book.) And rather than rush something out, he took his time with this thing, and it ended up being a great record. Saying that it's his strongest since Sleeping With the Enemy isn't saying much, but it was. And more importantly, it proved that dude still had what it takes.

If you thought P-Dog hated the first President named Bush, it quickly becomes apparent that he still had some ire in reserves for his offspring. And rather than resort to the knee-jerk assassination barbs (though he does declare "The return of the Bush Killa" on the first track), he takes the time over the course of this record to deconstruct the then-current presidency piece-by-piece, while also tackling news organizations, pundit-minded celebrities (the Dennis Miller diss was unexpected), religion, the military - you get the idea.

In the end, this album is more a return to form than a mind-blowing reinvention, and that's why I like it. It almost comes across as an updated version of Sleeping With the Enemy, and while that might be a bad thing for some, it's fine by me. After feeling like I knew what to expect from Paris and then being thrown the curveball that was Guerrilla Funk, I realized that all I really wanted him to do was come back with some hard raps, dark beats, and a chip on his shoulder the size of the Golden Gate Bridge. And he did it.

"Field Nigga Boogie"

Outkast - Idlewild (2xLP, 2006)

I can't believe it's been four years since the last Outkast album. Not really the soundtrack to the film of the same name as much as it's an accompanying album, this record was initially challenging for me to get my head around. I've since come to appreciate it for what it is, and now I legitimately enjoy the shit out of it.

While the two members of the group clearly were still working separately on the songs for this disc, they made the wise move of grouping all their individual tracks into one album, and it makes for a pretty sweet mix of music. (And if you don't like it like that, divide the tracks up in iTunes. Since the album is almost 80 minutes long, you can make two nice little mini-albums out of it.) As usual, some of André's cuts can get a little sprawling, but in the whole scheme of what they were trying to pull off here, I think they all work. The notable exception might be the warbly weirdness of "A Bad Note," but they wisely put that one at the end.

While I normally have beef with the sequencing on Outkast records, they really nail it on this one. "Mighty 'O'" is the perfect lead-off track (after the too-long intro), featuring both dudes dropping some solid verses over a click-clacky track that totally works. "Peaches" is sparse with the backing track, but Big Boi fills it out with some uncharacteristically subdued verses. It's an odd cut, but it's grown on me. André's "Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me)" is one of the handful of singles from this album (along with "Mighty 'O'" and "Morris Brown") that should have been a way bigger hit than it was. He finally found the perfect vehicle for his singing voice, and it's a great song.

The album starts off single-heavy, but the songs that follow and the ones that are interspersed early on are some damn fine 'Kast deep cuts. "The Train" is dope smoothness, "Buggface" is a solid quick one, and all of André's cuts are more Prince-y than ever, which is fine by me. You could argue that things start to lag somewhere in the middle (I could really do without the Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg guest spots), but once you get into the groove of the thing, it moves nicely.

I can still listen to this one because I never burned myself out on it. Revisiting it this week has been nice. Still, I'm ready for some new shit.

"Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me)"

Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (4xLP, 2003)

When I heard that Big Boi and André were going to release solo albums under the Outkast name and package it as one double album, I didn't really believe it would happen. The idea seemed crazily ambitious, and there was just too much that could go haywire. Of course, they proved me wrong, and the album went on to be certifiably mammoth.

"Hey Ya" became the song you loved and then the song you never wanted to hear again for the rest of your life (don't hear it much these days, do you?), but when it was good, it was great. Outkast played SNL right before the record came out, and when André busted that shit out while wearing this crazy green shredded bodysuit thing, I knew the song was going to be inescapable for the rest of the year. I had taped the episode, and I watched that performance over and over. I couldn't get enough of it. The song that Big Boi performed that night ("The Way You Move") was good too, but I always thought it was way too hook-heavy. In fact, I'd argue that it's one of the weaker tracks on Speakerboxxx.

And there's not many. The cut with Ludacris on it ("Tomb of the Boom") is ruined only by the fact that Ludacris is on it, and the track with Lil' Jon ("Last Call") is all kinds of stupid, but it's the last song, so whatever.

Otherwise, Big Boi's half is nothing short of incredible. "The Rooster" and "Knowing" are two of my favorite Outkast cuts of the last 10 years, and should be held up as an example of hip hop done right. If somebody makes a list of the top ten best living rappers and Big Boi's not on it, that list is worthless. Dude should be on there for this album alone. His rap on "Ghetto Musick" is untouchable.

