Ravipops (The Substance)

producers: malik allah, belief, r'thentic, dj lord ron, dj sean one, 4th pyramid, etch a sketch, jo chris, ste-lo, wally what

guests: wordsworth, j-treds, thirstin howl iii, vast aire, breezly brewin, mf doom.
year of release: 2003
I once asked El-P when Definitive Jux will fall off, and now we know. And it wasn't S.A. Smash or the Party Fun Action Committee, because those records were not typical Def Jux records, not what it was always so strong in and known for. Nope, the moment Def Jux fell off was this release here, the C-Rayz Walz album. And it's not because of Rayz lyrics. It's because of him falling pray to the much too common illness of a dope emcee not being able to pick dope beats. And C-Rayz often has a shitty beat taste. What then should have a couple of red alerts go off at the Def Jux quality control department. And the fact that there weren't, well, signifies the moment of Def Jux falling off. Welcome to reality.

tracklisting
1. Floe
2. The Essence
3. Guns & Butter
4. Protect My Family
5. Thug Melodies
6. '86
7. The Line Up feat. Wordsworth, J-Treds, Thirstin Howl III, Vast Aire, Breezly Brewin, MF Doom
8. Buck 80
9. Battle Me
10. Elephant Guns
11. We Live
12. Yeah
13. Seal Killer
14. Dead Buffaloes
15. Camouflage
16. 3 Card Molly
17. Revelations
And as this promo copy doesn't give production credits, we can't even expose the responsible person. What's obviously a bummer. But not the most important task of today. Because the opening paragraph is a tragic remark in the face of a record that has qualities. A lot of qualities. Cause C-Rayz can rhyme. Man, can that guy rhyme. So this record comes strong in that department. So again, why did Definitive Jux fall off? Well, because they didn't make sure that the beats hold up to the lyrical strength. Not to promote dictator steez, but when someone high in the hierarchy heard the beat on "The Essence", "Floe" or "Yeah", he should have gone "uhm, well, maybe not". The same can be said about "The Line Up". I mean, you have a, well, line up of Wordsworth, J-Treds, Thirstin Howl III, Vast Aire, Breezly Brewin, MF Doom, and the beat is not hard, it's not evil, it's not banging? Damn. This should be on some "Made U Look" hyped state, or at least on some "The Hook" bounce tip. Instead the beat is just a groovy little something, that's cool, it's funky, but it hardly got these emcees to spit their best. Man, MF Doom sounds so bored on here, you wonder if they had to pour hot coffee over him to keep him awake.
What again boils down to the tragic 'lyrics dope, beats often, nope.' With exceptions though. There's a "Guns & Butter", that's just small, young and with the rhythm, gets your head immediately nodding. Same goes for "Protect My Family" and "'86" is just a perfect fitting soundtrack to warm days and sitting on a porch, stairs, park bench. "Buck 80" is cool too, and so is "Elephant Guns" (already said so here) and we should also not forget the good "Dead Buffaloes" and "Camouflage".
And as said, there's all the lyrics, that are good. C-Rayz can safely entertain you and keep you interested in what he might say next. With many of the tracks spent on him just flowing and enjoying himself to say clever things. But at the same time, he also speaks on "Protect My Family", where you just wish to be related to Rayz, as his family get togethers promise to be fun, or Rayz reminisces on "'86" (and on "3 Card Molly" with a lesser beat) creating the good vibes of memories.
And so, and yes, we're really hard on 'em right now, but this is Definitive Jux falling off. Because they have all the qualities in their system to make this much, much better. With such a strong emcee, this could be incredible. And that's what we're saying: this is not living up to what it could be. With a couple of very weak beats, several okay, but only few really amazing beats, this does not uphold the Def Jux standard. Good is just not good enough for Definitive Jux. Call that an unfair stance, we call it tough love.
review: tadah
» back to top | last changed : 27.08.2003
© 2000 - 2012.08 by urban smarts | contact