In one of the most unexpected super-group/collabo records of the year, Murder Mass / Showoff emcee Termanology teams up with M.O.P.’s Lil Fame (aka Fizzy Womack), for the humorously titled Fizzology LP, for Brick Records. Produced almost entirely by Fame, the album explores what things sound like if Fame trades rhymes with a more cool and collected sparring partner, rather than his equally gruff brother in M.O.P., Billy Danze.

The end result is a raw street album, that focuses more on the duo’s lyrical skills than classic song structure. Fame’s production has it’s moments, carrying on the legacy of M.O.P. on songs like “It’s Easy” and “Family Ties”, which may as well been included on the Firing Squad LP, utilizing classic blues and soul samples. Yet despite his years in the game, Fame simply isn’t as astute a producer as some of his peers, such as DJ Premier, who shows a night-and-day difference when he steps in on “Play Dirty”, a blistering posse cut with Busta Rhymes and Styles P. The same can be said for Statik Selektah, who’s uncanny ear steals some of the spotlight on both “Crazy” and “Thuggathon”. Given that Fame’s production dominates the LP, there’s a clear difference when his more seasoned beatsmiths appear. The only exception is Alchemist’s “Fizzyology” title track, which is a let down due to it’s umpteenth use of the “Forgot To Be Your Lover” sample, which he already, most famously used on Dilated Peoples’ “Worst Comes To Worst” some years back.

While still very much of quality – we’ll put these beats up against anything on a damn 2 Chainz record – we’ve heard both M.O.P. and Termanology shine brighter on past albums helmed by the aforementioned Preemo and Statik, so we know what they are capable of. Furthermore, Term and Fame simply lack the chemistry of M.O.P., having two opposing styles that lack the synergy of Fame and Danze. Nevertheless, these two come with constant quotable lyrics, and we imagine they both had each other cracking up in the studio, trying to outdo one another with more audacious, ultra-violent braggadocio.

While Fizzyology has some things about it that let us down, this is still one of the stronger releases of the year, in a sea of half-baked albums from not-ready-for-primetime-players and over-exposed-but-less-than-skilled-rap-superstars. While the execution doesn’t match either members past efforts, it’s still more-or-less a solid release that will sit comfortably in many listeners’ iTunes libraries.

WOW PREEM! Lil Fame & Termanology are Fizzyology. The album in stores & iTunes 11-6-2012, which will feature Busta Rhymes, Styles P, Bun B, Freeway, M.O.P., DJ Premier, Statik Selektah & more.

Termanology speaks with Montreality about a variety of topics in this interview, but most notably, he reveals that he M.O.P.’s Lil Fame will collaborate on a new LP together called Physiology. He mentions that the album is finished, except for one track they are waiting for, produced by DJ Premier….

Here’s a highlight reel of Busta Rhymes amazing peformance from the Brooklyn Hip-Hop fest, which saw him reuniting with Leaders of The New School for the first time in 20 years. Also present are each A Tribe Called Quest, Lil Fame of M.O.P., Buckshot, Smif-N-Wessun, Slick Rick, Reek Da Villain, J. Doe. We can’t say we’ve ever seen “Scenario” performed with this many original members live on the song.