While Chops is better known as the sound provider for the Mountain Brothers, over the past year or so, he has released a few under the radar releases (including a break LP and a more experimental rock/rap hybrid) that have quietly given him an arena to display his full repertoire of talents.  And though Chops has churned out an impressive array of material with the aforementioned Mountain Brothers, Bahamadia, and a host of others, his proper debut, Virtousity, is the crowning opus of his career thus far.

     Virtousity is not the typical underground compilation, as it boasts higher-profile collaborations with Raekwon, Kanye West, Ras Kass, Talib Kweli, Mystic, and Planet Asia.  And it does not take long for Chops to form a formidable chemistry with those artists as Chops provides Raekwon a western spaghetti sample on “What’s Fuckin With Us” that fits Rae’s style to perfection. “Comin From The Lowest Level” w/ Ras Kass, Phil Da Agony and Talib Kweli is a rougher track with hard kick drums and a violin that is damn near hypnotizing.  By the time DJ X-Cell cuts up vocal snippets from Inspectah Deck’s “Raw I’m give it to ya/ with no trivia” from the Wu’s classic “Mystery of Chessboxin’” you’re already hooked.  Chops even enlists the most hyped producer in the game right now, Kanye West, to spit a verse on “Changing Lanes”.

     Chops has always shown love to his home town of Philadelphia and that is continued with Virtousity; Bahamadia (can we get an LP girl?) swings thru on “B-Girl Session” as does Mystic on “No Pressure”.  And what would a Chops LP be without at least one contribution from his Mountain Brother cohorts Styles Infinite and Peril-L (“Thoroughbred”).  

      While Virtousity showcases already established talent, Chops also has found a group of up and comers that make their own marks as well; CMNR sounds eerily reminiscent of a young Talib Kweli on “Still Life” and Kev Turner kicks a nice set of verses on the dark and eerie “War”. 

      The only real shortcoming on Virtousity is “Trouble”, where L Dorado’s vocal crooning distorts what would make an otherwise nice instrumental.  While the spotlight is directly affixed on another producers LP right now (Kanye West’s College Dropout) with Virtousity, Chops shines as well!! Hopefully, Virtousity will finally open the ears of fans and A&R’s alike.