4. Keep It Simple

A genuinely nice album. Hip hop. Interesting beats, and lyrics that don't talk about the same thing over and over again. As said: a genuinely nice album. And 'nice' not being used here as a word only used, because the reviewer lacks a better word. Nice as in: 'I enjoy to play this'. Aight? The Lo Kreepaz rep London and Ontario, Canada, and they consist of Brooke, Striknine, Pablo, C-Guta, and Concrete and their "A-519 Special Edition" is just one of those nice surprises one can get, when one is not focusing on 'my hood music', or 'affiliated art' or 'recycled rap'. Man, and we almost missed them, huh? Damn. But we didn't, and so we can check the album out. Did I mention that it's nice?

The album starts with "Work It Out", that makes it easy for us to embrace them. Not only can we relate with the talked about topic (work, jobs, the struggle to get money to provide for self and the hassle and thoughts that come with it), but the smooth beat is just the first of many dope compositions, while the 'hurrrr...aaarrrh' hook is a little annoying. "Vibinallnite" combines a guitar with a flute like sound. But after the first hook type, the beat switches to a hopeful sounding something break, that sounds better than the rest. The Lo Kreepaz smooth it out for Andrea to sing an adaptation of Soul II Soul's classic "Back To Life" on the chorus of "1 Life 2 Live". She does not pull it off like Caron Wheeler did, but the reminiscing rhymes, with Mista Flex dropping by for his contribution, balance the track out again. The xylophone sounds of "Keep It Simple" are then getting our heads in manic bobbing motion. The track also hides some hand pulled lawn mower sounds, as well as other goodies to be discovered. The emcees in the mean time are keeping the lyrics conscious, that have one of them up and down movements of the head mutate into a approving nod.

Mista Flex returns on "Reserve Your Place" and this time he brought Eternia with him. Again the emcees are positive, on a 'I live right now to see a greater day further' vibe, that in these days of ignorant thugism glistens like the golden piece it is. While "Ghosttown" isn't necessarily weak, the beat sounds like something that could have been on an down South album, that came out on Wrap Records in the early 90s. Maybe it just sounds unfinished or unmastered, though. Showing that they are not all about 'watching the world and reporting', "Da Force" is the vehicle for them to kick some braggadocios rhymes. Unfortunately, the beat can't live up to the venom. But on "B.V.T's", the Black Project Team tickled another nice sound collage outta their equipment. This track is again giving us the Kreepaz on some battling tip and the synthesizer sounds fortunately didn't take over the track.

Proving that they can't shut up, and actually have to give us some more of their worthwhile thoughts, "Do Sumtin Wid U'r Life", is following the bragging detour. What's with that sudden Caribbean twang, remains unexplained. The beat is on some party vibe though, and maybe thinking of the Carnival, this came out as it came out. Showing that some thought went into the sequencing of this album, things don't suddenly break down, but there's an intermediate following the jumping. "Circle Of Death" is not a bare rugged composition, but has some sparkling sound effects, and a growling bass. On some science fiction tip (although the intro says, this happened 1999), "You Don't Know How" is then abducting us into a dark castle, where the emcees are fighting wackness like vampire hunters. The album smoothes out again on "IM.A.GET.EM", a story telling rhyme exhibition, with a musical beat, that adds another nice aspect to the album. This almost melancholy track is followed by something able to cheer us up. "If I Ever Get Outta Here" seems to be the obligatory: 'if I ever make it in this hip hop thing' track. This one here is actually more on a "I landed on both feet with a ton of ambition", and a 'will I ever make it in this life an settle down happy, without constantly having to be afraid to be?' level.

The Lo Kreepaz did fall prey to the female sex though, and emotions boiling in their heart are expressed on "Hypnotic Daze". The beat was adapted to the topic, and so got enough bubble gum to be appealing to a wider audience. Now hopefully "Untitled" will never be heard. The Kreepaz couldn't afford the lawsuit. It doesn't matter if they sampled either the original (what was sampled on that huge hit) or the huge smash. However, they took the strings, made famous by The Verve on "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and rhymed over it. And that Brit Pop tune undeniably was a monstrous record, and fortunately the Kreepaz were able to capture some of it's magic. Their drunken styled chorus singing even has it's charm. What takes us to the last cut, the remix of "Work It Out". Completely switching the beat, it gets a new face, a new feel, but does not lose any of it's appeal, and suddenly that 'hurrrr...aaarrrh' hook is working better too.

See, this album is not rugged. Not avant garde. Not really pop. It's not bouncy. It's not brilliant. It's not wack. It's nice. This is just giving us something that is separated from what we usually are playing. It got it's own feel, and while that feel can't be for everyone, it's not like it shouldn't be listened to at all. It's a surprise. Something different, without abandoning us. Something that's creeping onto us. Something nice, damn it.