producer: dax reynosa, raphi henley, dert

The Tunnel Rats is a crew, collective, a group of compadres, a gathering of like minded folks, a ...., well you get the idea. And the members are L.P.G with its members Jurny and Dax, Raphi aka Shame, New Breed (Macho and Elsie), Zane, the beat department chairman Dert and Sev Statik. And speaking of the last cat in this line up, he offers a self titled solo cut "Sev Statik" that is speaking about the promosexuals (as Sage Francis calls 'em): "I receive e-mails everyday / that go on to say / can I get a promo wax? I'm a DJ I make mix tapes / I got a radio show / I'll put you in rotation on my station it'll give you daps in my location". The reviewers get a blow too: "I agree sending out promos is one way to go / but show me some love like my name was Bobbito". We can't front and understand his stance and the hard beat is dope too, it features an Indian instrument, and the lyrics are spit with the demanded anxiety.

There are several solo cuts on here, like when Zane is stepping to the mic to do "Change". Her cut is talking about overcoming everything that is holding back her gender, as Zane is a she, and she says in a almost singing way: "leading me back on my journey to naturalize on / while coils of bitter sweet wrapped around my throat to imbibe / family ties choking out values regrets of where they went wrong / divided on my own redirecting to guide / settling on an iron strong sense of where I belong". While in the second verse she's talking about the change necessary for all the people with a voice, as she's also playing with the words change and chain, and all of that over a smooth beat. Dax of L.P.G. is responsible for "One's Who Do", a short track that's speaking on truths. The follow up to this song is done by Raphi, who does "One's Who Don't", with one of the nicest beats on here. And he further gets a second solo cut called "Motivate".

Macho of New Breed is offering three solo cuts, one being "Everybody Else", one being "Master Plan", and the third being the opening "A Long Road", with the latter being basically an introduction to this record as much as the current state of the world. We further get 'regular' group songs, like when L.P.G. do "Remember". Here where we hear: "I been second guessed since the first time I first rhymed a verse / and I'm blessed by the curse cause strength came / I take the blame for legitimizing the Gospel rap game / and continue to do the same in Christ name" and the words are coming straight from the heart when later on Jurny spits "and see I know my place and I'm gon' be in it 'til I'm done / cause the last shall be first and I been last since day one". The lyrics are coupled with a dark beat, that again leaves us completely satisfied. The title track "Tunnel Vision" is offered by New Breed, with Macho and the second lady rat Elsie spitting fire, as they are mainly repping on this cut.

But with all these cuts that can be attributed to one member, or a sub-entity of the crew, we nevertheless don't leave the overall feel of the record or crew. And the influence of the other members seems to always linger in the back. What provides a very natural sound to the tracks where different members come together. So also on the one crew cut, the straight up head nodder "T.R.'z", that can bring heat to every dance floor. Hence all the tracks are very much Tunnel Rats offerings, be it the smooth and jazzy "Bow Down", that's done by Macho, Dax and Raphi, or "Ladies", that has the two women (Elsie and Zane) connect. "2 Cents" is very smooth again, while "Line Finish" is keeping things on the bouncy tip. "For The Heads" performed by Raphi and Sev Statik features one of the nicest beats on here, with another one of those appearing on "Human Race", this one however being totally different. And such quality makes "Tripped Over A Dream" sound rather basic, what however is an unfair statement. And then there's "Pray For The Morning" left, that's combining spacey blurbs, with later coming on pianos.

Hence there's many different vibes on here, that all are taken in and made their own. Vibes that are all executed with much skill and hence we are struggling to truly find anything to moan about. Even the topics are varied, and they are not beating on the same bush all the time. So in case you haven't yet realized it, this record is putting strong feet on the ground for the Tunnel Rats.