You Already Know shows off Agallah’s punishing beats to impressive results.  Those more accustomed to the traditional stripped-down boom-bap may complain that the Bishop’s beats are overcooked, but then again most of those people have never heard a Dipset disc.  “Modesty” is not their middle name, so their exaggerated soundscapes perfectly complement their far-fetched boasts.  It’s part of their unusual charm.  Notable tunes include the haunting “On The Ave”, the horn-heavy “Losing My Mind”, and the hypnotizing “Take Me Back”  (outsourced production from Joey Chavez).

    Agallah’s shortcomings are his inconsistent lyrics.  The Lyricist Lounge vet will come with decent verbiage one verse, then drop a mind-numbing hook the next.  Case-and-point: the inane chorus on “Yeah Baby” is “(Agallah) Yeah baby, is you ready to get this money heavy?  Yeah baby, are you ready to get this money crazy?  (backup singers)  Daddy, I’m ready to get paid.  Daddy, I’m ready to get paid.  Daddy, I’m ready to get paid”.  But Ag is capable of much more which we finally see at the tail of the album.  The gem is the second-to-last track, “Mama (Mom R.I.P.)”, a dedication to his slain mother.  Here, he spits in double-time, as if he had so much to say that it wouldn’t fit into a single song otherwise.   That’s followed by “Cry For Help”, where the desperation in Agallah’s voice is palpable. 

   The Don Biship Agallah’s beats carry this album, but if the last two tracks are any indication, Ag could be the next-in-line emcee from that Dipset hit factory.

HHS:  How’d the show (Jimmy Kimmel Live) go last night?

Nu-Mark:  Ummm….we didn’t play last night, we played….ummm….wait, did we play last night?  Oh, we played Jimmy Kimmel last night, that’s what it was.

(Laughter) You guys are getting too big, man.  You say that like it was nuthin, huh? (more laughter)

It’s hard to keep track of where you played the night before, I don’t know what the hell that means when you’re touring.  For some reason, I was just like “What?!  Where [was I] last night?”  (laughs)

(laughs)

It (Jimmy Kimmel Live) was really good.  Any exposure is good exposure, so we’re out there just tryin’ to do tha damn thing.  The ones (stops) in Portland and Seattle were really, really good.  Their crowds were so fuckin’ loud, I couldn’t even hear my speakers, I couldn’t hear my monitors, man.  I had to keep asking my monitoring engineers to keep turning me up.  That’s a really good sign when I blow my ears out.

I was out in Chicago last July and you guys did a real quick show in the morning.  It was for an Islam awareness festival.  It was an outdoor show at a park and it was free [to the public]…..

Yeah, I remember that…..

….and I remember you did the Clipse’s “Grindin” beat on, like, a toy. Literally.  How do you come up with that kind of stuff?

Well, I’ve been kinda getting tired of conventional scratching, so I just started to think about different things I wanna do.  I examine the turntable in a different way, that’s why I do, like, the “rubber band” trick.  And making instrumentals out of things that aren’t instruments, you know?  It’s fun for me ’cause this way I know if I’m entertained, I know whatever I’m doing onstage has a better chance of translating to the audience.  So I just sit around all day and think about stuff like that.  I’ll by a portable turntable from a carwash, or whatever I see that intrigues me, I’ll grab it and rewire it and bring it onstage and give it a shot.

So a lot of experimentation, right?

A lot, yeah definitely.  And a lot of times I’ll get something that’s a really cool toy and I’ll wire it up and it just doesn’t sound good through the speakers and I have to just dump the idea altogether.

Before we get into the new album, I just wanted to (discuss the current trends in hip-hop).  You guys are from California, so the big thing that’s come out of there lately is “hyphy”.  (It’s been in California a while, but) the nation’s just now starting to pick up on it and I was just curious what you thought about it.

