(nb! the album title is actually "HII"
with the roman numericals but for the sake of clarity, I wrote it out
as you would say it to not have it confused with an over-enthusiastic
greeting)
"I ain't a blue collar worker,
cause this thing called rhymin'
no different from coal mining.
We both on assignment to unearth the
diamond.
When you start climbing and then I
start shining.
You be stuggling and striving and they
think you prime-timing.
Maintain and keep silence, make note
and observation.
This confrontation, this is the daily
operation."
from Travellin' Man ft Mos Def
The "DJ album" is a concept
that seemingly died out and got replaced by pure excercises in
turntablism. I don't hate on turntable records, but they mostly feel
sort of naked to me- they're like the litteral opposite of a capella
records but still missing something. For his second album, japanese
DJ Honda, managed to assemble an incredibly impressive range of MC's
to rap over his beats. For the most part, the featured rappers
deliver solid bars but never outshine Honda's beats as the
centerpiece of the album.
Honda's style of production and
beat-making is funky and bouncy, mostly influenced by mid 90's east
coast production but there's always a certain something eccentric
about it that makes you recognize his signature sound. It could be a
xylophone sample subtly hidden beneath an otherwise traditional horn
loop or a slight distortion added on the bass line but they all serve
for you to make the mental connection to him as the central artist
even when the featured MC is killing it. Obviously not all the
featured artists are great but that's sort of to be expected when you
have one or more featured artists on every track
With the production so tight and the
MC's mostly performing above average, the biggest downfall of the
album, I feel, is Honda's lack of range musically; sure he can make a
great sounding esoteric slash funky beat but the beats do end up
sounding fairly generic towards the end and there's no doubt he was
going through a severe case of xylophone-itis when producing this
one.
Apart from that, the album is solid and
a vast improvement over his self titled debut.
High point of the album: On the Mic ft. Cuban Link, Ju Ju, A.L. & Missin' Linx
Low point of the album: Blaze It Up ft. Black Attack
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