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by
1 January, 1999@12:00 am
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Think back to the early 90′s. No matter if you were aware of it or not, you first were introduced to Lootpack on the Alkaholiks’ “Turn The Party Out”, when Wildchild set it off with the line, “…and with my backpack I’ll carry, / Mariah to the back / and show her how I pack, loot.” As classic as the production and rhymes were on this song, this wasn’t their only shining moment, as the groups’ beat conductor, Madlib, went on to produce and appear on tracks like “Mary Jane”, “WLIX”, “Killlin’ It” and “Tore Down”, during the last three Alkaholik LP’s. More recently, we’ve seen this quieter side of the Likwit crew creep out with singles like “Likwit Fusion” and “WhenImOnDaMic” on Peanut Butter Wolf’s Stones Throw label. Now, six years after they’ve been introduced to the industry, they decide to finally drop an album.

You might be thinking, “Do we really need another group of anonymous alkaholiks mimicking the styles of J-Ro, E-Swift, and Tash?” No, as a matter of fact, we don’t. So then your mind jumps to the thought, “Well….. isn’t it bad enough that for every Wu-Tang Clan there is a less talented Sunz Of Man.” Well, yes it is.

Thankfully, The Lootpack doesn’t fit into either of these catergories. First off, they aren’t clones of the Alkaholiks, nor are they a watered down affiliate. While the ‘Liks do their best to present punch rhymes in almost a party style setting, the Lootpack is more of a fresh rockin’ crew from ’85, who attack the wack, whendeyondamic.

What they really are, are a few crate digga figgas, who somehow have the illest record collection in the world, pulling out samples from whoknowswhere, sticking them in the SP-1200, and grabbing a mic doing what comes naturally. Really what puts this album over the top, is Madlib’s handiness in the areas of sample selection and production. The raw, unduplicatable sound of the SP-12 is in prime form here, on tracks like “Questions”, or “Crate Diggin’”, which present dirty, grimey beats that would make DJ Premier and Peanut Butter Wolf proud.

While these types of tracks may not be easily accessable to the musical tastes of some, there is enough of a balance between this type of style, and of that made for college radio. On the cleaner tip, we get a few more joints on the “WhenImOnDaMic” / “The Anthem” vibe, such as “Long Awaited” as Dilated Likwit fusion is demonstrated, the bouncy, Bustafied “Hityawitdat”, or the emcees’ ‘say no to drugs’ anthem “Weededed”.

Lyrically, they aren’t as catchy as their forefathers, as the jokey styles of J-Ro and Tash are absent, but you can’t be mad at the honest living of taking out wack emcees, over brilliant basement beats. Plus, songs like “Weededed”, “Crate Diggin’” and others, have such kooky concepts behind them, that you can’t help but love this album for it’s nostalgic, early 90′s era, west coast hip-hopper’s sense of humor.

Besides the fact that once in a while the album might get too abstract for some, the only real fault that it carries, is that a lot of the songs were previously leaked out on singles, mixtapes or compilations. But with 20+ tracks on it, it’s still a joy to listen to from start to finish, and is the making of a classic debut from Madlib, Wildchild and DJ Romes.

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