I think it’s cool because I like it when the art grows.  Right now the South is the biggest thing, so if the hyphy movement can blow up or even take over, cool.  For a while, the scene….it went from New York, then it move to the West Coast, and it was like “What’s next?”, you know?  Then the South took over, then the Midwest took over, then the South took over (again).  It’s good to see it shift around the map the way it is.  It’ll be a universal thing, where everybody has a sound and it’s like, whatever’s cool is the only thing that sells, but that’s what I’d like to see.

What can fans expect from “Feedback”?

Don’t expect anything.  That’s the worst ’cause when you go in with expectations, you’re bound to be let down.  That’s what I would say, just go in with an open mind ’cause every album we put out is different from the one before it.  I think once people get too attached to an idea of how a group is gonna sound, it makes for kind of a strange situation.  We’re growing with each record, so I think it’s cool if everybody else grows with us.

How’d you guys hook up with Mos Def (for this album)?

There was a sample I was trying to clear (which) he was on and I couldn’t clear the sample through 20th Century.  It was for the movie “Brown Sugar” so I knew that he was in the movie and it was the next logical progression of thought, “Why don’t we get Mos Def?”.  He was in town and it made sense.  He came down to my studio and blessed us, it was a real pleasure to work with him.

You guys set the bar really high with (“Quality Control” and “Power In Numbers”).  Do you ever worry about a letdown?

The people being letdown or ourselves being letdown with our work?

I guess both.

Well, I haven’t read a review or a feature on us this year, so I don’t really….I kinda don’t care, in that respect, what journalists say about us or what they think “dope” is because I’m still gonna be the same Nu-Mark I’m gonna be the next day.  Even if they tell me I’m the greatest DJ in the world, I have to remember it’s a mirage and it’s just in the industry, I can’t believe when people tell me I’m dope or wack.  So for the industry side, I don’t put out a record and then try to control the situation.  What people think and say, you have absolutely no control over it.  On our own, we always try to out-do the last record.  I’ll always try to out-do the last beat I did on the last record and grow with the times.  There’s still a chance of me growing an album as time progresses and being able to go back to the record and saying I like this, I like what we did on this song, etcetera, etcetera.  The expectations are on myself.  I have respect for our fans, but I don’t let them dictate who we’re gonna sign to, what we’re gonna sound like, or what we’re gonna do or how we’re gonna play our music.

Are you guys still in touch with Cut (Chemist)?  To what extent?

Oh yeah, that’s my brother.  Everything was very amicable.  It was a situation where Cut couldn’t handle both projects.  He wanted to do his own stuff.  You know, you can’t have somebody in the group who’s unhappy or doesn’t feel like they can handle both.  So the door is still open, he can always come back.  We wish him the best on his project and he feels the same about ours, there’s no bad blood at all.

Are there any solo projects in the works?

I’m working on another sequel to the “Hands On” project that I worked on last year, a mix CD which features international emcees rhyming over my beats and over their own beats even.  I’m trying to get more movies going.  I just worked with Swizz Beatz and Q-Tip on a movie called “Take the Lead” that came out, just a little stuff here and there.  I know Chali’s album is coming out next year, called “Fish Outta Water”, Soup’s doing a lot of acting, Mark (7even) just got one of his films bought by Ice Cube’s film company, so Mark’s got a movie that’s about to come out.  Yeah, everybody’s hustlin’ man.

A lot goin’ on, huh?

Yeah, Akil’s working with cool people called L.A. Unified Skill District, it’s a lot of emcees on a project.  Everybody’s just motivated man.

The One Line Random Eleven

#1:  What did you want to be when you were little?

I wanted to be a drummer.

#2:  What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

I’d have to say telemarketing for a burglar alarm system.  ‘Cause right when you call, people are already like, “Oh shit, why do you wanna know if I have an alarm on my house?”  It’s the hardest thing in the world to sell, ya know?  (laughing)  Everyone we’d call would be like “Who the fuck is this joker calling me?”  I’ve done all kinds of crazy jobs.  I’ve worked at Daily News walking door-to-door doing sales.  I’ve worked for [an ice cream shop], that was my first job.  I was a busboy.  You name it man, I’ve done it all.

