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| At the same time however, the Schoolz
need to carry this by themselves. And hiding behind
someone is not like them anyway. That's why they
(at least Syntax and Intense) step forward, with
self produced songs like "Jus
LikeDis" (feat. A-Sun of Vanguard),
a track where the mix of party rhymes and dropping
jewels is in full swing. The same two also did "Heart
& Soul" that features immaculate
DJ Excell scratches, with the beat still being smooth,
the horn during the chorus funky and the words bringing
good times. Syntax and Intense's best beat comes
with "Wanna-Holla
(Arrghaa)",
with an easy to recognize sample and help by Adam
Bomb on the beat and I.Q. with the rhymes. This
speaks on struggles, with the despair being as real
as it was twenty two years ago. The same team does
"Natural Disater",
while on "What Speaque-eazie
Thinks", the cat with that name
gets a solo track, where he also did the beat. Just
like on "Awake",
where Syntax helps out though. Here the track takes
us back to seven years ago, where the similarity
to some other guy getting a little too overbearing
though. |
| With Skratch on board, we are also
to find the well done beatbox songs, like "Now
We Got You". With the beats, kicks,
snares and all other instruments coming from Scratch's
mouth, only the drum really tells you that. But
in total this cut features a good live feel. "You
Need To Stop!!" not only has the
Schoolz team up with the Skratch again, but also
with Curse, one of the most respected emcees in
Germany. And if you don't get the words he says,
you can at least get with his incredible flow. Plus
it's dope to see a cross Atlantic collaboration
again, as it's been a while. And because it was
so dope, The Waxolutionist out of Austria do the
beat for "Never Seen
Before", a slowly building ditty,
that then keeps low with the Schoolz turning a lot
of words, with the connection not always being in
the front. |
| There's however more Roots to get,
as the Grand Wizards, or at least ?uestlove of the
Roots, helps out on "In
Liquid Form". More highlights come
in the extra smooth "One
Of Those Dayz (D-Smooth Remix)" and
"These
Things You Say - D-Smooth's Reprise"
(feat. 88-Keys). |
| Speaking of 88-Keys: he steps up
for "Perpetual Motion",
where he puts some sounds into the back, making
the cut three dimensional and the behind crowded.
The song is also quicker than the rest, with it
again looking like the Schoolz make an effort to
give their songs the needed energy for a good stage
performance (the title of "Get
The F@*k Up" hints in the same direction.
But with a hard Adam Bomb beat, plus harsher battling
words, this might be a little too rough for careless
boogying). The same formula is on "eVERYtHINGSaLLrIGHT
(rIGHTnOW)", while the beat gets
more grooving and the words get some real thoughts
out. It might however be "It'z
Going Down, No (Feel Good)", where
88 finally really comes through. The beat opts for
a spinned style that sounds similar to something
we heard before. But with the rhyming cats feeling
very comfortable on this tune, they really make
it their song. While we nod our head and listen
to their thoughts. |
| Throughout the album there are
'I Think's', in a elaborated 'I Am I Be' type fashion.
And these offer more philosophy than most of the
'regular' verses. Hence it's surprising how the
Schoolz Of Thought at times fall short to live up
to their moniker. Further with some samples sounding
a lot like something used before, the album is struggling
to bring something thoroughly new. And while these
findings sound very negative, they don't take away
from the continuously smooth effort, the solid good
times hip hop, that's strongly aimed for the live
stage. Thus many will be a little underimpressed,
but more will feel all the good stuff that's on
this record. |
| review:
tadah |
|
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07.04.03
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