11. Weed & Drinks feat. A.G.

His first ever solo song is still one of the most complete hip hop tracks ever recorded. "Time's Up" is an undisputed classic and it was followed by the still slept on "Word...Life" album, that contained more bangers, contained the early 90s production style at its epitome, however, people didn't recognize. O.C. then moved on to release his second album "Jewelz", that allowed him to get that Yvette Michelle collabo "Far From Yours" out, that gave him some club love, but apart from that it was once more only the hardknock heads that were checking for the album. Well, after that, his producer Buckwild went on to produce some hits ("Whoa" by Black Rob, and "I Got A Story To Tell" by Biggie), the D.I.T.C. went on to release one of the best posse cuts ever ("Day One") and one of the worst disappointments (their troubled album), and so what started out so promising, suddenly sounded less exciting.

In an interview conducted shortly after the release of the second album (read it here), O.C. said that he plans to release his next album in only a short while. Well, it took him longer than that, as only now the smooth talking emcee returns with his third effort, now on the third label, with Wild Pitch and PayDay both folding at the wrong moment. His new home is the fast emerging JCOR imprint, that interestingly enough also owns the rights to the old Wild Pitch catalogue. So it's almost like O.C. is home again. And as he's able to return to past greatness with is album, we will welcome him home like a long lost friend.

The "Intro" is a dramatic and definitely sampled patchwork, having its root in 70s sounds. And with Buckwild being acquired to produced "Back To Cali" featuring A. Bless, more things seem to be right. And they are, although this is not the best beat, it's effortless happiness is allowing O.C. to put down the punchlines, having this result in a simple track, that doesn't need to be more. Buckwild also does "Soul To Keep", with him consciously taking a look back to update his old sounds, making them a little more polished, but still pleasing to everyone, that has been searching for this kind of jazz funk sampling style. O.C.'s putting the observations of his surrounding on this song, adding the right topic to the right beat. Things are kept in the D.I.T.C. family when Lord Finesse is providing the beat on "Dr. Know", that is a dark offering, and it's one of the best at the same time. This is almost retrospective, with it's simplicity pointing in the direction of past songs, it's also straying away from the norm, and although O's going for some thuggin' rhymes, it still doesn't alienate anything he did before.

Sounding somewhat strange is "Bounce Mission" done by Ahmed. But unlike the title has us expect, this is not a desperate club attempt, as it shows courage to do something reduced. And again O.C. sounds comfortable doing his flossing. Buckwild then returns on the title track "Bon Appetit" featuring UNI and T.L. Now here we are more tempted to get our dancing shoes out, with this using the guitar of an old track, to give it a tempting rhythm. Maybe lyrically a little too street for our backpack liking, we are still not fleeing into the arms of "Doin' Dirt", the second Ahmed offering. Now this is one butter track, where O.C. is comparing the statements of the devil on the left and the consciousness on the right shoulder. This is contrasted with the always gritty offerings of the GD's Party Arty and D Flow who are doing their signature growling on "Get It Dirty", again produced by Buckwild.

This beatsmith is staying around on the funky, while still jazzy "Utmost", where O.C. is doing some bragging, adding lines, talking about how he enjoys life, and what he pulls off to assure that he 'lives life to the utmost'. We then have to complain about the fake keyboard strings showing up on "Respect Tha Drop", that Buckwild added. Apart from that, the track is dramatic, that is being used for an equally dramatic street story telling verse. Another D.I.T.C. brethren then shows up on "Weed & Drinks", that is featuring A.G., and Buckwild is still behind the boards. A.G. is reminding us why he's one of the most entertaining to listen to, as he always pulls out a bundle of punchlines that make our time worthwhile. And he is even able to do this, when he rhymes about such an explored topic. O.C. is then left to himself on "Paradise", that features another Buckwild club friendly beat. He also pulls together the guitar on "Psalm 23", to combine them with the strings, to make a somewhat 80s glamour beat. This is the track that is touching upon the Big L tragedy, and the thoughts, pains and angers it instilled in O.C.

Now we further get treated to some bonus tracks not printed in the cover, one being "1/2 Good 1/2 Sinner", that's actually one of the best, with an urgent beat, that's instilling initial and quite maniacal head nodding. The second bonus is "Ex-o-cise (No Hook Theory)", and once more you wonder why these tracks are not put onto the album officially, as without them, it would be rather short, and these two cuts are definitely dope (and yo, keep that CD going, as suddenly there's the hidden track "Bona Fide" coming up featuring no other than Ja˙-Z doing the hook). Well, that's just one mystery, but in the light of us getting this dope album, will not be troubling us for too long. See, this is a return to the early / mid 90s, however, actually updating the sounds, and so, this doesn't sound old. What it does though, is allowing O.C. to reclaim a forgotten status, that he deserves as a provider of this really dope hip hop.