Being witness to the dramatic underground success that has come to Eastern Conference Records, Mr. Eon and DJ Mighty Mi, of The High & Mighty have been laying in the weeds so to speak allowing label-mates such as Copywrite, Cage and Tame One shine throughout the past year. The Highlite Zone is their latest full length offering not only does it represent their now almost trademark shine, it also allows their immediate hip-hop family to shine lyrically and on the production side.
Eon has always been known as an MC who can switch up subject matter on a dime, and throughout a record will touch on a variety of different topics and issues. This is true throughout this album as Mighty Mi and company provide him and his guests the music to dwell upon sports, life, clothes, women, and of course the life and times of Dick Starbuck. Starting off after the intro to the album is “Right Here”, which has Eon over a perfectly placed Mighty Mi guitar sample. Sebb provides very Milo-esque production as Copywrite follows Eon on the next track “Cheese Factory”, which was the b-side to their somewhat lackluster lead single “Take It Off”, which pokes fun at hip-hop’s current fashion trend of wearing the throw-back jersey with no regard of what the jersey represents (Eon and Milo are sports aficionados who have been sporting throw-backs for years). Probably the hottest underground producer of the year, RJD2 provides a very centralized drum heavy beat for “Incorporate Anthem”, while not doing anything to overpower the deep voice of Eon, the track’s drums get dull until the brilliant melodic sample kicks in taking the track to the RJ level.
The Smut Peddlers meet the Night Hawks as Cage, who flows almost perfectly to the production, trades verses with Eon on “Standing Room Only”, which features one of the best beats on the album, provided by Camu Tao, who happens to produce another standout in “I Wanna (But I Won’t”. Towards the middle of the album it is hard to find a common tread within the album and “Rock The House” stands by itself as Rahzel, the human beatbox, provides a terrific rendition of Rocky for Eon to rhyme over. By itself this track is a great tribute to the times of old; however it fails to blend in with any flow the record has tried to create for itself. Mighty Mi is back superbly on the production side with an almost sinister subtle piano sound on “Fast Food Nation”; however the downside to this track is the failed attempt with the female hook repeating an old McDonald’s commercial along with Eon’s questionable lyrical content. Tame One comes to the forefront to help Eon on two of the last three tracks and the two follow each other nicely on “Meldrick Taylor”. On “D.S.P.D. II” Mighty Mi once again proves that he’s still got the golden touch and Mr. Eon confirms that Dicky Starbucks is on the case. This beat flows so smoothly and is one of the standout tracks on the album. On the finale the Leak Brothers (Cage and Tame One) feature with Eon on heavy hitting Reef production, with Eon proclaiming that “they’d rather see Timberlake rockin’ Timbaland”.
Though it has its short-comings The Highlite Zone also has its terrific bright spots, and so it is another solid release on the Eastern Conference catalog. It certainly will make any EC fan look forward to next year’s scheduled Eastern Conference All-Stars IV.
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6/10
