So, you say you love listening to real Hip Hop, do you? Are you a fan of dope lyricism, phat and inventive beats and underground artists that you are not likely to hear on the your wacky-ass local radio station? Well, ladies and gentlemen, you all need not look any further than The Difference: Vol. 1.
With production from the world famous, yet obscure, beat behemoth Domingo, the set features the talents of KRS-One, Dilated Peoples, the late Big L, Craig Mack, Cocoa Brovaz, Kool G. Rap and a whole boat load of other clever brothers. The first track on the set is titled “Certified Official,” brought to you by Dilated Peoples. The track rides a hype, highly energetic trumpet-like layer, peppered with the appropriate groove layer that sounds like something you could replicate on a funky organ.
The second track comes to us courtesy of High-N-Mighty. “Rumble,” as the track is called, features a beat that fits the MC’s lyrical style, but it didn’t have me open or anything like that. In essence, it was alight! The lyrics were cool, but after the high energy offering from Dilated, this song kind of makes you feel like you are coming down off a high. It kind of slows you down a bit.
The CD gets bouncing again with Sean P (Ruc) on “Irrationally Speaking.” The song is filled with Ruc’s signature comedic/dead-ass-serious lyricism, but he just does not give us enough. It seemed like he did the song in 20 minutes. We know he’s capable of far better. The track, a morbid Addams Family-esque groove is dope, but, like we said, we know Sean could have done better. We picture him saying: “Ok, I’m done, where’s my check?”.
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The next offering comes from K-Slash. “Blow It Up, Shut It Down” is certainly a chill out style track that will have you nodding your head, but not much else. It’s a joint that is best listened to with plenty of bass.
KRS-One and ToneDeff give Nelly and other commercial rappers one to grow on on “Clear ‘Em Out.” This is another energetic offering, but, on this one, the rappers actually are up to the task of juicing the production for all it’s worth.
“From The Child To The MC” is brought to us by Rise, an MC with flow reminiscent of the late Big L. It’s a underground, breakdancer special that can get you on the dance floor without calling himself a thug or his wife a whore.
Punch-N-Words bring the pain correctly on “Native New Yorker,” a song I feel is one of the dopest Hip-Hop “big-ups” to the Big Apple of all time. Deacon The Villain ( A lyricist who surprised me-a dope cat indeed), The Cocoa Brovaz and Craig Mack come correct on their respective offerings as well.
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All and all, I give this album 4 out of 5 Xs. It’s a dope album for the lover of the true school sound. It is not glamour glitter rap and it’s not thugged out either. For lack of a better word, it’s just refreshing.
