As much as we praise the virtues instituted in Hip Hop’s golden era, there is increasing proof that East Coast, sample-based music filled with complex rhymes and similes is being relegated to a subgenre. Samples are becoming too expensive to clear. Major media outlets are rewarding artists for simplifying their sound while catering to the lowest common denominator. And, perhaps most troubling, artists that thrived in the ’90s spend more time complaining about all the above instead of ushering in the kind of sonic and technical innovations that once made them so dominant. This is the climate 7L, Esoteric and Wu-Tang Clan’s Inspectah Deck step into for the release of their CZARFACE project.
For an album that pays homage to pop culture references and an ethos from nearly two decades ago, CZARFACE is refreshingly progressive. Make no mistake; this is very much insular, headphone music. Esoteric and Deck treat rapping as an art form, as each verse plays out like verbal calisthenics. And 7L may very well be the MVP of the trio, with production that makes everyone involved bring their best bars. Ghostface Killah shuts down “Savagely Attack” with threats to “attack like a nigga on bath salts” and “leave ‘em broom-sticked in the asshole.” But you can more or less say the same for any of the 14 tracks on the album; because 7L flawlessly weaves together clips from Uptown Saturday Night (“Cement 3’s”) old WWF matches (“It’s Raw”) and anywhere else he pleases to compliment the abundance of obscure pop culture references from Esoteric and Inspectah Deck.
Punchline Rap may have very well died at the turn of the millennium. And we can only hope the lazy Hashtag Rap that replaced it suffers a similar fate. Rebel INS and Eso deftly avoid either trap, sticking to their comfort zone of references including Spiderman, Star Wars, Snooki of “Jersey Shore” fame and the middling TBS sitcom “Cougar Town.” Deck appeared to lose steam on 2010’s Manifesto, but his work on CZARFACE should have Wu stans salivating at the thought of his upcoming Rebellion and a 20th anniversary Wu-Tang Clan reunion album. When backed by the proper production, he has no peers when it comes to the opening verse of a rhyme. Esoteric will similarly put in a bid for one of the most underrated emcees with lines like “sacrilegious like a Tebow tackle” on “It’s Raw.”
While he steps away from the boards to make room for DJ Premier on “Let It Off,” 7L does a masterful job of crafting tracks that allow the emcees on the album to find their comfort zone without becoming repetitive. The production is dark and aggressive while still keeping the BPMs at an exciting rate.
Overall, CZARFACE has no major flaws. It’s obviously not for everyone, yet even when incorporating current critical favorites like Action Bronson and Mr. MFN eXquire, no compromises are made. Inspectah Deck, 7L & Esoteric use ’90s East Coast Hip Hop as a blueprint to innovate, and ultimately, that’s what made that era so special in the first place.
Great review.
nice
Dope dope album, Deck and Eso bring their A game, 7L comes through with rugged beats. Definetly worth the purchase….if you like this sort of thing.
this album is brilliant, exactly what 2013 needed – both emcees work so well together and the beats bang like hip-hop should…salute
This is a dope album. They bring back that 90’s feel when you just heard the beat start and u already know this is gonna be somethin’ special! 4/5
DOPE FUCKIN ALBUM!
Dope album. Much better then those wack fucks called:
– 50 Cent
– The Game
– Young Jeezy,
– Drake
– Midget Wayne
– Drake the faggot
– 2chainz
etc.
REAL NY Rap is back!
u tha wack fuck bitch!!!
7L & Esoteric are from Cambridge, MA!!
Hip Hop is form Bronx, Ny.
This album is the truth.
this album is the shit. that’s all i got to say.
The rebel INS one of the greatest on the mic point blank
diz shit iz weak. Lil Wayne’s IMNAHB 2 gon be a modern time classic. swag
***fart sound*** >: P
Bomb atomically>>>>>> Any Wayne verse
RZA
GZA
ODB
INSPECTAH DECK
RAEKWON
U-GOD
GHOSTFACE KILLAH
METHOD MAN
MASTA KILLA
CAPADONNA
STREETLIFE
LA THE DARKMAN
^^^^WU-TANG CLAN^^^^
Why did you list La the Darkman? Dude is barely even an affiliate.
Great album of 2013. cant wait for immortal technique
FULL POWER
fuck drake
think i heard reks flows
rock beast nd marvel team up
czarface >>>>>>>>>> maddcity
Cant believe how good this is! Air em out!!
Dope album, you can’t go wrong with it!!!
