producers: fat jon, pase, j. rawls

guests: j. sands, mr. dibbs

What used to be a wasteland, now has fields of thorny cactuses growing outta it's unsupportive soul. Ohio is far away from anything remarkable, lifted off the fashionable hotbeds, an isolated valley, where just like in Australia, ancient beings can survive. There it's animals like the platypus, in this case it's the way of the Five Deez, or of Mood, MHz, or the Lone Catalysts or the Weightless family, and how these people still make hip hop. A culmination of excessive talent and incredible quality has been the output of what used to be but the audience.

The case to study we are stumbling across, are the previously mentioned Five Deez and their "Secret Agent Number 005 - The EP" record. And the members are behind the front remaining, truly letting their music do the talking. "Generic B-Boy No. 5002" starts mystically, with this Pase track coming to life, like a Frankensteinian monster, first the electronic static is quarrelling and next off and on flashed rotating magnetic fields are building a current, that finds an outbreak in shooting through with fulfilling and ending rhymes.

The simple titled "Dope" is more than that. With a bouncyness that seems to be kept open, like the end of a movie is kept open for a sequel, and this is the lone survivor relaxing and settling down his nerves at the end of a horror flick. Calming down what was stirred up "Blue Light Special" featuring J. Sands of the Lone Catalysts, is adding a more jazzy flavor to the already versatile offering. Fellow Lone Catalyst, J. Rawls, then does the beat for "Wow", a continuing musical and jazzy experience. This talks to you like to a younger brother, and while at the beginning you wouldn't know where this will lead to, you keep on listening, as you want to hear what he has to say.

The production duties are given back to Fat Jon on "B.E.A.T." who does a hesitating offering, but as soon as the organ first glances through, it has already captured you and might just be the dopest on this record here. There's nothing to moan about here, with the emcees not flawing either, the beat switching up enough but not too often. It's just a peak among an alpine scenery. A momentum of true bliss, like putting your flag down at the summit.

Completely changing again, "The Rock Rule" featuring Mr. Dibbs, gets bare, gets boasting and gets on retrospectively reminiscing. And not like we asked for it, but after this comes the beat box piece, "The Rock Rehab", that further elaborates on possibilities and has this record end with an example of versatility and the kudos to show it. A record that will be growing on you, like ivy, a record that more than satisfies.