Wake Up Show alum, Noggin Nodders founder, and one time partner confused to Kool Keith  (Masters of Illusion), Motion Man looks to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight with his debut solo release, Clearing The Field, blessed by the dynamic Kutmasta Kurt, who delivers wall-to-wall production for the entire project.

Motion’s solo effort is fun and entertaining, and with Kurt’s always lovely beats who has made a name for himself over the last few years producing for Dilated Peoples, Rasco, and of course Kool Keith. With the team-up of Kurt and Motion, this album pretty much picks up where Masters Of Illusion left off, but instead focuses solely on Motion, dissecting his strange persona. Motion makes the most of his beats with Kurt, with his trademarked wacky hooks that are somewhat a different species than Keith’s, though a part of the same genus. Listeners can’t help but sing-a-long to Motion’s awkward, kooky style on joints like “Clearing The Field”, “Straight Flowin’ On Em”, “Having A Moment”, and “Loose Cannons”, especially when Kurt’s choppy beats fuels it so well. Although at 23 tracks, from time to time the album does dip in to monotony, so Motion and Kurt pullout a few conceptual tracks to break it up a bit. Especially notable are throwback joints that salute both Tuff Crew (“C’Mon Ya’ll”) and the Bay’s own Too Short, (“Beotches”) where Kurt lays down a nice “dope fiend beat”.

While for the most part a solid album, one can’t help miss a tag-team partner for Motion to share mic-chores with, as we’ve been spoiled by his long-time affiliation with Kool Keith on both Masters Of Illusion and Dr. Doom projects. (Read: Motion is clearly Keith’s most talented emcee protege). Again, with the length of the album, it’s nice to hear Motion passing the mic between his guests, on collaborations with Planet Asia (” Face 2 Face”), Biz Markie (” Hold Up”) and Keith (“We Work Styles”) that come off incredibly naturally.

Motion Man may not pull as many of his sensei’s fanbase over to his side, but those that do will probably enjoy this album more than any of the recent releases from the spankmaster, thanks to the upgrade in quality beats. Sure, it’s not likely to become as legendary of a release as Sex Style or Dr. Octagon, but Motion Man’s debut is a nice solo entry for the emcee, at least one to hold us over until we are blessed with another Masters Of Illusion project.