#3:  If you could have dinner with any three people, dead or alive, who would they be?

I’d probably have to say……hmm…..that’s a crazy question…..I’d say Nas, Premier, and Biggie.

#4:  What kind of shoes are you wearing right now?

Adidas man.  I was wearing Nike last night, so I just left it alone.

#5:  What’s your favorite tour stop?

In the States, it’s San Francisco.  Overseas, it’s probably Manchester, England.

#6:  Finish this sentence: “I can die a happy man when…..”

When…..well, I can’t say “healthy” because then I’d be dying (laughter)…..so I’ll be a happy man when I have a little bit more of a name on the production front in the industry.  Just working with a plethora of artists.  Moving around, not just one type of artist, but moving into different genres.  And not having to worry about finances one bit.

#7:  What’s the weirdest thing to ever happen to you on tour?

We were leaving I believe Minneapolis – we were in a really cold place – and a girl tried to hitch a ride on the tour bus, but we didn’t know she was trying to hitch a ride.  We found her underneath the luggage compartment before we left the city.  If we had traveled as far as we were gonna go, she would’ve died under there from frostbite or whatever else.  And we would’ve been definitely UP THE RIVER without a fuckin’ paddle.

#8:  What’s your favorite movie?

If I had to narrow it down to one, it’d probably be….ummm….shit, I’m really big into funny movies, so shit……well, I’m really into “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.  I like “Less Than Zero” and stupid movies like “40-year-old Virgin” and shit like that.  But if I had to pick one, it’d probably be “Raiders”.

#9:  Name an artist you’d like to collaborate with.

Common

#10:  What’s your least favorite food?

I’d have to say tofu.

#11:  What’s your favorite album of all time?

That’s a tough question man, I own 35,000 records…..

Dude, that’s why I asked that question!

Dude, I’ll need surgery trying to think of that (laughter).  I have albums I like, I don’t have a (definite) favorite.  But I’d say, for the hip-hop, Main Source’s “Breaking Atoms”.

You said that’s your favorite hip-hop (album), so what about non-hip-hop?  What’s something that people (might) be surprised that you like?

Pretty much any Police record and almost any James Brown record.

   The Last Stand differs from The Chosen Few in a few areas.  While still dark in vibe, the production is a little more polished this time around, due to a substantial presence of 9th Wonder on the album.  Some fans will oppose this new direction since it isn’t quite as edgy as they’re used to, while others will find the new style refreshing.  Again, 9th still manages to maintain the BCC street aura for the most part, he just puts a different spin on it.  In my opinion, while 9th’s stylings tend to blend well with Buckshot’s delivery (hence the well-received Chemistry collabo album), it doesn’t work quite as well with other members of the group, whose gruffness tend to get subdued by the smoother instrumentals.  The first track “Here We Go” is an example where the soundscape would be perfect for an LB’s joint, but just a tad too jazzy for a BCC album.

     The other main difference is the return of The Rockness Monsta.  As Rock detailed in the interview, extenuating circumstances (translation: label drama) led to his noticeable absence from The Chosen Few.  But his return is much welcomed for the new album.  Anyone who’s ever heard Rock flow realizes he may be one of the most charismatic and imaginative emcees to ever touch the mic.  And it’s not just Rock; his HS partner Ruck aka Sean Price is hands-down the star of the album (“It looks like a job for Superman / Up-up-and-away, gun buck with the tray / Conversating, congregating / Got twelve disciples and they all got rifles” from “Let’s Go”).