I guess you probably either love or hate The Love Below. Me? I'm in the love camp. I was listening to it earlier today and remembered everything that I love about it: It's meticulously crafted but sounds loose, the lyrics are bizarrely brilliant, and the musicianship is, while not always spot-on, a blast to listen to. I'm just impressed that this thing exists. There had to have been people telling André that it was career suicide to release an album that is long as shit, features him mostly trying to sound like Prince, and has very little rapping on it.

But, the dude pulled it off. The Love Below isn't an album that you're going to have in your car stereo for weeks at a time, but man - when the time is right, it's a great record to listen to. There's just so much to it, and André's singing voice is so untrained and unpredictable that it lends itself to a certain charm. I could see how that - along with the long running time and general weirdness of the whole project - could turn some people off to this thing, but I've always really enjoyed it. I'm also a huge André fanboy, so that doesn't hurt. But I really think it's a smart record. And the hip hop world could use more of those.

This thing's a beast, and it's usually best tackled one album at a time. But if you haven't listened to it in a while, it might be time to check it out again. It's as good as you remember it. It's somehow better than I remember it.

"Roses"

Outkast - Stankonia (2xLP, 2000)

I had a friend who asked me for a hip hop recommendation during the summer of 2000, and I of course suggested Aquemini to him. He dug the shit out of it, and about a month before Stankonia came out, my brother, through his record store job, hooked me up with a six-song promo sampler of the upcoming record, along with a collection of Outkast videos that was designed to be played in the store. It had "B.O.B." on it like six times, with other Outkast videos in between. We listened to the disc, watched the video, and got crazy excited for the release of the new record.

"B.O.B." is, if you had to pick one, probably Outkast's best song. Again, they came up with something that knocked everybody flat. And nobody could have seen the force that it unleashed coming. If you ever needed a single to get people revved up about your newest release, that was it. The wild snare hits, the fast-as-shit tempo, the raps from both (the newly minted) André 3000 and Big Boi that somehow sounded thrown-together and classic at the same time ("Yo quiero Taco Bell"?) - it was all too good. And the video was just as nuts.

And the whole album ended up being almost as powerful. While the duo got a little interlude-happy this time around, even that couldn't fuck up the flow of this monumental record. I was initially shocked that they didn't lead the damn thing off with "B.O.B.," but then remembered that sequencing was never their strong suit. Still, that track should have busted in after the intro. Seemed like a no-brainer to me. But, as usual, they kicked things off with the weird one. This time around it was the awesomely titled "Gasoline Dreams," which, while dope in its own regard, still feels like the lead-in to the instantly-stuck-in-your-head-forever "So Fresh, So Clean." They must have known when they wrote the hook to that song that it was going to be huge.

And they must have felt the same way about "Ms. Jackson." That was one of the songs on the sampler CD that I had before the album came out, and I was already preparing for the song to be a hit. When the video came out, I knew it was a done deal. Still a great clip. Still a great song, though I've possibly heard it a few too many times.

We played the shit out of this CD at every party during that winter and on into the summer. And everybody loved it. Or at least that's how I remember it. The singles were obvious favorites, but "I'll Call Before I Come," "We Luv Deez Hoez," and "Humble Mumble" were also favorites. The thing is, there were also a lot of tracks that didn't get played. Part of that's because they just weren't "party songs," but there was also an underlying inconsistency to this record that seemed to also reflect the current state of the group.

You'll notice that André is conspicuously absent from "Snappin' & Trappin'" and "We Luv Deez Hoez," and though he shows up on "Gangsta Shit," he manages to slip in a line about walking in the park with his guitar. Even when he says "Outkast wit a K, yeah them niggas are hard," it sounds like he's fucking with us. All three of these tracks fall under the umbrella of being a bit more ruthless (and a little less inventive) than the other cuts on the album, and you can't help but wonder if André was trying to distance himself from some of those things.

And his spaced-out shit was getting even more spacey. "Stankonia (Stank Love)" remains one of the most odd Outkast tracks out there, and it's clearly André's deal. "Toilet Tisha" is, along with the aforementioned cut, towards the end of the album, and though the concept is cool, it just doesn't quite work. It's not that this record fizzles out at the end, but it almost feels like it's going to.

Still a great record, and maybe the last true group effort we'll see from these guys. I just picked this bad boy up on orange vinyl, and it is sweet. And I love that this record will always remind me of assing out at dance parties. Precious memories.

"B.O.B."

Northern State - Can I Keep This Pen? (CD, 2007)

After revisiting the shit out of the first two Northern State albums, I decided - as I hinted at in my previous post - to pick up their third album, the only one I didn't have. Now I have it. And I'm glad I do.

