Lords Of Da Cipha

producers: legendary, karma infinite
year of release: 2002
 
After a bundle of producer albums, Karma Infinite teams up with his homies to record as the Knowledge Godz, with the one identifiable being Legendary (and the other two being Prolifik Thought and Knowledge Born?). And Legendary is sharing the production duty with Karma. And the two will stand out most on this record, that does a lot of things better than what wasn't Karma's old work. And be it just that Legendary is a better emcee than many of the others that usually rhyme over K's beats.
One thing that is puzzling though is the whole Nation of Gods and Earths (or some like to call 'em 5% Nation) rhetoric in the names and the lyrics. That is picked up by the Malcolm X movie quote in the "Intro". The topic continues to make it on the album on songs like "Return Of Da Essence", that mainly production wise lacks, with the Karma beat doing little for us. He makes up for it on "Knowledge Vs. Ignorance", where his rhymes even sound good, and only the always same bass sound (that he does not seem to be able to get rid off) is having us frown. Besides that, the sample is dope, the drum comes cool and the back and forth handing the mic, works well, with the one speaking as Knowlege, the other as Ignorance. "Knowledge Born" is not a solo cut of the cat with the same name. Instead all cats intend to drop jewels, and may it be just during the hook. And all are held back by the subterranean recording quality.

tracklisting
1. Intro
2. Da Industry
3. 18 Fatal Strikes
4. Return Of Da Essence
5. Foresaken Rebels
6. Knowledge vs. Ignorance
7. Lords Of Da Cipha

8. Grimm State
9. Basements Symphonies
10. Knowledge Born
11. Soul Shiftin'
12. Chi
13. Profound Illogic
14. Grimm State (Remix)
15. Outro
Parts of the record are also used to straight up spit, like on "Da Industry", that is mainly braggadocios, while at times it's also handing out low blows to the recording industry. Karma recovers a Roy Ayers sample that was previously used by the Digable Planets, amongst others. However this is one of the cases where the sample is so dope, that we don't actually mind to hear it again. This good production is followed by Legendary doing an early Wu styled "18 Fatal Strikes" and again later on the dope "Soul Shiftin'" (and to some extend on "Profound Illogic"), where he hooks up a sample without a drum, that makes it sound kinda "'97 Mentality" typeish. With the first emcee however struggling to find a rhythm. Nevertheless both tracks work better than you might think, apart from when Karma rhymes on "18 Fatal Strikes". He's not that bad, but he doesn't sound natural behind the mic, due to his flow being more calculated than effortlessly spit.
Tracks like "Forsaken Rebels" feature a certain grit, that makes this song rather good. The piano heavy beat with the interesting drum programming gives this song a big potential that many before didn't have. Even the somewhat fishy rhetoric that not always really speaks on things out of the immediate every day life of our heroes can be taken in. The combination of samples on "Grimm State" works well again, while the drum might be a little basic. The lyrics are of a bragging and boasting type, with the odd line thrown in here and there. The "Grimm State Remix" then is a real remix, when Karma takes what Legend used on the original version, to switch things. The lyrics are also exchanged, what makes this, as said, more a real remix, than a completely new song, as is usually is nowadays.
Tracks that then are in a good way okay, include "Lords Of Da Cipha" and "Basement Symphonies" (not the same cut that was on the album "Basement Symphonies" album, reviewed here) where Karma again rhymes badly, "Chi" and the "Outro". However what can mainly be said about this project is, that finally, yes, finally we received a record from Karma Infinite that we like. It's still not brilliant, or deserving the type of rating that Karma has in mind, but finally we can say: bravo. There's good rhyming on here (mainly by Legend, and rarely by Karma himself), good production and even an interesting concept here and there. The one thing that lets us shrug a little bit is, why these kids (two black, two white) living in New Jersey dig so deep into the Nations of Gods and Earth ideology. Maybe we know by the next review.
review: tadah
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