11. Looking Glass feat. Dekay

And this group that caused a stir in the 'turntable at home having' circles, was outta Texas. Houston to be exact. Aight?! Now with Bronx Science and some help of Groove Attack in Europe, K-Otix drop their full length, after they had heads turn and bob along with their 12"es. And if you know those tracks, then you will know several of the tracks on here, but you also know that what you can expect is some dope The Are produced beats, with clever lyrics, adding up to the full package.

Even the "Intro" is getting us hyped. This is how an intro should be, it builds excitement, it's dramatic, it's causing a ruckus, that's furthered with some live sounds excerpts. So the mood is set right to go into "Legendary", where the combination of braggadocios lyrics and a club ready, while not necessarily club friendly, bouncy beat, are carrying them. The 'da-da-da-daaah' singing is especially nifty here, and makes the track differ from the straight up boom bap that's done on tracks like "U Know The Name". Lyrically we are staying in the same ballpark, and the same can be said about "Untitled" that features Headkrack.

Well, maybe this review is getting boring by now, as all you can say is, that the bouncy boom bap beats are dope, get your head nodding, your feet stomping and your ass moving if you listen to them in the right surrounding. Also the lyrics are full of punchlines that get you smiling, and so the total is straight up hip hop of the good kind. What makes the review boring, as there's not much else to say. But that doesn't say anything about the record. However, cuts like "Take A Breather" are not different in concept to the others, and only with "Take My Life" we get a certain change in subjects, as this is more expressing the love for hip hop, and some of the coming about, than it is talking about the superiority of themselves. The beat also changes, with it being more jazzy. With "C.P.R." we are pretty much back on track again, with the string still offering a little variation though.

But as I said: don't even misunderstand this as a complaint, as everything on here is quality. Now, with "My Life (Alter Ego) Pts. 1, 2 & 3" we once more get something deeper in the topic department. And once more we are glad to note that The Are is adapting his beats to the honesty and seriousness of the content, with doing something less hopping and more supporting. Some of the dope lines the K-Otix come up with can be heard on one of the single tracks "Frequencies", when the current state of the art form gets addressed with lines like "nowadays MCs are either pimps, players killers or murderers / we drop jewels like two clumsy-ass burglars" or "record stores turn into a toilet full of crap". But after this intense track, "The Word" falls short it capturing the same.

So we progress to "Looking Glass" that features Dekay, and despite an interesting beat, we are hard tempted to just continue on to "Mind Over Matter". Why? Well, once you heard this song, you'll know. This is simply butter. The beat is everything that a club track needs, with it being so funky, James Brown would come up with new dance steps. This also manifests itself during the chorus, that goes "it's all about mind over matter / it's all a matter of time before I go for mine / drop the dotted line / I'd rather be the unsigned hype / than the type to be the unhyped signed", while the rest of the track is spent lyrically smacking wack emcees. "Front Row" is almost funny, with everyone being able to relate to it. Check these lines "you get a buzz from the crowd and they be killin' it / they might be loving the show but ain't revealing it / we give the people what they want and make them jump / but fools in the front are too cool to get crunk". If you are one of those, K-Otix tells you "you're taking up space looking up in my face / and you ain't got the good grace to scream out loud / take ya sorry ass straight to the back of the crowd".

We are staying in the same venue with "The Club" coming on next. However, this beat has actually more of a spy movie kind of vibe, than something that would have you get up on the table and do your best bone twisting moves. Well, that's nothing you care about once "Love Song" comes on, that's just that, a 'love song'. The vibe is accordingly plush, the words seem to be formed out of experience. We then are entering "World Renown" in a pleased manner. This track is also refusing to disappoint us, with The Are once more coming out with a dope beat, and the rhymes by Micah and Damien are once more walking in the bragging and boasting waters.

For all those that think that this wasn't quite enough, there's going to be the track "A.M. / P.M." on the second "Superrappin" compilation (on also GrooveAttack), that's coming out pretty soon. For the time being though, this record is successfully continuing the styles and flavors of those liked 12"es, without the style getting old or overused. This means, that gimmicks are not necessary, and straight up hip hop is still the backbone of this art form.