I've only been listening to it for a few days, but I'm already of the opinion that it's their best one. While their first record found them still finding their sound, and their second seemed like it might have had a bit too much major-label interference, this one finds them jumping to Ipecac (Mike Patton's label) and sounding more confident, composed, and free than ever. There's more singing on this one, and that ends up being a great thing. The hooks on "Better Already" and "Good Distance" are mad infectious, and "Run Off the Road" is light, hazily melodic, and like nothing they ever tried before. A nice move.

Adrock produced two tracks here, the bumping "Oooh Girl" and the frantic "Sucka Mofo," which is arguably the best cut on the record. Adrock doesn't drop any rhymes, but you can hear him a little bit at the beginning of "Mofo." It's a shame, because he would have wrecked some serious bizness on that track, but what can you do.

I love records like this. While the group's first two albums were really good, I always got the vibe that they had a little bit more in them. This is the record where it all comes out. Rock that shit.

"Better Already"

Northern State - All City (CD, 2004)

For their second release, the Northern Staters hooked up with some big-time hip hop producers (Muggs, ?uestlove, Pete Rock) and got some guest spots going (The High and Mighty, Har Mar Superstar). Their rhyme style got a little more fluid, and the beats got - obviously - a little more slick. I haven't listened to this album in a few years, but it's coming back a little bit.

The song structures are similar to the first record, and anyone who didn't like that one isn't going to like this one. The hooks here are a little less organic, but whatever. This record definitely feels a little more "major label" than their first (because it is), and I think that takes a tiny bit of the charm away, but it's not like this thing's all polished and shiny. And the lyrics are still there. Wish I had more to say about it, but I really haven't rocked this in a while.

They went on to put out another record after this one (on Ipecac, of all labels), but I never picked that one up. Not sure why. I may do that. I've got the first two, might as well complete the trilogy.

"Girl for All Seasons"

Northern State - Dying in Stereo (CD, 2002)

Way back in '02, the music rags were all abuzz about this trio of white gals from the East Coast who were doing some semi-old-school hip hop shit that was lyrical, fun, and apparently pretty good. It didn't take much convincing to get me to bite.

So I picked this disc up, and while it didn't blow my mind (it was almost exactly what I was expecting), I enjoyed the shit out of it. And listening to it now for the first time in a while, I still think it's great. While the backlash against the group started almost immediately (it's constantly amazing to me how music as harmless as this can drum up such white-hot ire in people), those who criticized it weren't saying anything that - it seemed to me - the group wouldn't readily admit themselves. (The Beastie Boys comparisons were way too easy.) This album is what it is - it's light, witty, and just fun. And honestly, the rhymes on this thing are smarter than a lot of the stuff floating around. There's some throwaway lines, sure - but fuck it. It is what it is.

And if there's something wrong with three girls getting together and rapping, then I don't want to be right. There's no need to make songs like "At the Party" complicated. Just kick back and enjoy it. Or don't. And that's that.

Oh, and here it is:

"At the Party"

Naughty By Nature - IIcons (CD, 2002)

Kay Gee left, and they just kept going.

This is the self-congratulatory, look-how-many-friends-we-have album from Naughty By Nature, and it's a mess. I don't know how else to put it. Method Man and Bumpy Knuckles supply some swift guest spots (duh), but I can't say the same for Lil' Jon and Pink.

Yeah: Pink is on this album. Yikes.

Kay Gee's back in the group now, so hopefully they'll put some new shit out so this isn't their final go at it. Because it's not a good one to end on.

Observe:

"Feels Good (Don't Worry Bout a Thing)"

Mykill Miers - The Second Coming (2xLP, 2001)

Boom. One year later, another hour of tracks. Didn't I say he was hard-working?

While the vibe on this album is a little different (note that he's now officially calling himself "The Hitchcock of Hip Hop), it's not too far gone from his debut. The beats are more fluid because he uses fewer producers, and while he had six tracks with guest spots on his first album, this one only has one. Clearly the dude was just cranking out songs at this point. Still, they don't sound rushed, so what the hey.

I dig this CD, though maybe not quite as much as his first one. It's darker, and while maybe that's a plus for some folks, it doesn't get to me as much. There's a bit more murder talk (even if a lot of it is metaphorical), and just a general grim vibe that tends to make it slump a little bit.

Still, there's a lot to like here. Miers, just like Freddie Foxxx, doesn't fuck around. The dude gets on a beat and just straight raps. And even back when this was released, that was becoming a lost art. I'll always love to hear a dude just get on the mic and blow through four verses in four minutes. And this album is great for that.

I need to check out some of his newer stuff...

"The Second Coming"