producers: nothang06, alex75, the golden ray, deeskee, young joseph

San Jose. A leap a little to the South of the Bay, is home to Highground Records, that first entered our radar's reach, when those FTP and friends tapes were dropped in our hands. Now that analogue nostalgia has been exchanged with digital bravo and so the first Highground release on that silver disc, that shines so nicely, is put to our attention, with Young Joseph being the name written on the album artwork. Ah man, about crew affiliation and background exposes, please refer to the FTA site, as we are simply about the music up in here, what allows us to hide our unsatisfactory knowledge about the dude, without missing to give a nod to the West Coast Workforce though.

Anyways, with "Chapter 2001 (Intro)", we are catching the first few rhythms of the record. Here Joseph expresses his loyalty to that Workforce. And he does that with a worthy Bay Area rider drawl, making this shout out piece an enjoyable listen. And so "Straight Out The Gate" appears to be the first track that takes us into the rhyming mind and it is leading us through braggadocios words, that give the competition a verbal spanking. This also happens to be one of the self produced tracks, as opposed to on "Copywrite 2000", where Joseph connects with Deeskee for the beat, to do a rather enumerated rhyme style, while DJ Marz is slicing the records.

The Bay returns on the Alex75 produced "Confidence", as there's a low growling in the back, while the repetitive melody is guiding the way for Joseph and Maleko, who are expressing a pride in their discussion of self confidence. A reggaeish guitar can be heard on "The Rain", where Joseph again does the enumerated style, as he seems to be brainstorming about the weather that has you stay home. After "The Cook Out (Interlude)", nicely done by Nothang06, "Night Tonight" is smoothing out things even further. Only beat wise though, as the story telling does not allow relaxation. This is also produced by Nothang06 and not just the flute makes this a very cool track. "Getting By" seems to be taking us back a few years with Subtitle, Administer and Existereo taking this unlike beat and use it for their expressionism.

There's some flying through soft space structures sounds on "Strength In Ones", that further takes the lyrical content beyond the bragging. A jazzy guitar is then made to made up "Searching For Something More", featuring Jesfsm. And Joseph seems not to be totally able to rid himself off the rider delivery. There's another guitar on "Family Man", a self produced track, that has Joseph attack the dear to hear issue of thinking about ones own descendants. Once more we trust his words and appreciate the honest approach and willingness to do something that mustn't be frowned upon. The title track "Summer Fling" gives us a reminiscing of events, of the watching and enjoying chicks and the summer spectrum of things. Alex75 once more comes through with a very smooth track that allows you relaxation even at 100°F.

Don't even dismiss "The Weenie Roast (Interlude)" as some corny Mambo something, as whilst a drum would have take this over the top, it's funky enough. On "Highground Trench Rats", Marlena Shaw's "Woman Of The Ghetto" is taken for easy sample purposes and our man Pilot Rase reminisces of back then and of right now, and the way the unfolding turned out. "Graveyard Shift" produced by Deeskee also leaves little if anything to complain about, before The Golden Ray provides "Suction", to an okay result, and featuring Tommy V, Life Rexall and Subtitle. Showing some area pride, the next interlude is "Northern Cali", before on "James Worthy", we are put into laid back mode again, that has Deeskee put a nifty drum over sparkling sounds, with the topic of choice again seeming rather humble, without preventing though, to have Joseph spit about various issues, validating his own status. There's another interlude by the name of "Blazing Summer" before DJ Marz returns on "Peel The Hoe", a not too serous 80s pop / R'n'B hybrid sampling cut, that paves the way for "My Bad", another totally complementing track for the warm seasons that allow to breathe in air without having to sneeze from the cold. Tommy V and Jesfsm are the featured guests on this, while EVS, Administer, Deeskee and Logic are the persons crashing on the couch on "Summer Fling (Remix)" that is a harsher version and ends this album.

Highground releases have always been dope. They were just held back by the rudimentary equipment they had available. As this one is mixed, mastered and pressed professionally, we are provided with a treat of a record, that is totally fitting the season, that's around the corner, with a bundle of smooth and night time travelling beats and Joseph's openly expressed words. This is simply how things should be.