     The good tracks definitely out-number the bad ones here, and even those iffy ones are arguable.  Tracks 3-5 prove to be the strength of the album (“What You See”, “So Focused”, “Don’t You Cross The Line”) and are produced by Pete Rock, 9th Wonder, and Sic Beats, respectively (now that’s a beat team!).  And I can’t forget the hard-hitting “Trading Places” and the superb “World Wide BCC”. Boot Camp’s latest will be a welcome addition to any BCC fan’s collection.  The proven vets come through and hold their ground in The Last Stand.  The battle continues.

   And how could I mention Bush without also mentioning Diddy?  They’re like two peas in a pod.  Name two others who could screw up so many things and still have so much influence?  Who else could ride other people’s coattails to such astonishing heights?  Bush had Cheney and the biggest gang in America (that Grand Ol’ Party), and Diddy had Biggie, Mary, Mase, and all of his artists.  I can’t hate on Diddy’s business hustle, but he’s largely lost his musical Midas touch.  So what does he do?  What every self-respecting, opportunistic businessman would do: copy the hottest thing out and resell it as new. 

     “Yung Joc City” is a cookie-cutter album, not unlike most of what we’ve heard coming from below the Mason-Dixon lately.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing (there’s plenty of fine music of that style, “King” and “Tha Carter II” to name two reviewed by this site), but if you’re gonna follow a hot trend, you have to be noticeably better than everything that’s already out.  That’s where this album falls short.  There’s no real “wow” factor.  Joc can drop some clever rhymes (“Got that micro-soft so they call me Bill Gates, iced links around my neck lookin’ like I build gates”), but they’re few and far between.  He needs to take more risks lyrically in order to distinguish himself, especially since he utilizes a nonchalant, lazy-drawl flow (sound familiar?) that won’t win any “Most Charismatic” awards.  With the climate the way it is, Joc gets lost in the crowd of sound-alikes.

    Cam is just like that.  He’s obviously got skills behind the mic, but he always under-achieves.  But it’s no accident; it’s intentional.  Seems to be he could care less what people think of his lyrics, just as long as he can sell records.  To do that, he’ll say whatever the listeners want to hear (which is strange because apparently people want hear exclusively about him and his money).  More often than not, he can resort to picking a hot beat, writing a catchy, yet nonsensical, hook, and surrounding it with whatever he wants to say to kill time for the verses.  Whether the verses make a coherent point, make any sense, or have been said before, doesn’t really matter.  Millions amongst the music-buying public will still eat it up.  Business-wise, who can blame him?  This is incredibly savvy. Sell twice the units for half the effort.  Cam and the Dipset camp can milk this forever.  Artistically?  It’s flat-out unimaginative and unoriginal.  The beats are there (they always are for Dipset), but the lyrics get boring during the course of the album.  Cam has a one-track mind (i.e. he talks about himself a lot), which has allowed Juelz to pass him as the most interesting member of the crew, mostly because it’s slightly easier to listen to an album entirely about the crack game than an album entirely about some guy’s wealth and sexual exploits.  But maybe that’s just one fan’s opinion.

    Killa Season sticks to the tried-and-tested Cam formula.  A handful of clever verses here and there, some nice beat contributions, both in-house and outsourced, and a whole crap load of braggadocio.  The ghetto lullaby gone horribly wrong (“He Tried To Play Me”), the predictable and repetitive “Get Ya Gun”, and the uninspired “Girls, Cash, Cars” (you’ll never guess what the hook is) show that Cam has officially reached a “I can spit my grocery list and still go gold” mindset.  The better tracks feature other mainstream heavyweights (“Touch It Or Not” featuring Lil’ Wayne, “We Make Change” featuring Juelz Santana), if only because you get a second opinion.  The eyebrow raiser is “You Gotta Love It”, Cam’s attack on rival Jay-Z.   Nothing too spectacular here, except that he stoops to a new low and brings up Beyonce.  Whether that’s enough to stir Jay into retaliating, we’ll see.  Supposedly Cam wrote this diss prior to Jay’s “I Declare War” concert earlier this year in anticipation of being the next Summer-Jam-screen victim.  But when Jay flipped the script, instead mending riffs with Nas and completely ignoring Cam, dude was left with an unused diss.  Guess he decided to release it anyway.  Does he come off kinda desperate?  You tell me.  Either way, the track’s mediocrity is representative of the entire album. 