A+
Easily the best album of 2013 so far. Amazing, definitely worth 5 stars.
esoteric is wack and has been wack for like 15 years. really corny voice and flow and his lyrics are geek shit.
deck is a legend and one of the nicest spitters ever in my opinion. gonna check this out fast foward through esoteric. i really did like the single with roc marciano, made me want a deck and roc album.
Esoteric can spit, you fuckin clown. ON their last album Eso said, I got more 16’s than a Jewish rehab. Sick “Steins” get it?? That’s one of the illest punchlines I ever heard. You’re dumb as fuck.
seems like Deck finally made a good album
Banga!
Good album.
took a shot at Psycho Les of The BEATNUTS
no he didn’t, you don’t understand the clever wordplay that Esoteric is using.
5 star stunna.
this album took me by surprise the WU still got it
wow this is amazing I almost forgot about every album last yr hahaha
Real Hip Hop
dope!
Ghostface Killah And Inspectah deck my 2 fav in wu tang this shit dont come out here till 4 th march but im wait till i get it off amazon aint gonna download it gotta support real hip hop and from what i heard plus the first track they put out this shit gon be real nice
Just copped the MP3s from Google Play. Excellent album. Support authentic hip hop!
WTF, I’m not even a Inspectah deck fan but this shit is INSANELY GOOD! I have no idea who 7L & Esoteric is but they work good together. The Beats on here are Sinister, kind of remind me of Doom shit. The Features on here are well implemented, Ghost, ROC, Action killed it!
Wasn’t expecting much but after 2 full spins i really like it
Love it!
Say “hi!” to the album of the year 😉
Sick sick album, the chemistry on point
Pretty disapointed. the Preimo track was good, but otherwise I was not really that pumped. Expected a lot more.
I gotta agree with you man. On the production-side, 7L’s beats are usually WAAAAYY better than this. A bit of a letdown.
Great hip hop album and Deck is still on top of hip hop with his explosive, hard hitting, underground fucking flow. I love when real music like this comes out and I can’t get enough of it. Keep firing them darts Deck cause hip hop needs you. Wu-Tang IS Forever! Peace
outstanding perfection right here
classic material
ILL
this album deserves way more attention, spread the word people…
Esoteric is a good mc, but 7L’s beats are really medicore Wu copies. Moreover INS is boring as fuck.
“INS is boring as fuck” … GTFO
INS deserves better then this, smh, Ghostface gets MF Doom, Deck gets Esoteric
MF Doom is the most retarded rapper on the planet, the fuck are you saying? MF Doom is a good PRODUCER, not a rapper! What the fuck is he saying when he raps? It’s like he just says stuff that rhymes but makes no sense. FOH.
stop hating on Esoteric, dudes a beast.
Gooooood, thanks!
album is super nice. consistent, Preemo track, Rock Beast, Word War 4, It’s Raw & the song with Ghost are my favorite so far. but they’re all solid.
amazing piece of art.
Can’t be touched.
Plenty of bangers, a bit of filler, but overall a great release. I think this is more a love letter to 90s Pete Rock / Primo-backed battle rap than a rehash. I saw some interviews with the trio from when the album was being recorded and it was clear that they were all psyched to do a project that let them flex in the ways they knew best. 7L’s production is excellent as always, Esoteric, while never inventing the wheel, never deviates from channeling his inner G Rap like a champ and Deck is sounding hungrier than he has in at least 15 years!
How are you guys not going to mention the fact that they included George Carlin.
This album is one of the best of the year.
5 stars.
DOPE !
This will be one of those albums that is more appreciated in the future. Unfortunately with all the Young Money trash out there, this won’t get its just due yet.
Took the words right out of my mouth. Damn fine album.
A damn shame this won’t go platinum, or gold for that matter.
Or Plastic…
Real Hip Hop hardly eva goes anything. Dats Y it’s called Undaground. It’s really fckd up 2 cus dese kats put their all into what they do, but neva get da respect dat these nursery rhyme, fake ass trapper rappers & shit gets. Mainstream media sucks I mean dis literally bein dat 90% of dese muthafkas R FFagots, wit 2 capital F’s.
Fuck this album goes hard. Whole thing.
Easily album of the year so far. Right up there with last years best.
This is a solid 4.99% Best album 2013 so far, bangin!
Classic, progressive hip hop. A hard thing to pull off. Great Trio.
CRAZY MIX! I LOVE IT!
5/5. This one caught me by suprise, totally off the radar. Hip-Hop forever.
