While Encore and producer The Architect laid a strong foundation for what would one day expand into the Executive Lounge, with last year’s Self Preservation, what passes as a full-length project from the crew is actually a loose-knit compilation of tracks from each of its different members. While spearheaded by The Architect, who lends his beats to each of the twelve tracks, the project lacks any form of cohesion. Instead of feeling like an album, it feels like another disjointed crew release, soon to join the ranks of The Boot Camp Click, The Firm, The Wu-Tang Clan, and any albums from the Flipmode or Terror Squads.

It’s not a particularly bad album, as each of the members get their time to shine, such as Encore’s show stealing verse from “On Contact”, or its carefully disguised remix “EXL”. Solo cuts from ‘Core (“Movement”), Turbin (“Identifi”), and Grand The Visitor (“Taxes”) help establish individual identities for these members, but also contribute to the overall disorganized feeling of this release. If not on solo tracks, the crew shines best when everyone takes an equal slice of mic time, best demonstrated on “Big Tyme” and “EXL”, but these full family reunions only happen on the aforementioned tracks – and isn’t this supposed to be the entire crew’s album? Even if so, there is no denying that Encore is the team’s strongest member, and without his natural mic presence to hold the crew together on each of the tracks, things fall apart.

The other problem with this release is surprisingly dissatisfying production from The Architect. While his production on Self Preservation pleased audiences, the same cannot be said for Executive Lounge. The beats on this album seem a lot more experimental, and just not as compelling as his previous works. It’s possible that Architect’s production simply needs Encore to bring out the best in it, as perhaps the two have a chemistry that only together they can successfully create, or maybe Encore picked Architect’s best beats for Self Preservation. Either way, things just don’t seem as fresh this time around.

The main problem with Executive Lounge is its lack of continuity. The album is short, and each track features different emcees than the one before it, and it’s easy to get lost in the sea of six relatively unfamiliar voices. Clocking at less than 45 minutes, this album ends too quickly, and with such minimal participation from each member, the listener never get a chance to familiarize themselves with this new troop of emcees, like we did on Wu-Tang’s Enter The 36 Chambers, for example. Perhaps this year’s upcoming solo efforts from Turbin and Encore will do that instead, and hopefully not repeat these same mistakes.

I’m a huge fan of Encore’s Self Preservation LP; I think the chemistry between ‘Core and Architect is brilliance that rivals Guru and DJ Premier (dare I say it). I’m not sure how much I’m feeling the Exec Lounge project thus far though, “Big Tyme” kinda gets that mellow vibe last found on Encore’s “Livewire” b-side, but there are so many emcees on this track that it’s hard to stay focused. The production on “Heat Wave” also seemed uncharacteristically sloppy, but at the same time, it may take a full listen to the whole LP for me to really latch on to the EXL. Once I heard Self Preservation in full, I was immediately a ‘Core fan (pun intended, apologies.) – Pizzo