After delivering one of 1998′s strongest underground releases Rasco returns with a teasing 6 track EP, one which finds the Soulfather truly in a stage of infancy. You see Rasco is back at step one, as The Birth is not only the name of Rasco’s latest brain child, but it also the birth of his creative independence and the first release of his newly founded label.

Rasco’s commanding rhyme style is unleashed with the precision of a drill sergeant commando, as his granite delivery and bone-jarring vocals leave a lasting impression. The aptly-titled opener “Back On The Scene” and “Return Of The M.C.” re-establishes Rasco’s insatiable quest to rid the planet of spineless emcees. But this EP’s most fruitful moments come courtesy of the Cali Agents (Rasco & Planet Asia), as Asia’s complicated rhyme schemes, and Rasco’s braggadocios lyrics are a combustible, and well-rounded combination. Each display their dominance, as Fresno’s crown-jewel Asia catches ungodly wreck on “Final Destination”. While Rasco blazes the stabbing piano chords of the EP’s undisputed champ, “Blood Brothaz”.

Rasco is in every sense of the word a throwback - a no frills, all skills battlerhymer who moves forward incessantly, willing to take a flurry of his adversary’s best punches in order to land that one textbook KO right. But Rasco’s main strength and Achilles’ heel remains one in the same, as the extent of his probing focuses on pulling the skirt of every perpetrating emcee in the business. However, Rasco’s personality is compelling enough to keep his limited topic matter from wearing thin, and while his methodical formula is unspectacular, it is sufficient enough to keep Rasco’s labor pains to a minimum.