Not meaning to sound like an infomercial, but are you tired of buying CDs that only have the capabilities of keeping your attention for three tracks before your finger connects with the skip button? Annoyed with the gimmicky approach new artists appear to conform to, yet consider themselves to fall under the Hip Hop umbrella? Yeah me too.
But like Kool G Rap once said to me, you have to dig deep to find the shit that really exemplifies Hip Hop nowadays. You have to go beneath the surface of major labels, you have step down into the underground and he was so right as the last four albums that have made me rock have all been from indie artists.
New Jersey honoree El Da Sensei has put together a project that epitomizes real raw Hip Hop. Fifteen tracks, fifty two minutes of listening pleasure, remember those days? Because he was prevalent in the golden era of Hip Hop, when being a lyricist truly meant possessing a raw talent, there is no reason why he would put out something that didn’t make us want to nod and smile smugly to ourselves.
Riding on his sophomore release with beats that provide that boom-bap we all talk about but have a hard time finding, this project provides a real reality check into what Hip Hop is really about, for those who may have forgotten or just need a gentle reminder. With production credits falling on the shoulders of names such as Jake One, DJ Revolution, Saukretes, Fusion their contribution of bass, piano, scratches and breaks provide a solid foundation for the ex- Artifacts member to show exactly why he has been in this game for the duration he has.
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The thing that jumped right out at me when I listened to this album wasn’t the beats though nor was it the collaborations with underground icons OC and Sean Price, it wasn’t the concept nor was it the subject matter, all which by the way are commendable; the thing that really got me to pay attention was the wordplay and delivery.
The radio nowadays is flooded with tracks that consist of sixteens that may only provide a home for eight words, and even though I appreciate the ‘chopped and screwed’ and slowed twist Houston has put on the history time line of Hip Hop, not everyone is exemplifying that with their tracks to account for the lack of metaphors and similes residing in their rhymes.
Real lyricists are a rarity today; albums displaying intricate wordplay that you can actually understand without having to repeat are few and far between. El Da Sensei and The Unusual brings this back so hard it slaps you in the face. And this display of what Hip Hop was made on as they stood on street corners and in parks with human beat boxes battling will be welcomed by the real junkies with open arms.
Tracks like “Crowd Pleasa,” “Natural feel Good” and “Rock it Out” make you want to do just as the track says or feel just as it tells you. With hooks that are nothing more than infectious you can understand why this New Jersey legend felt he may need to present to fans something to take them back to re-visit the times when it was about nothing more than originality.
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Granted times change, people look for new things and maybe this album will only be bought by those of us who appreciate what Hip Hop was built from. But one thing for sure is The Unusual brings a new feel to an old vibe and which he summarizes his presence in today’s musical environment in the line ‘the breadwinner get attention like spinners, high grade contender in this land of beginners.’
In the close out track on the album “Course of My Life” El Da Sensei explains the journey he has taken us all on. “For all the shorties gather round I got a new old sound you need to know now like my man surround,” as what better way to teach those that are unfamiliar with music circa G-Unit and crunk than to educate using this album as a replacement for a text book.
