With the independent movement taking shape over the last five years, heads have been lucky enough to get to a taste of the pool of talent that is Ohio. Not only did this cold metropolis spawn early indy pioneers such as Mood and Hi-Tek, but it’s also responsible for half of the rosters of the underground’s hottest labels (Def Jux, Eastern Conference, Rhyme Sayers), with breakthrough talent that has manifested itself in the form of artists like RJD2, Copywrite, Camu Tao, Blueprint, and many others. Also coming from this same area are the lesser known Five Deez, a slept on “crew of four black dudes” who shine over the sonic vibrations of producer Fat Jon. 

  The Deez managed to create a nice little buzz for themselves with their Counterflow debut, Koolmotor, with new fans jumping on even now. This was an album that lived up to it’s title, as Fat Jon’s mellow vibes musically captured the chilly Ohio atmosphere, simultaneously running on a hyper-charged engine of up-tempo hip-house grooves. While Jon has supplemented this release with several solo instrumental endeavors, Kinkynasti is it’s official follow-up, now under the K7 Records banner. 

     Kinkynasti is a worthy sequel, even if it doesn’t outdo the original. By no means have Five Deez fallen victim to the sophomore slump, as this album includes some excellent material. Case in point is the incredible salute to Slick Rick’s “Hey Young World”, which rock’s the same title and hook here, but instead is propelled by a beautifully breezy Fat Jon track, this time almost speaking to the adults who were schooled on Rick The Ruler’s original some 15 years ago. The poignant last line of the song speaks volumes: “Intentions of politicians always contradict / because they importing drugs and deporting Slick Rick.” Much of the rest of the album picks up where Koolmotor left off, included here are the vastly up-tempo fast rap’s that would make Kane blush, such as “Funky”, “Tonight”, and “B Girl”, all of which are fun, although may be a little too fast for a world of slow-talking 50 Cent’s and Snoop Dogg’s. (But we like it).

    Meanwhile, Fat Jon’s patented aquatic soul creeps in on tracks like “The Ocean” and “The Rain”, and the Deez keep on this same vibe on their usual relationship-pondering joints such as “Kissy Face” and “I Like It”. However, Jon actually changes his style drastically on the bouncy intro track “Kinkynasti”, and the MF Doom-esque loops of “The Boostin Jam”, and furthermore, while these actually present two of the dopest cuts on the album, the more abrasive battle raps of these tracks don’t flow together as gracefully with the rest of the album. And it’s this kind of inconsistency which may keep Kinkynasti from being the sought after release that its predecessor is.  While Koolmotor somehow played like one continuous piece of music, Kinkynasti is all over the place. It’s fast, then slow; it’s vocal, then instrumental; it’s abrasive, then sensitive. However, don’t let that scare you - Five Deez latest does pack a solid punch, but the fluidity of its predecessor isn’t quite there.