bio:chemistry
label: banarnar

producers: seandamon, yoda, sm.arson, raistlin, k.crump, polyphonic.
guests: antimatter, j-tree, soulstice, yoda.
year of release: 2003
Crews and crew members come a dime a dozen, keep it buzzin', thinkin' that they phat, when the, uhm, was. At least in the case of the Nacrobats. The base of that Chicago posse includes Pugslee Atomz, ThaiOne Davis, Cosmo and Infinito 2017, plus the lady Psalm One. It here that has put out this ditty called "bio:chemistry". And she's one of the few emcees who drops rhymes in the recording lab plus hopefully nothing in the chemistry lab. We are not quite sure about the isotopes count, the atom weight and boiling point, but it certainly looks high, high and hot.
And before we entangle ourselves in our minimal leftover chemistry knowledge, we should get to the point. Just like Psalm does, who follows the simple rule of 'put your best track first. Yes, "Sugar" is that kind of banger. The Seandamon beat is rocking things properly, with Psalm making it clear that she's not the 'average' girl, in words, a good mood, and rhymes that just get the party started right. But as good as this is, and as much as this uplifted vibe is hardly matched again on the album, it's not just downhill from here. Because "Where'd You Come From?" is just a little less grooving and hype, with the story told adventures being better suited by the smooth Yoda beat. This cat is responsible for more tracks and whenever his name appears you can tell that the beat is going to be butters. So again on "You Should Know That", that goes beat nutty with a flute. Psalm adopts braggadocios lyrics, with them not going all out, but more of "hip hop is all in my blood, so I'm living in vein" cleverness.

tracklisting
1. Sugar
2. Where'd You Come From?
3. Whoami feat. Antimatter
4. You Should Know That
5. Single Black Female
6. Joe Mama feat. J-Tree
7. McGuillicutty
8. Interlude 1 (Come A Little Closer)
9. Needs
10. How Silhouette Got Cut
11. The Dubblewood Pipe
12. Know Yourself (Just My Crew) feat. SoulStice
13. If You
14. I Think Too Much
15. Turbulence (Fiji) feat. Yoda
16. Verbs And Nouns
17. On And On
18. Boldly Go
Yoda keeps the jazz level high on "Joe Mama", while Kizzie Tangents appears again, to pleasure herself with little nasty lines like "pissing on emcees, I got a hole where the crotch goes". The orchestration of "Turbulence (Fiji)" is the calm coating to the staggering drums. The reflection of Psalm makes the beat even harsher before on "Verbs And Nouns" Yoda again offers a complex drum, with her getting the most frustrated on all the album. The vibe is much more calm on "Boldly Go" again. And the sexual energy is sending big currents through the minutes of the song, being silently kinky.
Another man that covers a lot of songs goes by the name of sm.arson. You might question his inclusion of the jiggy "Whoami". But this grows on you, and is necessary, because it adds another puzzle piece to the Kizzie Tangents mystique. sm then turns the party level up again with his offering for "Single Black Female". And writing her dating classified for this track, it will impossible to miss the humor that drives much of what she does. SM's guitar on "How Silhouette Got Cut" is a little too Neptunes, while Psalm addresses a two dimensional person. Much better is "If You" with the pure jazz in the back, while Pslam gets seldomly thoughtful. What she continues on "I Think Too Much", a classic green soul using offering. The sample on "On And On" is even easier to recognize, with Psalm pushing and continuing her seamless breath control to give birth to another good rhyme.
Further there's three tacks from one beat offerants: Raistlin does "McGuillicutty", where the voices are very hidden in the mix, while Psalm opens her heart. K. Crump does the "Interlude 1 (Come A Little Closer)" where the Kizzie Hyde just shoved the Pslam Jeckyll to the side to lure us with the goods. And speaking of urges, that's just needs too. And on "Needs" Psalm speaks over the Seandamon beat, that's funky with a little guitar and a potentially annoying voice sample. As much as Psalm needs, there's still humbleness that makes her ask for "a little more dollars". Finally Polyphonic gets the samba riddim out, while Psalm almost double times over the beat of "The Dubblewood Pipe"
And yes, that was four tracks, but we had to sneak in that "Needs" tune. And we now need to sneak in "Know Yourself (Just My Crew)", that doesn't team her up with the 'bats, but with labelmate SoulStice, over a cool SM beat. But where are the 'bats at anyway. With them missing in action, Psalm has to carry the album for the big part by herself. And like a female comedian, this might throw you off. But when she's funny you laugh. So let Psalm's femininity throw you off. But when you hear her dropping good rhymes in a good flow, you'll dig her too.
review: tadah
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