This space has already reviewed two releases from the Cosmic Souls collective. While the EP from Definition has been getting much acclaim (including it being a 'pick of the week'), the Phaize II EP was struggling from some pre-found your own style errors. This record is now giving us the whole crew teaming up on nineteen tracks.

Quite naturally we need to check out what the second line of the crew is doing, hence what non-Definition and Phaize II got to offer. First very little on "We Comin'", where Smooty, Boo Da Man, Pearl Tooth and B-Real try to impress us. But with some of these cats struggling from weak flows, and the Phaize II beat, as well as the lackluster mixing does not make it any easier for them to sound good. Better is "Change Through Sound (Re-verse Psychology)", where Smooty and Kes-10 step up and spit braggadocios verses over a pianoy and bouncy beat. Especially the handing the mic back and forth flow of the two makes 'em sound like a true duo. So we are curious to hear more from these two.

However, we are not too mad once Definition come on and with "You Don't Know" they immediately reclaim our attention, with Ill Poetic doing another dope beat that he and Zone use well further convincing us of their prime status in the crew. Zone then provides the beat on "Bless It", and shares the rhyme time with 13th Floor. The cinematic vibe of the piano is giving it a dope gripping feel, that the rappers then couple with precise braggadocios spitting. Teaming up with his partner as well as with Pearl Tooth, Definition then gives us "Gemz", that's a restrained and hence less pushing into the foreground offering. They then again push into plush strings and grounds with "Stream Of Consciousness", where Ill Poetic hooks up the beat and rhymes with Silent Assassin. Finally Definition teams up with Phaize II to do "So Graced (Skillz)" where the three criticize the ignorant, stating that it's easy to not do the effort to think before rhyming.

Phaize II picks up the mic on "We Watchin'" that is a Da Watchmen track, a group that he's part of, along with Pickett Fence, Silent Assassin and 13th Floor. Going for something evilish and dramatic, the Stephano beat is quick to sound threatening, while the rappers kick horrorcore verses. Stephano also produced a similarly epic beat on "Queen Helen", which is actually a Pickett Fence solo cut, that allows him to do his strange mixture of singing and rapping. Phaize's beat on "The Edge" is also cool, despite the synthetic instruments. He then adds a little reggaeish feel to "Test We", while he again gives us a weak beat on "Cosmic Cypher". This cut teams up Ill Poetic, Smooty, Pearl Tooth and Pickett Fence, but while the cats spit solid cypher typical rhetoric, the overall impression is hurt by the beat. Phaize also does a solo cut with "Make Way" where he's going rather wild and if not to say wicked, portraying himself as just that, but gaining the most props for the atmospheric backdrop during the verses.

So to conclude this: every time one of the Definition cats is on one, you know that the track will be good (with exceptions to prove the rule). With Phaize II it's somewhat half/half, like his album was. Either it's dope or well, it's not, with the percentage being balanced. As for the other cats: Smooty and Kes-10 seem to be the most promising benchmen, with Boo Da Man and Pickett Fence demanding the most tolerance from you. So this crew effort struggles from the usual weaknesses, that not everyone is able to hold his own. But with this only being a reduced look into what this crew has to offer, and with two luminaries already having gained our attention, it appears to be a good idea to keep one's eyes open for what the Cosmic Souls have to offer next.