Apparently, when you are an artist coming out of Detroit, you are instantly expected to be in the upper echelon of beatmakers and emcees. Consider the artists that have come from the motor city (J. Dilla, Eminem, Royce 5’9″, Slum Village) and it’s easy to understand why expectations are so high. Enter Ta’Raach (formally known as Lacks), who was first heard weaving lyrics on J Dilla’s “It’s Like That” from the Welcome 2 Detroit album.  After making his presence felt, it is interesting to see what Ta’Raach can do with a solo venture years after appearing on Dilla’s album. But Ta’Raach isn’t going about this alone, he has brought along a few of his buddies to help out on Ta’Raach & The Lovelution’s The Fevers.

   Ta’Raach comes out with his guns blazing on the first two cuts. “The Big Bang Theory” and “I Name (E.G.I.G.)” will pound vigorously from your speakers as both cuts feel very Detroit and Dilla-esque. As good as the production is,  Ta’Raach doesn’t let the production overshadow his mic skills by any means. Each line is spit with a certain potency that begs the listener to put their ear closer to the speaker to hear him deliver the next. Later in the album, when Ta’Raach works it out on “Service” with lines like, “Walk with respect/amonsgt the best kept/Billionaire Boys that’s blessed with a Fuckless/split the doors/ gut the industry/rolled up the chemistry/and success (suck cess).” It becomes apparent that Ta’Raach can be a force to be reckoned with. But the problems aren’t with him, its comes on how the album is laid out and the guests that take away Ta’Raach’s mic time.

    The Fevers begins to end up feeling like too many guest roles were handed out to Ta’Raach’s folks.  Not to say that Big Tone and Black Monk are wack, but this is truly a Ta’Raach show that doesn’t need to be interrupted.  The lone exception to this rule is the appearance of Blu who adds much energy to “Merci Me Lord” and the sarcastic ass “I Don’t Rock Parties”.

    With some out of place R&B joints (“Liberation’s Lullabye” and “Catch My Breath”) added to the mixture The Fevers isn’t an album of bad music, it’s just bad cosmetics. Too much eye shadow here and not enough blush there and some of that lip stick could have been left off ultimately keep this album from having the perfect make up to compliment some good ass music.