Taking two artists from two cities and making an album together isn’t new to Hip Hop. Whether MC Eiht and Spice 1‘s series of albums, Slug and Anticon uniting for Deep Puddle Dynamics, or Ali and Gipp, the key to making these unexpected unions work is consistency on the tracks, and a believable chemistry, more than just a pursuit of a divided royalty check. Chief Kamachi and Killah Priest‘s [click to read] most common denominator could be their label, Good Hands Records. However, one of Philadelphia’s most boisterous deliveries joins one of Hip Hop’s most well-read emcees for Beautiful Minds [click to listen], and the results seem pleasantly organic.
With the historic references of Priest and the grim imagery of Kamachi, this is hardly a warm, welcoming album. Rather, songs like “Reflection” are pensive journeys through two lives. Killah Priest takes his verse and uses metaphor to tell, what appears to be three stories. The first is the street hustler’s journey, with references to kitchen pots and plants. The second, referring to the right to use a microphone, goes at the craft of emceeing. Simultaneously, making specific references to catalogue songs like “B.I.B.L.E.” [click to read], Priest chronicles his own career. Once Kamachi‘s turn, the Philadelphia emcee reveals that he’s logged over 20 years of recording, citing Rakim and Big Daddy Kane as influences, traced to, what he perceives as his own place in rap’s history books. The album’s closer, “Scrolls,” shows Kamachi going towards Priest‘s aesthetic, as the two uncovered spiritual history in pursuit of both hidden and proven truths. As seen, this work is dense. It takes an active listener to appreciate what’s been recorded here, but for those willing to embrace the knowledge, the music is enriched.
The album’s production meets both artists in the middle. The title effort is strikingly similar in climactic construction to The Game and Lil Wayne‘s “My Life” [click to listen], only with fuzzed out keys rather than sparse piano play. “Don’t Waste Your Lungs” incorporates the dramatic samples both artists have favored with a slight chop that gives the track momentum and a sense of unpredictability. Both of these efforts are from Emonex and Tekneek & DJ Promo respectively. Aside from the aforementioned Tangled Thoughts producer and E.Dan of Wiz Khalfia [click to read] and Reef The Lost Cauze fame, a crop of newcomers round out the musical roster on an album that sounds consistent and polished, as if from one source.
Beautiful Minds strongly succeeds in bringing two emcees together that make each other better. Priest‘s intellect plays off of Kamachi‘s energy making this a career point for the Juju Mob front-man, and an achievement in a successful post-major label run for the Sunz of Man standout. An ideal winter listen, this album is just as educated as it as abrasive to street trespassers.