      But like most cities, NYC’s little brother has an underground hip-hop scene packed with emcees trying to make their mark, even in the absence of a mainstream success story.  Enter Dagha and “Object In Motion”.  With influence from fellow a Bostonian, the multi-talented Insight (who produces and rhymes on several cuts), “Object in Motion” draws similarities to the slept-on “The Blast Radius” of 2004.  And like that album, Dagha’s American debut is an acquired taste.  The first tracks immediately scream “sci-fi rap” with abstract/spacey beats and big-kid phrases like “conscious fetus going full term” and “photosynthesize to camouflage”.  As the album continues, the production evolves to standard boom-bap, a welcome backdrop because dude never dumbs it down.  I may be an idiot, but it’s a little easier to get my head around his complex rhymes when I can at least nod along. I guarantee it’ll take the average hip-hop head a few spins to fully appreciate Dagha, but once you do, it’s sure to jar you. 

    For instance, check the verbal gymnastics in “Heaven Or Hell”: “While black smoke’s rising, I’m heating up the stratus / Release my fluent coolant activated apparatus / See flesh piled in batches / Catch turbulence in patches”.  For some of you, this dictionary jargon may just be blah-blah-blah and if that’s the case, there’s nothing I can write here that’ll change your mind.  I repeat, it’s an acquired taste.  It’s like football.  Casual fans like football for the hitting and the touchdown dances.  Aficionados appreciate the brilliance of the Cover 2 defense or the complexity of the zone blitz.  “Object in Motion” is a zone blitz executed to perfection. 

      Gems include the Meistro-produced “Conquerors” and Insight-produced “Skool House Rock”, sure to bump systems and open minds.  Even on iffy beats, Dagha doesn’t ever settle for half-baked rhymes, constantly trying to elevate the lyrical game.  And what’s his motive?  “Make the population use all three eyes / Clear the hemisphere from implanted fear and pollution / Make your dome your home and institution / Conclusion: never settle for confusion / An object in motion is an object in steady movement”. 

   “Feeding Einstein” is one of those albums that take a few spins to fully digest.  The first time around I wasn’t really feelin’ it.  It tasted a little TOO backpacky.  Nothing wrong with that, it’s just not my drink of choice.  But after the second or third listen, these guys started to grow on me.  Junk Science, comprised of emcee Baje One and producer Snafu, release a debut that covers a plethora of topics that, while at times seems disjointed, proves that the crew is versatile. 

   The duo announces it’s arrival with “The Junk-Off” (“And trust me, matter fact trust your ears / It’s a type of vibe that takes more than a couple years / to marinate so it can get done right / and we underground now but I love the sunlight”) and then it’s off to the races.  From a search for purpose (“Just One Thing”) to musing about how time flies (“You Never Know”) to discussing racial identity (“House Wigger”), Junk Science isn’t afraid to tackle substantive topics.  No where is this more apparent than the bluntness of the latter.  Baje One doesn’t sidestep the issue whatsoever, attacking it head on with no consideration for political correctness, just how we like it.  Read these lyrics carefully:  “It’s the same thing, it’s even worse / if you’re racist on the low telling fucked-up jokes / So when them black kids step in the spot, you shut down / Run across the room just to give ‘em a pound / That’s bitch, that’s material, stop runnin’ / You barely even foolin’ yourself, it’s not funny / Need to turn off the tele’ / need to stop watchin’ “Belly” / Need to stop with all the Makaveli / It’s a fetish, see you don’t like the fact / that if you wanna be Black, there’s nothing whiter than that / There’s a history there, for real, so you’ll might / wanna learn about it fore you pick up a mic / or tell another racist joke cause I figure / you’ll end up being just another house wigger / So why did the white kid cross the road? / He didn’t, the road’s not crossable”. 

