Jizzm HD taps 16 emcees for this beat changing tour-de-force – on deck are Styliztik Jones, Abstract Rude, Born Allah, Supernatural, Neb Luv, NGA Fish, Akil The MC, Rifelman, Medusa, Black Silver, Main Flor, Riddlore, Awol One, Otherwise, Mykill Miers, and Jizzm himself.
]]> http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/05/02/jizzm-high-definition-speed-of-mind-the-ultimate-posse-cut/feed/ 0 http://www.hiphopsite.com/2010/09/08/jurassic-5-al-tariq-grav-mykill-miers-wake-up-show-freestyle-mp3/ http://www.hiphopsite.com/2010/09/08/jurassic-5-al-tariq-grav-mykill-miers-wake-up-show-freestyle-mp3/#comments Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:40:00 +0000 http://www.hiphopsite.com/?p=22222 [cont.]]]>

We’re in a giving mood, so we’ll be pulling out a lot of the old cassette gems from the vaults on the regular for a while, just to change things up a bit. Here is a classic session from The Wake Up Show, that took place around 1996. This session has been chopped up for the show’s freestyle CD series, but here is the full, uncut session which features each Jurassic 5, Al Tariq (Beatnuts), Grav (Correct Records), and Mykill Miers. Some of the best beats of the era are featured in this session, and Chali 2na outshines them all.

Jurassic 5 + Al’ Tariq + Grav + Mykill Miers Wake Up Show Freestyle (MP3)

Enter It’s Been A Long Time Coming, Miers’ debut release on Blackberry. With guests like Planet Asia, A.G., Freddie Foxxx, Rakaa-Iriscience, plus DJ Revolution on the cut, the buzz surrounding this release is pretty heavy in underground circles, yet sadly it doesn’t quite deliver.

Unfortunately, Miers may have sealed his own coffin by dubbing himself “The Copycat Killer”, as that’s how people may look at him after hearing this album. While imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, in this case, it may, in turn, upset those that the borrowed ideas on this album were lifted from. From the album’s intro, which seems a little too similar to Raekwon and Ghostface Killah’s setting up of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, to the DJ Premier “influenced” production, to Miers curious sound-a-like styles, the amount of originality here isn’t enough.

Beat-wise, the formula invented and mastered by the one and only Primo, has been borrowed and beaten-to-death on this project. Chopped up dirty drums, with oddly placed scratch samples working as makeshift hooks are abundant here, (although who can be mad at DJ Revolution cutting them up?). Nevertheless, while the formula is tired and abused, it still works on tracks like “Do The Math” (featuring Iriscience) and “Wanna Be An Emcee” (feat. Freddie Foxxx), yet when Mykill doesn’t have anyone to trade mics with, as on “The Illest” or “Don’t Test”, the fun is lost.

Even more frustrating is similarities in Miers style, on certain tracks, he sounds just to close to Xzibit, while on others, you’d swear you were listening to Parrish Smith (or Rakim - who coincidentally has been called an influence for PMD). Is it his fault? Does he just sound that way, or is there some serious biting going on here? While he is a clever lyricist, these similarities are just too much at times.

Don’t trip, by no means is the album wack, nor is Miers. He is an agile emcee, and among the celebrated collaboration tracks, and the times were the production decides to be original, the outcome is good. “Killing Spree”, “Triggernometry”, and “Best Friends Become Strangers” do little to borrow from anyone, and show that if Miers and Co. would just stay own their own shit, the outcome would be better. Originality is the key, hopefully next time around we’ll see more of it.