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| tracklisting |
| 1. The Fire Next Time (Intro) |
| 2. Minimalism w/ Vordul, Kill Gatez Jr. |
| 3. The Things They Carried |
| 4. Wonderful World feat. Privilidge |
| 5. Dead Broke (Dub Plate) |
| 6. Macross Plus |
| 7. Amazing Grace |
| 8. BFGS w/ Vordul |
| 9. Pipe Dreamin' |
| 10. Malt Liquor (Freestyle) |
| 11. Peter Luger |
| 12. Georgia Ave. 3:07am |
| 13. Undeclared Wars w/ Vordul |
| 14. Stormy Weather |
| 15. James Bon Elevators (Freestyle) w/ Vordul |
| 16. Fanaticism |
| 17. Dead Drummer Boyz w/ Kill Gatez Jr. |
| 18. Dirge w/ Vordul |
| 19. Bright Lights, Big City |
| 20. Times Have Changed (Outro) |
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| Considering the success of Cannibal Ox, Vordul has been awfully quiet. Well, at one point his jaw was shut wired after all, but while Vast was on everybody's record (kinda), Vordul was not. So it takes a DC artist by the name of Billy Woods to put Vordul on many new songs. What will
certainly attract many to this record, but luckily for everyone, the good doesn't end there. |
| Because Billy is to carry many of the songs by himself. And he's certainly able to do that. Mainly with his strong focus on content based lyricism, like the portrayal of a women on "The Things They Carry" (where he has a certain Tupacism to his voice), the freedom
fighter manifest of "Amazing Grace", but also on the songs, where he's flowing for a lot of different sakes than to change the world, with the good "Macross Plus" offering one example. On the slurred "Pipe Dreamin'"
we find ourselves in a Bokowski universe, while the ignorance of a more or less spontaneous "Malt Liquor (Freestyle)" session still has more smarts than the average thought out lyrics, with Woods offering his twisted reality with a grin like "money better have my bitch". |
| Much of the content is seriously political though, less global than domestic, more indirect than straight up. What's also signified by the tank on the cover that's rolling through a public street. You'll struggle to find a song where not at least one jewel is dropped. Instead the
lyrics are interwoven with a lot of observations, the clever things people say to impress clever people. The street smarts makes a "Georgie Ave. 3:07 am", the sadness gives "Fanaticism" a hopeful outlook, while Woods drops the bon monts "the bullet that kills you
is the one you ain't hear". While on "Dead Drummer Boyz" Woods shows that he's as good rhyming with Kill Gatez Jr., as he sounds next to Vordul. |
| And speaking of which, this record is also about Vordul Megallah appearing. And his first sighting is on "Minimalism", where he shares the mic with Woods and Kill Gatez Jr. The beat these guys picked for their serious
lyricism, full of one liners and little humor in shining, is a gritty offering that does a lot of the bigness the phoenix is known to rhyme over. "BFGS" is not leaving validation in excuses, when Woods and Vordul big themselves up, as well as criticize the establishment as revolutionaries.
The world is full of "Undeclared Wars", but Vordul and Woods spit with less connection to the climate. Instead you hear Vordul speak of a cockroach world in less complex verses, making him closer to GM Grimm than Dyncamics Plus. However,
you still need to pay attention to follow the thought pattern of Vordul and the other cats on here. What's still a step forward, while "James Bon Elevators (Freestyle)" is a step back to the past, as Woods and Vordul rip over an El-P beat off a vinyl record. |
| So along with the well written lyrics, the beats don't fall behind. They are often bare, but contain the concrete of the street, along with the glistening of neon lights. Therefore a "Wonderful World" is as much rough,
as one sound is putting some gauss filter on everything, smoothening the surface. The spectrum goes from the melancholy "Dirge", to the abstract "Bright Lights, Big City" (by Aerotaxi), to the rather cute "Peter
Luger" and "Stormy Weather" (both produced by James Bon) and all are excellent beats. |
| Thus you really struggle to find anything to critic, because not even the complete lack of bubble gum and moments of just bugging out (then again, wait for the hidden cut for that), really put any lack to this record. It's rather complete, strong in many ways, good in the same and
others, not a re-invention of the wheel, but a beneficial modification. |
| review: tadah |
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