producers: anacron, justin tewn, dj whitelightning, pns.

A threesome. A super group, no one will refer to as such. However, The Netherwords is a collective of already situated soloists Anacron, Hymnself and the Living Legends crew member Murs. And they combined their talents for this album, like it was planed for eight years, so "One..." tells us, after "The First Utterance" opened the record. And just like most of the tracks (there are three exceptions), both were produced by Anacron, who starts out smooth, for the three cats to explain the coming together. The smoothness is then abandoned for a harder track, that still shouldn't really be called hard, despite the thumps. This "Uncommon (The Theme)" is allowing the three to destroy some mics. "Fat Boys" is then changing into mystical melancholy and at the same time the hand clapping, as well as the bass makes it somewhat left coast. The same can be said about the predominant bass on "Abandoned (No Love)" that borrows from "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". But this is not a love or romance track, but a rhymed slapping around of all them nerds, herbs and non-Netherworlds. At least for 1/3 of the track, as there's thinking put to paper, about what we just thought that this track wasn't about. And with the third voice, we get a third aspect, what round out things.

"Friday Night Special" is a spoken piece, with a female of the species basically complaining. She does that in an almost news anchor way, but the humor can't be missed. Then there's "Sunovaguns" (produced by Justin Tewn) with almost Spanish guitars , this track is telling us what can happen to a Netherworld, and how cool he handles every possible situation and demand, while positioning himself in the best possible ad space. In contrast, one sound gets spaced out on "Balls To The Wall", with a left / right chant in the back. Strange tubular bells are making up the beat later on and we got to give a nod to Anacron for doing this. The trio chose a typical issue, with them doing a little 'we are better', 'the industry and you of course aren't'.

"...Two..." expresses everyday happenings over a glowing light like beat. The track is over quickly and birds, yeah birds, like seagulls, open up "Futura". We are totally drawn into the saxophone that follows so musical. And this could have been your favorite track of the summer, in "I Be Blowin'" proportions, if not the hard drum would leave a too harsh impression. The hi-hat is a little too loud too, and so.... oh well. But the three come correct, as they do some MLK Jr. 'I had a dream', with them picturing utopia, a place like Amalgam that features all preferences. The vibe definitely is kept in the same ballpark, when "Cali (Souled Out)" does everything right that the other track didn't, with the emcees spitting deserved area love. The second of three non Anacron produced tracks comes on with PNS, who shows up on "A Love Ballad", that continues the smoothness, with lyrics giving us a list of what the cats love, that is backed up with a contently smiling saxophone.

We shouldn't be talking too much about the Murs solo track "Come Back Home", produced by DJ WhiteLightning, as we've already done that here. So we continue to "How Do You Like It?". In a way, this is an extension to "A Love Ballad", as the preferences are named like on a Christmas wish list, over a at times rougher beat, with a souled out chorus. "Lessons Learned" then gives us another summer piece, with an old school drum. There are inspirational words being said on here and so instead of this just being the sit back and smoke some track, this is the 'allow your brain some time' cut. Time to think too. Now the smoke track seems to be "Green Daze", that takes the probably most famous track by Green Day and the Netherworlds sing it in a style that would make Biz Markie proud and most likely was done under the influence of something.

Now why does "Pals" sound so heard before? It's not that it does something similar, but it's just something that hits close to 'previously heard'. On the topic we get thoughts on friends, pals, amigos, hombres, homeys, well you know. "...Three" brings the record close to the end, ringing in the last track "The Last World", that's basically nothing but someone screaming to shut it. What of course lets us complete the trilogy, as "One...", "...Two..." and "...Three" are chapters of one track, them also featuring the same beat. And unmentioned on our sheet, the three parts are combined as a special bonbon, at the end, as a hidden cut.

What then leaves us with the task to wrap this review up. And there's not really much to say, apart from that it feels somewhat unneeded to even call this dope, as that seems to have been inevitable. However, for all those that only trust the written word: this is dope. Dope in an universal kind of way, and even doper for those that enjoy the left coast mentality, blueprint and ways of doing things. So take this in with a bear hug.