I wish 8 diagrams was this good.
it was… or not far from it
Man, I never heard Esoteric before but he’s dope as hell! Inspectah Deck did his thing too, and it gave that old-school feel that I just love. I’d love to see another project from these guys.
Real talk, man. If you’ve never heard of 7L & Esoteric before you gotta check their albums out. 7L is an ill producer and Esoteric is a good emcee. He’s in the Demigodz/Army Of The Pharaohs with Apathy, Celph Titled, Vinnie Paz, all of them…
For y’all that are just learning who 7L and Esoteric are because of Inspectah Deck, yall gotta listen to their music. They’re some of the best in the underground. And the other thing I wanted to say is, 7L’s production on THIS is actually weak as hell compared to his older shit on their albums, that’s why I’m saying listen to their shit!
This album is classic. Anyone who enjoys REAL hip hop, get this album and you won’t be dissapointed.
Best hip hop album I’ve heard in quite a while.
This album is SOOO goddamn good, I can’t even fucking stand it sometimes!! Every single track’s a banger, and while 7L & Eso and Deck have ALL been fantastic in their own rights, for years, this is their best shit and I think they each pulled the best out of each other. They are SUCH a perfect pair (and trio as a whole) but even 12th Chamber off the 1212 album wasn’t this hard. Everything is just so tight and I cant say enough good things about this album… well fucking DONE gentlemen >: )
Deck’s always been my favourite Wu emcee but he hasn’t been in form like this for a long time, one of the best album i’ve heard in a long time
Album is the full package. Great 70’s, 80’s and 90’s throwback
You sons of bitches better be right. Currently downloading the album, and I paid for it. I never felt any of Deck’s solo shit. 7L & ES had some really good shit. Soul Purpose was good, but over-produced at times. Dangerous Connection 1 was by far their best and most cohesive project. I copped 12 12 but it did not have any really memorable tracks, just a decent effort. Guess I bought all their shit, a New Dope was the only one I dubbed. Show respect to the underground. Buy a record. Peace.
Uh Oh, you spent 10 bucks, oh no!! Album better be good because now you’re bankrupt! By the way, this is the weakest 7L production he’s ever done. The other 7L/Eso albums, production is wayy better.
Don’t be a smartass no one likes smartasses.
Really enjoying this. No fill – all lyrics and production.
Raw INS ala Triumph. Solid 4.5.
Just bought the album off itunes based on the comments here. Looking forward to listening to it shortly.
Flawless.
Now this is how I like my hip hop!
Five
Great album , amazing 🙂
4 and 1/2 Zeus slaps out of 5
This album is banging. Both emcees sound great and the beats are dope.
dope
5!
Amazing record. Production, Artwork, Lyrics, this one hit the mark.
Haven’t been digging music for a while and I got extremely excited when I stumbled upon this review. I enjoyed the video to “Air ’em out” and decided to buy “Czarface”. Thank You Rebel INS and 7L & Eso for this dope album! Also thx to Omar for this well written review. At first sight a real underdog project but with the potential to be a true classic!
Backpackers paradise
U kiddin bro? Wu ain’t underground
This will probably be in my top albums of 2013 list!!
Lyrical war form every MC on this album.
The six billionth living person in the world has just been born. Napster has started to live off the supple flesh of the music industry. Slick Willie has been putting his willie in all the wrong places. The year is 1999, and hip-hop is alive and well.
The Wu-Tang Clan’s Inspectah Deck, along with fabled Bostonians 7L & Esoteric, stumbled upon a time machine, and instead of busting a cap in Hitler, hooking up with Marilyn Monroe, or, investing stock in Apple, they chose to return to the 1-9-9-9. And their warped, sample-heavy captain’s log has taken on the form of CZARFACE.
As Deckwhose very mention pulls our minds back to days of yorestates, “CZARFACE is a vigilante, anti-hero[whose] focus is on annihilating the media darlings that the mainstream caters to.” We slowly meet ‘FACE by the sounds that not only defined the era to which Deck, Esoteric, and 7L harken to, but that come to define this 14-track time warp. In one minute and 16 seconds, the length of the album’s intro, we see CZARFACE rise from the collective ashes of ’99 to breathe life into what we thought could only live on in memory. But by the time you’ve reached the boom-bapping on roids that is “Hazmat Rap,” you’ll be going through nostalgia withdrawals.