   Think the group’s being too critical of others?  “Roads” proves they aren’t afraid to take an honest look in the mirror either. Nonsense tracks like “Mashed Topatoes” demonstrate Junk Science can loosen up and rock a party every now and then.   The downside to “Feeding Einstein” is the result of a double-edged sword.  Junk Science covers multiple topics which causes a slight discontinuity in the album.  This may not be a problem for some listeners, but to me cohesiveness is an important measurement of an album.  At times the album feel more like a compilation than a group debut. 

   Despite a few minor setbacks, Junk Science comes through with an impressive debut sure to please college campus inhabitants everywhere.  These are the type of artists you can only hope for, ones who will push the limits of what hip-hop artists can or should talk about.  When current media darling Kanye West dropped “Jesus Walks” a while back, it shocked everyone because it was “too real”.  I can only hope Junk Science’s “House Wigger” real talk catches on too. 

    Overall, the results of the album aren’t too surprising.  Essentially, “It Is What It Is” is, well, what it is: a Smif-N-Wessun album without Steele.  The usual conversational pieces are the same (gunplay, pharmaceutical distribution).  Tek’s delivery is the same.  The beat selection, for the most part, is the same.  This isn’t like Andre 3000 getting some freedom and going spacey on “The Love Below”.  Tek’s pretty much the same guy on his own as when he was one half of Smif-N-Wessun.  This is both good and bad.  It’s good because we all know Tek has skills and ferocity behind the mic.  No question, one of the better street poets around.  But the downside is, honestly, he just can’t carry the whole album on his own, especially considering the limited topics covered.  What made Smif-N-Wessun projects click was the chemistry and interaction between the two.  With one gone, something’s obviously missing. 

   As mentioned before, the instrumentals are generally what you would expect out of Smif-N-Wessun; minimalist with thick drums.  Just what the doctor ordered for trigger-happy guys like themselves.  The difference is that some of the beats here seem to have been tamed.  This is noticeable because on harder, sub-rumbling tracks (“BK Freestyle”), Tek really comes with it, but lighter productions (“Can’t Do What I Do”) seem to drain his enthusiasm.  The drums are there, but they’re more whimpers than roars. 

    The other variation is the inclusion of a handful of reggae-flavored beats (“All Massive”, “#1 Sound”, “My Gun (Remix)”, “Nothing’s Gonna Change”).  The best of the bunch, “Nothing’s Gonna Change” shows that Tek can diversify his topics when he wants to.  He spends a few verses recognizing his love for family, friends, and significant others: “Look pretty, we been down this road before / I was in the studio, I don’t know that girl / Must’ve seen me on the block, one day she came through / You know we out doin’ what the gangstas do / But ma, real talk, you my one and only / these lonely dirty bitches only wish they know me / Yeah I fucked up one time and cheated on you / All the rocks I brought you, might as well have stoned you / See, that’s what I’m talking ’bout, your smile and glow / As long as I’m breathin’, just want you to know?”.  But this non-violent song is an exception to the rule.  The rest of the album is a musical one-track mind. 

    The best cut on the album is (surprise, surprise) his collabo with Steele, “Young Man”.  The Cocoa B’s pass along street wisdom to the next generation of hood residents over moaning strings and a simplistically dense drums: “No strain, no gain / can’t avoid the rain / Young mayne, keep it in ya heart you’ll have it made / Young mayne, take it slow don’t speed in this lane”.  In “Keys”, Tek flips the “Diary of Alicia Keys” intro song (“Harlem’s Nocturne”) and turns it into an imagined conversation with the dime songstress.  The track is really brief, but the splicing is done reasonably well and makes for an interesting listen.  Besides, who can blame Tek for wanting to get to know Alicia, even if it is pretend?

