producer: dj khalil

guests: kombo mc, krondon, planet asia, stark marshall

Bootlegging an album is so easy nowadays, you have to be afraid that the next stabbing victim of Ja˙-Z is either a little kid or your grandma. Aight, before you send any hate mail, that was just a joke. We love Ja˙-Z over here at urbansmarts.com. However, there are some sneaky bastards out there, so to protect your ish, is just as necessary as a rubber when you hit that booty. And so stripping down the promo release to a flyer like inlay, plus big old 'review' copy prints on the thingy and CD itself, is trying to protect your record. Further you can put a ringing sound over each track, that comes on about every 40 seconds. But that's rather annoying, maybe just shy of Evil Dee or DJ Clue shouts on a mix tape annoyance. However, if you check out the history of the now Self Scientific, do that little research, you understand the need and desire to protect their record, from anyone that is willing to mess with theirs. So we aren't mad, just got a little headache from that ringing sound, that really is getting on our nerves.

But let's talk about the record, what is the whole reason why we are writing this. With "Opus" Chase Infinite and DJ Khalil open the album. This is an instrumental offering, that starts with a r.i.p. shout to Bigga B, what then is followed by a scratch fest, done over a rather happy sounding beat, that will get your head nodding. On "The Covenant", Chace Infinite steps to the mic, to give us his first dose of lyricism: "follow the sun of light / musical movements sounding like / the force of the ocean tide moving". He does this first installment of mixing bigging himself up, with enjoying props as well as speaking about the things he sees. And he talks about this amalgam over a string dominated beat, that gives the track an epic feel. "Best Part", a track we know from the "Hip Hop 101" compilation (on Tommy Boy's Black Label), reappears here, and still works as much as a club track, as a track to play in your ride, but also works in the new age of conscious rap type of way. Things are then toned down for "The Long Run", where the bragging is put to the side, and the outside affects are analyzed as well as that Chase positions himself in the focal point as someone to listen to. But this does also involve him talking beneficial of himself, what in return is giving the love that he has for his people, also to himself, on a 'before you can love someone else, you gotta love yourself' type of level.

Teaming up with fellow S.O.L Music Works artist, Self add Kombo to "Cash Craft". The issue is paper bound on this, and what at times sounds like the angel and devil arguing about the benefits and disadvantages, also at times expresses good reasons, why there is a deserving need for more money. But if you only listen to some separate quotes from the track, like "no mater how much, I need more" or "I reign terror for green cheddar / to improve my life style", this is on a level certainly not expected from this crew. Keeping the collaborations coming, Krondon is featured on "Three Kings", that also has Planet Asia contribute. Finally the beat on this is again fully dope, it being a jazzy little tune, that is ridding itself from the guitars, and is just appealing.

With "We All Need" we continue on the right track, with another really good beat, despite the strange metal guitar, but very much because of the very dope guitar solo towards the end. Chase's rhymes talk about the way one is rarely content with yesterday's accomplishments. And so the desire to continue makes one urge for furthers, highers and mores. Getting chopped and more abstract on "Murderation" featuring Stark Marshall, Chase goes for the bragging writes. The whole vibe of the track reflects the war like background. The structure of "You're All That I Need" is used on "You Can't Fall", and the bongo percussion on this gives the track a nifty detail, what in total makes a cool beat. There's also female crooning on this track, that talks about pulled down pants and shameless relations. And that means that it talks about relationships gone sour, in two ways and directions at the same time. DJ Khalil seems to be working better when he's keeping things smooth, as the beat he hooks up for the title track "The Self Science", is being done dope with the flute and the guitar, the musicality and complexity of further gives Chase an allowance to flow and speak his mind, as a motivational speaker as well as a man giving us the way of how he appoints himself.

With "Duality" we are handed something that's not easy to grasp. With inspired and conspired rhymes, the track is used to give us the ying and yang, the lack of uniqueness find in opposites. We are then progressing to the 12" track "Love Allah", that again features Krondon and that has previously been reviewed here. "Dead Honest" will have us reconsider what we just said about Khalil's stuff being best when he's doing things smooth, as the energetic and in your face "Dead Honest" is actually working with confidence. The straightness of the track is also reflected in the lyrics, that talk about things totally ignoring the saying 'if you ain't got nothing nice to say, don't say nothing', as this gives you Chase without filter, sugarcoating or blur plug in. The organ on "Anguish" would be dope, but the too loud drum as well as the buried lyrics make it hard for us to focus on it. There are also some vibe / xylophone type of sound in there, what puts this again to the side of the better beats on the album. However, the nicest beat is still to come, as "Return" will follow next. This ill righteous track was the one that had Self Scientific blow up in the first place, and if you still have never caught it, this just be the time you finally will. Also as at the end of the track Chase gives you a manifest of what this means to them, not just the track, but also the way he sees hip hop now. Plus there's a hidden track on here, that's actually a hidden gem with a really dope beat.

This record is only surprising us because we knew very few Self Scientific tracks, and so we are taken by surprise by several styles and expressed thoughts. That's not the album's fault, but we are nevertheless very unprepared. And so the album is still having to answer our prejudices, that are unfair but inevitable. We take this in as something that we expect to blow us away, and so the level is tasting bitter, and we are browsing through the songs with given out 'aights', but without a deep outreaching to the music that is brought to us. That's why we are not leaving the album totally satisfied, realizing that it is not giving us as much as we wanted or expected, and we can only hope that it will grow on us, between now and later.