Straight out of Pittsburgh, PA it’s Charon Don and DJ Huggy, one of the few DJ/Rapper duos in the modern era of hip hop. With notable appearances by artists such as Rah Digga and Killah Priest, it’s clear the two came to do business – so let’s get right to it, shall we?

The album starts of with the energetic and intense Just Wanna Know, which features Reef The Lost Cauze. The song addresses nosy folk with humorous contempt: “They wanna know, ‘how you get your album out, how you get it in stores?/When you hittin’ the road, how you be getting on tours?...What’s your sales today, how much you Soundscan?/Why you think the underground don’t got no brown fans?/What’s your next move, what’s the next step?/Why you still got a job, you ain’t seen them checks yet?/Why you think these wack cats seem to double your sales?/Damn nigga, how the fuck you get in XXL?’”

The next track is Ready Or Naught which, while a little slower than the previous song, packs quite a wallop. It makes one wonder if Charon Don plans to turn down the ferocity of his emceeing at any point. Reassuring in that respect is Up In Here, which features both an excellent display of braggadocio and an infectious beat. Things get back to being intense with Stop(Best Beware), as Charon’s yelling just barely begins to get tiresome. Thankfully, as if on cue, the song is followed by the far more laid back Ghetto. Although it’s not exactly relaxing, the guitar strums in the background are a welcome change of pace, as is Charon’s decision to tone it down.

One of the album’s highlights is Observers, featuring Killah Priest. The beat is one part spaced out and one part sinister as Charon Don and Priest just tear through their verses. Next up is Motherless Child, which would be better left off of the album as it contributes very little in terms of content, while simultaneously detracting from cohesiveness. Fortunately, all the rest of the tracks are extremely solid, highlighted by Make it Good and Act Like You Know.

As far as production goes, the only drawback on this album is that a few of the samples have already very obviously already been flipped, sometimes making it seem like you’ve paid for the same song twice. For example, Just Wanna Know features the same sample Pharoahe Monch used for Let’s Go. As a consequence, the album sounds very familiar. The more astute listeners out there will assuredly pick up on this; if it’s the sort of thing that really bothers you, it could be very detrimental to your listening experience. Personally, I think most of the albums’ beats are a damn sight better than most of the shit out right now – Act Like You Know’s is so dope it’s criminal – so these recycled samples are (much) more often than not forgivable.

If there was any measure of justice in this world, Charon Don and DJ Huggy would get a lot of attention for Art of Life, which is one of the dopest releases of the year. Do yourself a favor and cop an album that’s not only enjoyable nearly the whole way through, but very memorable. A rare combination of lyricism, humor and content, backed by excellent production will most assuredly keep this one on your playlist for a good while.