   Disappointments include the hollow threats of “Respect”, the awful hook and lack of focus on “Image On My Mind”, the forgettable and vain “Forget About The Past”, and the boring “Can’t Do What I Do”.  On the bright side, “Forget About The Past” wins the comedy award for the line “Black, Puerto Rican, or Haitian / No fat chicks, that was one occasion”.  At least he’s honest.

   For hardcore Smif-N-Wessun fans, this is worth purchase.  If you really are hardcore, you probably already own it and in the process of writing me a threatening email for hatin’ on half of your favorite group.  For the rest, an interesting listen if you’ve got cash laying around.  Otherwise, stick to a completely assembled Smif-N-Wessun on “Reloaded”. 

     I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a card-carrying member of the Dipset fan club.  Nothing personal, but in my passing spins of their catalog, I just don’t see much difference between them and any other rappers spittin’ the same content.  There are more of these cliques than you can count on your fingers and toes.  So the first word that comes to mind is “cliche” the exact opposite of the album’s title.  Think about it: Juelz’ pink-clad mentor just got shot in D.C. in an attempted carjacking.  Terrible incident and I’m glad to hear Cam is recovering nicely, but even that ended up being cliche Was anyone remotely surprised when they heard about it?  If that happened to Common, we’d be shocked and that dude’s from Southside Chicago.  We hear some much gat and trap chat coming out of the Dipset, G-Unit, and D-Block camps that this IS the game.  If anything was missing, this wasn’t it. 

    But as any self-respecting critic should, I gave Santana’s second (official) effort a fair shake.  No, the content still ain’t change.  But, after closer inspection, what is different is how Juelz presents it.  His smoky staccato switches up from track-to-track, sometimes even mid-verse.  This unconventional style adds an extra dimension to the album and keeps things interesting when thoughts of “Wait, haven’t I heard this before?” start creeping in.  Juelz has long been touted as Dipset’s golden child and the best moments of “What the Game’s Been Missing!” highlight the strengths of this Harlem “shotta”. 

    Santana stick-and-moves his way along the first few cuts, sparring with his instrumental. Producers like the Heatmakers, the Doe Boys, and Neo Da Matrix construct Roy Jones Jr. beats, powerful and deliberate.  Santana is Winky Wright, ducking and diving before sticking you with jabs when you’re exposed.  “Rumble Young Man Rumble”, “There It Go (The Whistle Song)”, and the Bezel assisted “Violence” demonstrate this unusual scuffle.  The best joint on the album, the trap-heavy posse cut “Make It Work For You” with Young Jeezy and Lil’ Wayne, shows that Juelz’ off-kilter flow is spreading like bird flu.  All three rappers decide to rhyme slightly off beat, winning a split decision over a chirping, neck-snapping Doe Boys beat.  Other notables are the Pink Panther aided “Shottas” and “Clockwork”, entertaining tracks with the added bonus of having the audacity to make up new words and turn them into songs.  Care to elaborate, Juelz?  “I mean nigga, if you get money, that’s clockwork.  If you’re hustlin’, that’s clockwork.  Bitch, if you’re out there sellin’ ass, that’s clockwork.  If you’re out there pimpin’ homie, that’s clockwork.  Holla at me, aye!”  Oh, now we get it….

     If course, it’s not all smiles and giggles.  “Good Times” and “This Is Me” just doesn’t sound right coming out of Santana.  Trapping for a full album will do that to you.  Can you blame listeners for being a little skeptical?  I mean c’mon, they’re followed by “Make It Work For You” and “Freaky”, respectively.  I’m all for dichotomy, but normally that requires some sort of yin-yang balance.  Juelz’ crack game agenda is like the fat kid on the teeter-totter and his “This Is Me” tracks are Gary Coleman.  The other problem is obvious: too much time spent on the snow.  Well I guess it is December….

