The first of illy Philly’s Mountain Brothers to go solo (unless you count Chops outside production work), Styles Infinite drops a nice cut with “Fresh Air” . Produced by Mr. Jason, the song throbs with some off-beat congos, fuzzed-out electronics and other assorted effects. In sweeps Styles, dropping some clever punchlines: “who wanna test me?/kids you got [cont.]

I love Quasi’s sh*t but I don’t always think of his songs as being “singles” in the conventional sense. His sh*t is his mind-bending vocal and aural alchemy – purely for the bugged but I don’t know if I’d be hot to trot to slide this into the mix. Perhaps predicting that kind of reservation, [cont.]

The music – spacey and bouncy – is classic Puba, but why is he trying to rhyme jiggy style? His flow was one of the most distinctive in hip-hop and all of the sudden, he’s trying to bite some gun clap flow sh*t from his lesser NY brethren. On the flipside, this is clearly a [cont.]

One of the few Makin artists that seemed to have survived the label’s implosion, Bad Seed  makes out just fine on “For The Kids”. Someone might want to compare this to the “Hard Knock Life” school of tracks that just jack some Broadway song riff, but that doesn’t quite capture the feel of “For the Kids” [cont.]

I was surprised at how dope Nature’s first underground solo offering is. “Showbiz” really proves what an underated lyricist Nate is, as he defames every Black actor in the bizness, on this “Labels” style track. Phat production, dope concept, well execution, and limited availibility make this one a must…   

The lyrics on “Above Da Law” are pretty NY-standard issue (nothing you ain’t heard on every other Guesswhyld release if you knawmean). I was feeling the vibe of it – Tommy Tee’s brass heavy, cinematic track hits with ’nuff force and the various MCs. Agallah, Ruck Of Heltah Skeltah, Labba, and Starang Wondah of O.G.C. sound fairly [cont.]

Coming from the Nexx Level / Rockboy Click then Smoothe The Hustler and Trigga Da Gambler emrged from is Papoose. I was a little skeptic on this one at first, but Papoose is very talented MC, not to be slept on. “Thug Connection” sounds a bit like Wu-Tang Clan’s track off of the Rush Hour soundtrack in [cont.]

After making a splash on the Lucy Pearl album, as well as Guru’s new Street Soul, Bilal could be the proverbial next big thing in R&B crooners. Certainly, he’s got good production behind him as the ubiquitous Raphael Sahdeeq drips honeyed soul on the slow groovin’ track. Bilal shares a faint resemblance to the falsetto tone [cont.]

Production team MKII, aka Roey Marquis II and Kubuki, step up showcasing their beatmaking skills.. The A-side thankfully brings Al Tariq and Problemz back out of the woodworks, on “What?” and it’s remix. MKII lends heavy, neo-Sermon style basslines, and pre-southern bounce as the arteest formerly known as Fashion and the one they call Problemz take two [cont.]

When did Canadian hip-hop stop doing their own thing and begin to clone NY? Maybe it’s been like that all along, but I never remembered Saukrates and Frankenstein being as blandly familiar as Solitair is on his new single. “No Doubt” is duller than a butter knife with its simplistic track and Solitair’s not spittin’ anything [cont.]

As much as I may want to dis on this 12″, there’s something entertaining about the drug ode “Purple Pills” that keep my player hating in check. I still don’t think D12 has much skills to write home about – take out Eminem and they disappear like lights in a fog but the song’s a hilarious mix [cont.]

From BK to UK, the dynamic duo of Mr. Live and Tony Bones return with three more joints, exercising Brooklyn and British accents. “All Day” starts things off nicely, with that off key NY sound and a whailing sound buried in the background, as Mr. Live takes it solo for a second. The winner of this [cont.]

 Before there was a How High movie or even a Method Man to share blunts with, Redman emerged on the scene with Whut? Thee Album, his debut solo project which came shortly after he stole the show on his first verse for EPMD’s “Hardcore”. The Redman who debuted ten years ago was a different emcee then [cont.]

Phil Da Agony executes “Watch Out” pretty well considering it’s a one-gimmick record. Ever line begins with Phil warning you, “watch out for [fill in the blank].” Sample verses: “first you got to watch out for yourself and your fam/because if you don’t watch out/nobody else will give a damn/watch out for those niggas in the [cont.]

Where is Rawkus headed right now? Far be it from me to be the arbitrator of what’s considered quality underground material but lately, they’ve really seemed to be churning out the same kind of generic NY sh*t that every other indie label in Gotham is guilty of. Not that Brooklyn’s Rise And Shine are wack, but frankly, [cont.]

Rahsheed & Ill Advised reunite after dropping a few solo joints, and popping up on other indy records. “Internal Affairs” once again flips the Blackbyrds’ sample popularized on Gang Starr’s “Say Your Prayers”, CMW’s “Def Wish”, Capone-N-Noreaga’s “T.O.N.Y.” remix, and countless other jawns… Baby Blak seems to be showing much improvement on this one…. “1.9.8.6 (Remix)” brings [cont.]

Encore’s “It’s Time (Ode To Breaking Atoms)” is the alpha and omega of this 12″ and the other artists sharing space might as well have recorded 3.5 minutes of static. I mean, does anyone really remember what the B-side of “The Choice Is Yours (Revisted)” was? Did anyone really care for the remix to “One [cont.]

Hmmm…..”Even Cheaper (Cheapskate Remix)” takes “Cheapskate” and removes the key elements which made it a classic in the first place, the humor. The feel good nature of being a penny pincher that the original had is completely gone on this new mix, as it attempts to be a bit more hardcore. Although, if you were [cont.]

Like whoa. Redman’s new single is unlike anything he’s ever released before - with an obvious Rockwilder banger behind it, “Let’s Get Dirty” is clearly aimed at one audience - the club. It’s almost too early to tell whether I like this record or hate it - it’s obvious disposable nature makes me dislike it, but I’m also guilty [cont.]

I’m not sure what I love about Thirstin Howl III so much, but he has a totally unique style, and outrageous rhymes that are mad funny. He almost sounds like he is trying to scare you when he rhymes, but you can tell by the context that he is just messing around. This full, three verse [cont.]