Perhaps one of the most legendary rap battles in hip-hop history, Hieroglyphics faced off against the Hobo Junction on The Wake Up Show on November 18th, 1994. Legend has it that the beef apparently started because after Casual had Saafir appear on his Fear Itself debut, Casual was supposed to return the favor and make an appearance on Saafir’s Box Car Sessions debut, which never ended up happening. The end result was a live battle on San Francisco’s KMEL between the two crew. The outcome was pretty much a draw – some argued that Saafir’s crew came harder, however Casual and Souls of Mischief were battling with actual off the dome freestyles, which Hobo Junction did not. Big up to Wicked22 aka Shaun D who helped bring this classic battle back from the vaults.

Wake Up Show: Hieroglyphics Vs. Hobo Junction Battle (1994) (MP3)

    But on the other hand, if you’re one of the many in ’94 whose head still hurts from Boxcar Sessions, Good Game will compound your frustration, leaving you to wonder what happened to the once innovative wordsmith. Its hard listening to anything he’s touch since Boxcar without wondering what happened to the grime and complex rhyme structure of his past work. The production on this project is wildly uneven, sliding back and forth between hard breaks and flashy club anthems-none of which are remarkable or memorable. “Devotion” is a soft track with a cliche R&B hook, while “The Technology” is uptempo and bouncy. Although a contrast in sounds on a single album can mesh well, Saafir sounds out of place on both production styles. And if anything, the inconsistency adds to the lack of cohesiveness in the album’s sound, making it a very jumbled listen. Moreover, “Jihad” and “Hey Baby”, are as shallow and predictable as their titles reflect, with Saafir delivering thoughtless raps. Overall, the album is regrettably dull and unfortunately, lacks any hints of originality.

   So what’s left for Saafir? He’ll still get by on making mediocre albums due to his charisma alone. But nowadays, Saafir hasn’t just lost focus and progressiveness, but more importantly, he’s lost relevance in hip-hop. Can Saafir make another dope album? With the aid of a strict producer, of course. Will Boxcar Sessions prove to be the only project he’s remembered by? Most likely….at least for this writer.