     At the end of the day, if I have to choose between a mediocre album that’s consistently average  and an uneven album, one with flashes of greatness and straight garbage, I’ll pick the latter every time.  I’d rather skip tracks than skip whole albums.  Musicians who are afraid to take risks artistically make average albums (i.e. albums no one will ever hear).  Juelz threw caution to the wind and takes a swipe at a variety of vocal deliveries and beats.  Some work, others don’t.  But those that do will get people to empty their wallets and, more importantly, guarantees Santana will be back for a third album.  Anyone know what ever happened to B Rich?  Thought so.  Aye!

     Maybe the expectations were just too high.  Jordan was a once-in-a-lifetime athlete.  The same could be said about the immortal opus “Illmatic”.  It just doesn’t happen every day.  When AZ spit lines of fire on “Life’s a Bitch”, p-bombs were dropped by everyone speaking his name.  Fair or not, he would forever be defined by that verse and anything less would be a disappointment.  A grip of solid (unjustly hated-on) albums and over a decade in the game, Anthony Cruz still hasn’t reached the “potential” industry insiders envisioned back in ’94.  Damn, if God’s Son has to fight off comparisons to “Illmatic” for every new album, imagine how AZ feels.  The unfortunate part is that many fans use this as an excuse to snooze on the Sugar Hill shooter.  Don’t.  If anything, dude is getting stronger.  2002′s “Aziatic” raised eyebrows and AZ keeps the momentum going on his latest effort, “A.W.O.L.”, proudly released under the umbrella of his new label, Quiet Money Records. 

      The album starts off with banger after banger.  “So Sincere”, “Never Change”, and “Can’t Stop” are all single-worthy, but it’s the Raekwon and Ghostface Killah assisted “New York” that’ll blow down the house.  Remember how ill the “Run” track was on Ghost’s “The Pretty Toney Album”?  The Emile-produced “New York” sounds like that cut after a case of Red Bull.  The three microphone titans don’t disappoint either. 

     After these four appetizers, the album falls back to earth with a few mediocre songs.  “Still Alive” is a radio rotation wannabe, but with a twist.  If you really listen to the lyrics, AZ is spitting street heat, but the corny, rubbery beat ruins it.  Gotta love the chunky, hollow drums on “AZ’s Chillin’”, but the obvious cover sounds dated and boring, especially when AZ’s strength is his liquid flow.  He slows it down to fit the beat, but it just doesn’t sound right.  “City of Gods” isn’t bad, but “Street Life” is.  Guests Half-A-Mil and Begetz just aren’t up to par.  “Bedtime Story” is a likable tell-tale track, but I can’t shake the nagging sense that AZ’s delivery sounds like a bootleg copy of Jay-Z’s style.  It’s the rhyme structure and syllable emphasis that gives it away.  I know, it sounds far-fetched.  But listen to the track and I guarantee you’ll think “Jay-Z”, when you should be thinking “AZ”.  Not a complaint, just an observation. 

    After a lackluster middle section, Sosa finishes strong.  The Primo-produced “The Come Up” is the album’s lead single.  Literally every Primo track is guaranteed to be hot and this no different.  But honestly, the four opening tracks are better and to that extent, “The Come Up” is a let down.  “Envious”, featuring the reggae stalwart Bounty Killer, takes some getting used to because of the mismatched styles, but it grows on you.  The bonus tracks (“Live Wire”, “Magic Hour” featuring CL Smooth”, and “The Truth”) are the icing on the cake. 

    Overall, there’s not much to gripe about with AZ’s latest offering.  Even on the iffy joints, must of the blame falls on inconsistent production, not AZ’s liquid flow and dope lyrics.  Here’s the rule of thumb: if a Primo track is the disappointment, then you have a fresh album.  You can forget the p-word.  Heads have been too busy yapping about where AZ should be, they haven’t given him credit for how far he’s come.