Breaking Records

producers: koncepts, zvi

guests: c-rayz walz, pumpkinhead, percee p, wordsworth, juggaknots, sub-conscious, others.
year of release: 2003
Soul Purpose. Hmmm. Never heard of them.
Or at least I hadn't when this dropped through my letterbox. But given that they were able to get such an impressive line-up of underground artists to feature on an album that would have been pretty damn strong on its own, I'm genuinely surprised I hadn't.
"Breaking Records" begins with no gimmicks or guest appearances, just the trio of Mazzi (MC), Koncepts and Zvi (Producers) on the Dirty South-esque syncopated and synthesised track "Let's Go". And what a good foot to put forward - within seconds it has you bumping as you reach to turn the volume up.

tracklisting
1. One, Two (Intro)
2. Let's Go
3. Greetings (Interlude)
4. Take Cover! feat. Pumpkinhead
5. The Other White Meat feat. Immortal Technique
6. Own Two Feet feat. 427 aka Walt Liquor
7. Stay Busy feat. Slim Of The Juggaknots
8. What Matters More Interlude
9. Minimum Wage feat. Breezly Brewin Of The Juggaknots
10. Soul Puppies (Interlude)
11. Breaking Records feat. Kirby Dominant, Auditrons & Infamous MC
12. Two Hits (Interlude)
13. Lung Collapsing Lyrics Part II feat. Percee P
14. The Last Cypher feat. C-Rayz Walz
15. The Ballad Of Lost Friends
16. Hee A Laa Interlude
17. CA-101 feat. A-O.N.E.
18. What I 'Used' To Do (Interlude)
19. Out To Lunch feat. Sub-Concious & LaQuantum Leap
20. One, Two Part II (Interlude)
21. Bricks To The Persian Gulf
22. Dry Spells feat. Wordsworth
23. Goodbye (Outro)
Having proved that they can shine on their own, Soul Purpose enlist Pumpkinhead to trade verses with Mazzi on the next track, "Take Cover!" With bouncing keyboards and snares and P'head offering lyrics like "I'm so fast I could run backwards in circles, creating the earth's reversal", let me tell you that "Breaking Records" is going from strength to strength.
Tracks as diverse as the sparse and menacing "The Other White Meat" (featuring Immortal Technique) - an angry discussion of racist police violence with the hook "the violence in me reflects the violence that surrounds me", and "The Ballad Of Lost Friends," with its harmonised female vocals, illustrate that Soul Purpose have strong enough lyrics and production to adapt to a number of styles.
They're no amateurs when it comes to concept songs either; "The Last Cypher" finds Mazzi and C-Rayz Walz conversing with God, confessing their sins, and attempting to justify their lifestyles. And Wordsworth joins the trio later to discuss a lack of sexual activity on "Dry Spells" -a refreshing change from the big booty, big rims, big pimpin' which appears as subject matter so frequently in Hip Hop these days. Wordsworth even goes so far as to suggest that he finds celibacy inspiring and writes lyrics to vent his frustration - perhaps we should be hoping that some of these underground cats never get laid if this is the case?
The one issue with a group that can so convincingly display such a number of varying styles is that they don't really establish themselves as any one thing. What this means for Soul Purpose is that you get to the end of the album, having heard numerous hot tracks, and you're not really sure how to classify "Breaking Records".
Nonetheless, I have now heard of Soul Purpose, and although I can't necessarily offer a specific description of them and their music, I can tell you that they get your head nodding with consistently good beats and rhymes. And if that isn't enough, the guest appearances on this album (so numerous and good that I couldn't even mention them all) are justification enough on their own to go and pick this up.
review: cornerstone
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