After the successful Reflection
Eternal project DJ Hi-Tek steps
into the spotlight to showcase his variety of beats on his first solo
compilation album HI-Teknology, off
of Rawkus records. The first track
is from none other than Common.
Originally Tekzilla, the popular White label release, was expected to be
released as the first single. After some complications the song is not
featured, however Common combined
with Vinia Mojica to produce a
second offering entitled The Sun God.
Not as raw as Tekzilla, The Sun God presents a more uplifting
beat and pseudo spiritual lyrics. The first of two songs with Talib Kweli, Get Back Part 2, sounds like a Train
of Thought extra which is not necessarily a bad thing as Kweli comes relatively above average
but isn’t helped by DQ‘s useless
background vocals. Then again it’s not about lyrics its about the beats ,right?
On the radio accessible Wannabattle
collective track Breakin’ Bread we
are given an entertaining posse cut over a beat that changes up enough between
verses to keep from getting repetitive. Jonell,
who appears on several tracks including two solo RnB songs, joins Cormega in the hardcore hiphop/Rnb
collaboration All I Need is You
(think Thug Love). While the early
selections of the album are entertaining and musically redeemable in some way
the album loses steam midway with Where
I’m From feat. Jinx Da Juvy.
This wannabe thug anthem about the Natti is simply nothing to write home about.
The more enjoyable songs are actually the RnB ballads from Jonell, Mos Def, and Vinia Mojica as their vocals work best
over Hi-Tek‘s beats. The beats
provided are smooth and you have to appreciate the variety of hiphop and RnB
tracks to showcase Hi-Tek‘s ability.
However the quality beats are consistently used as backdrops for dissapointing
vocals including a suprisingly weak performance from Buckshot on The Illest it Get.
Based on the beats this is a pretty good album but when combined with
lackadaisical lyrics it loses some points but hey it’s all about the beats
right? Keep telling yourself that and you can appreciate this album much more.