Nighthawks
label: eastern conference | nocturne | groove attack

producers: dj mighty mi, camu tao.

guests: tame one, metro, space, mr. eon.
year of release: 2002
year of release: mhzsite.com | cagekennylz.com
 
The concept is dope: take two imaginary people, and do an album on their adventures. Actually, the concept is even doper, because the two people are cops. Yip, hip hop is hooraying the boys in blue. Then again, no its not. Because when Cage and Camu Tao step up to create personas (named Deke DeSilva and Matt Fox) they want to talk about for a whole album, you can be sure that the characters are more like bad Lieutenants, who masturbate while talking to a car full of young chicks they just told to pull over. So these coppers are crooked, nasty, dirty and somewhat bizarro-Hollywood. And if you know your history, you can tell that this daunting album is an adaptation from the 1981 Sly Stallone and Billy Dee Williams cop action flick by the same name. However, instead of taking on the identities of the original anti-terrorist task force, Cage and Camu have themed this album to create an entirely new angle, reapparing as the left arm of the law.
And not just the "The Trailor" opening and intermission speeches wants to put the image of a movie in your brain, but the lyrics by these two folks paint a couple of gory pictures, that are backed by the gritty production by Migty Mi and Camu Tao. You however should not confuse this with a saga in "A Prince Among Thieves" proportions, because the tales are random glimpses, rather than a continuing story. Therefore the story telling is put to the side on songs where the two cops just try to impress with the latest torture idea, money schemes, hoes rode and demented interrogations. And don't confuse this with "Cops" either, because the bad boys are sitting inside the squad car.

tracklisting
1. The Briefing
2. N.R.A
3. The Trailor feat. Tame One
4. Cop Hell
5. Strip Search skit
6. Keep The City Up
7. Car Chase feat. Metro
8. N.Y.P.D. skit

9. Count Crackula feat. Space
10. Night Hawks
11. Let 'Em Go Matt skit
12. P.C. (Police Crime)
13. Bomb Beach feat. Mr. Eon
14. Street Poly
The whole acidic appearance of the album is furthered by the dark production, that features the necessary cinematic elements to push the impression further under the skin. That's why "N.R.A" stays bare with a repetitive keyboard line and sirens and only a small build up for the chorus. As opposed to that, "Cop Hell" sounds upbeat and happy, with this signifying the short moments of being content with the world. This track, but even more the sounds of "Keep The City Up" (a more story telling track) take us back to the 80s, where cop shows have been much better and much more popular. The sonically interesting "Car Chase" is again going more of a storytelling route: Metro is the prey, Camu is riding shotgun and he's firing it occasionally too.
The cops obviously throw their dices in the drug gamble, with the business better being handled in the dark. What makes them be "Count Crackula", with the interests being with the Ghetto Vampire though. The title track "Night Hawks" has the beat to club, but the lyrics for mothers to hold their hands over their sons. With the kid rubbing his chin and training his don't giving a fuck though. Another dope beat appears on "Bomb Beach", where Cage and Camu flow with Mr. Eon over a nice sample, with the Hawks having found a person they can talk to in Dick. Although splitting the treasure two ways will always be better than three ways. For the final track "Street Poly", Camu then digs out a harsher beat, with the crooks summing everything up again.
This is neither the cops confessing, nor really them bragging about what they do. It's more them just saying it, like it's nothing. And they do that on each song. And as good the concept is, and as good the two say all these bad things, the concept remains a little thin, as there are hardly any episodes to identify. That however does not take away all the fun. With the fun having to be part of the concept, despite us knowing how serious Cage is about his music. But maybe that's why he and his partner spend so much time to say that the thugs are not just standing on the corner, they also sit in the precinct. And if some of the titles have been wrongly identified, then because the cops have tampered with the track listing evidence, messing it up.
review: tadah
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