A Work In Progress
label: entagrante

producers: myka nyne, josef leimberg, canoe, ryan crosby.

guests: saafir, rbx, brother j, big lee, tajai.
year of release: 2003
Now don't get it twisted: this Myka Nyne is that Mikah Nine, the Freestyle Fellowship Quartet singer, the man behind "Timetable" and "It's All Love: American Nightmare". As well as now "A Work In Progress". Why the name spelling change? Dunno. Doesn't really matter also, because as soon as you listen to the album, the styling of Mikah or Myka are present from the get go.
With this album here opting for more singing. Like on "Fry" or on "Life Is Hard", where the whole message is carried across over live instruments. And the latter title gives away what that song is about, with both songs being wrapped in soul paper. The instrumentation being real, makes the vibe just get thoroughly organic, what then fits the topic of "Hibiscus Flower (A Tribute To Andy Bey)". A little electro funkier it gets on "Your Heart", where the Myka's voice shortcomings become evident though. Not that he's having too weak a voice to croon, but he's no Marvin Gaye. So the halfway singing, halfway talking "One Dream" works better for him, as does "Re-Construct", while the music sounds the best on "Hidden Agenda".

tracklisting
1. Fanfare
2. Set You Free
3. Can We Smoke?
4. Picasso feat. Saafir, RBX
5. Hibiscus Flower (A Tribute To Andy Bey)
6. D.N.B.N.M.
7. Wartnbe
8. Your Heart
9. XJ9 feat. RBX, Brother J
10. Protect The Children
11. This Ain't The Song
12. Life Is Hard
13. Pimp Gamble feat. Big Lee
14. One Dream
15. Hidden Agenda
16. Love Yourself feat. Tajai
17. Welcome Home
18. Fry
19. Re-Construct
20. Bell Ringers
Besides this soul, "D.N.B.N.M." goes into proper UK Jungle, with Myka playing MC in their sense of the word, while the beat is just stepping. And on "Wartnbe" he's doing a more spoken word avant garde poet reading at first, before he's voice finds the rhythm to communicate the political content. Even more Gil Scott Heron is done on "Protect The Children" that's based around the African saying "It takes a village to raise a child", with the instrumentation also following the continents blueprint.
There's still however the other side, as Myka is still a rapper, and as such he raps. Therefore on "This Ain't The Song", where he talks about his position in the field, he spits. As straight as someone of the stylistic background of the Fellowship can do. And as good Myka sounds by himself, as an artist that spends a lot of time in a group, he knows how to shine with other people joining him on a song. That's why the collaboration songs happen to be highlights too. Like "Picasso" that features Saafir and RBX. The beat gets completely west coast banging (just like "Can We Smoke?" prior to this) and all three step up to spit seriousness. Eventhough Saafir can't really unfold his flow like that. RBX sounds good all the time and again on "XJ9", where Brother J, yes, Brother J also steps up. So this gives more intelligent flowing for the sake of it. And finally there's "Love Yourself" featuring the Souls Of Mischief Hyrogliphic Tajai. The title of the song again says a lot about what the carries the topic, just like "Can We Smoke?" did. Therefore the themes go from the expectedly positive and conscious to the very street on "Pimp Gamble" featuring Big Lee.
So basically, there's a whole lot of singing on here, what lets you often miss the rapping. That's however Myka. And as he says on the concluding "Bell Ringers", this is a 'work in progress.' So there's a certain trying out new things feel to it, that allows you to see some of the yellow notes he sang with a more forgiving eye. It at no time however is a departure from what he used to do, as he scatted before, he sang, the Freestyle Fellowship even harmonized. It certainly is also in the tradition of constantly moving, taking what you have and what you accomplished, and push the style boundary another notch further. That's the way to see this album, that does a whole lot of that, in a lot of good ways.
review: tadah
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