Calling all sucka emcees, calling all fans and critics: Queens MC, Consequence, is armed with an arsenal of Kanye West beats and supreme wordplay, and he’s here to make his mark on hip-hop with his debut album, Take ‘Em To The Cleaners.  Well…..

      It might prove to be quite ominous that A Tribe Called Quest’s 1996 Beats, Rhymes and Life LP on which ‘Quence guested on six songs also happened to be the album that heralded the decline of the Quest triumvirate. Not that he was a jinx, but that unlucky streak may very well carry into Quence’s solo debut–his Kanye-affiliation notwithstanding. The problem with Con is that even though his rhyming skills and subject matter are above average, he just doesn’t possess the conviction and charisma that will make you want to listen to a full disc of his solo material. No one can really doubt Quence’s dedication to the art-form (after all, he’s been grindin’ it out in the game for a bullet now). 

     But it’s not all bad news though. On the tracks that other talented emcees share the mic duties, the end-products are quite spectacular. Take for instance the superb, high-hat inflected, head-bopper,  “Wack Niggas” produced by and featuring Kanye, along with Common and Talib Kweli. Common handles the opening verse on this and sets the bar so high that all the following rappers have to almost step out of themselves to even try and compete. Then there’s the freestyle joint “03 Till Infinity”, a remake of the classic Souls of Mischief song from ten years earlier. The Kon Man crew gets major props for reaching back in the day and unearthing a gem from an era when you could actually be a happy rapper and not have to hide it.. And of course, there’s the 9th Wonder produced “I See Now”, featuring Little Brother, which is just simply good vintage hip-hop.

     Consequence seems to have the same problem that other Queens emcees like Nature, and early-Cormega  did. Most of the ingredients are in place, there just needs to be more fire and ferocity added to the mix to glue it all together. A steady regimen of battles and ciphers with seasoned vets from now to the release his second album might just do the trick.