Mention of the ’90s, hip-hop’s supposed last golden era, might make some queeze, and for good reason. Hip-hop purists have long sucked on the decade like a warm thumb, afraid of the cold, mean world that lay ahead. But CZARFACE, also the name for Deck and co.’s group, keeps matters as fresh. The album’s marqueewith names like Roc Marciano, Action Bronson, and Mr. MFN eXquireassures just that. “Cement 3’s,””Its Raw,” and “Poisonous Thoughts”listed in the order of appearance of the guests mentionedcome off as love letters rather than industry rub-offs. If the above trio were operating in the late ’90s, they’d be dropping similar heat.
Throughout, 7L can only be described as a “Rock Beast,” as he brings a consistency and ferociousness to the CZARFACE sound that comes off best in the track of the same name. It’s not often that another producer beats DJ Premier at his own game, but everything 7L brings to the table trumps the bland sound of Primo’s guest spot “Let It Off.” Whether paired with rooks like eXquire or dropping skewered brilliance on tracks like “CZAR Refaeli,” “Savagely Attack,” and “Shoguns” alongside vets like Oh No, Ghostface, Cappadonna, and Vinnie Paz, 7L plays Han Solo to the ship that is CZARFACE. And it surely doesn’t hurt that he has two very capable wingmen, in Deck and Esoteric, on either side of him.
Like the year 1999, pray that this isn’t the last time we hear from CZARFACE.
The last 7L & Eso album was a bit thin but this seems to be a return to the roots.
Amazing album 5 stars
Can’t remember the last time I listened to such a good album. This is a must have for those who loved rap music back in the 90ies!
Raw and fresh as hell!
Good shit here
meh
trash
It wasn’t that good
5/5
Still bumping this album, I have the feeling that it will be timeless
Amazing record. Production, Artwork, Lyrics, this one hit the mark tbh
Dope album.
Definite 90s throwback. A lot of the beats sound like all those Wu albums that came out like 36 Chambers, Tical, OBFCL, Ironman, Liquid Swords, etc. And of course Deck and Eso come with the heat. Couldn’t really ask for more. This is real rap.
Best album of the year. Well at least till Bliss n Eso’s album Circus in the Sky comes out this may
Sick, didn’t know Bliss n Eso has a new album coming out. Just watched the trailer for it, from the feel of the vid it looks like it will be epic.
DOPE ALBUM
4.5\5
so dope
Can’t get enough of this album. Its damn near perfect.
NAS OVER LET IT OFF BEAT WOULD BE CLASSIC
this stands test of time
This could be another classic. These young kids don’t know what they’re missing out on listening to that Lil Wayne shit.
trash……
Fuck off you faggot
Classic Wu stuff – loved it!
This what hip hop is about. Beats and rhymes. MCing is an art and it should be treated as such.
My jam is “Savagely Attack.” Deck opened it like only he could…
“I’m sickly, flow quarantined by the CDC.
Heads nod, pressure on your neck like a DDT.
Beats street Ramo, spittin on your name.
Lines travel underground like its written on the train.”
That’s MCing kids.
Straight fire baby. The Wu is back!
Dem flows…. Dem lyrics…. Dem beats…
Such an amazing album.
Listening to this all this time later, still dope. Czarface classic status easily. Wish we had more shit like this dropping.
Ditto. Still have this on replay 9 months later.
Headed toward classic status indeed.
future classic.
How is this even close to the highest score? It’s average at best.
You don’t know what your talking about. Just get off this site and quit listening to rap.
Classic album. Beats and rhymes, real hip hop.
Best album without a doubt. Deck and Eso bring it over that raw production from 7L.
Staten and Boston. Deck and Eso. This album reminded me of why we all fell in love with this from the get go.
This is insane damn near a year after its come out. Savagely Attack, Cement 3s, Poisonous Thoughts, Dead Zone, Let It Off, Its Raw… All those cuts are nasty. Rebel INS and Eso really tear it up throughout delivering crazy verses. And all the other MC guest appearances followed suit, especially Ghostface on Savagely Attack. 7L’s production on this was crazy, though. He really came through. Definitely a future classic.
This is MCing. Beats and rhymes. A true throwback to the 90s era.
5 Stars Best Rap Album of the year- knocking opponents out of the ring. INS thank you for not walking away from the game just yet. 7L endless props. Esoteric is one cold ass individual, his spit will melt your ears and face while he swings sledgehammers at other rappers heads. What a combination these 3 are and then you get the great collaboration of other emcees and one of the greatest producers of all time.
5.5/5
Not a fan of Esoteric
pure, booming hip-hop