Wednesday, January 04, 2006
You're In Big Trouble Like Tucci.
There's a very little known quotable circulating deep in the core of hip-hop obscurity. Its founder is identified as rapper Celph Titled, aka The Rubix Cuban. A flagship founder of the Demigodz Crew, Celph safely has many well known quotables already. For example: "The closest that you ever got to a punchline/ is waiting for refreshments at the prom in '89" or "Real gangstas don't say much, we talk with our hands/ And keep a surplus of Ziploc bags and rubberbands". Got the picture? As clever as these and many others I could cite are, they just don't pertain to the direction I'm trying to take this entry.
"Don't ever call me a producer behind the mic/ I'm an emcee behind the boards, you better get it right." - Celph Titled, "Makin Music Remix" featuring Lexicon and Apathy, 2002
Enter J-Zone aka Captain Back$lap, who essentially is the exact opposite of this statement: a producer who accidently ended up getting on the mic, more than he expected anyway. A graduate of SUNY Purchase, 1999's Music For Tu Madre(one of the best album titles ever, haha) was his senior project. And for the most part, every single one of his last albums have presented him as the star of the show, along with occasional guest emcees. With each consecutive album, the roster gained more familiarity with his audience, peaking in my opinion with Devin The Dude on last year's A Job Ain't Nuthin But Work, a track called "Greater Later". But Zone's best beat in my opinion will always be "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" featuring New York veteran Masta Ace, off of 2003's $ick of Bein' Rich. With each album he releases, J gets nuttier and nuttier. It also has been good for his career, because with Celph Titled, it looks like the nutshell is about to explode.
You see folks, luckily for Celph and Zone, they do share the same thesis in life: not giving a fuck about anyone or anything in their path. So after many song collaborations, they are finally joining forces for an entire album. Together, they are the Bo$$ Hog Barbarian$, and are set to drop their full-length in stores in March. Their single goes on sale in a few weeks, and although this is not the single ("$teady $mobbin"), this shit is a straight burner, and should not be dismissed lightly.
"Celph Destruction" (mp3)
I mean, it's like right out of...shit, I just tried pigeonholing a J-Zone beat. Zone's shit is so easy to identify though, he chops shit up meticulously like a young DJ Premier, and that's truth (yup, I said it). But instead of finding the perfect headnodder like Primo is best known for, Back$lap is obsessed with disecting the less-than-ordinary sounds you'd expect in a rap track, like a piano without ritalin (sorry, Madlib), or a triumphany organ grinder (once again...). Even better, on this, Zone brings up something straight out of a middle school laser tag match. Am I not right? Seriously. And furthermore, among the many signature sounds on a J-Zone production are his sampling of conversations found on rare tapes he gets out of the frickin' library, or simply silencing the music so he can highlight the obscure dialogue gems (keep an ear out for the one at the end of the track).
As far as the emcee goes, the guitar sounds fittingly gritty over Celph's endless two minute rhyme marathon. Which is dope in itself, because its the tightest verse Celph Titled has probably ever spat. If he manages to keep it diverse on the album, The Rubix Cuban won't necessarily be known as the emcee with punchlines. No...because like he said on that Lexicon joint, "Punchlines are just bad jokes." So, enough with the humor I guess, time to get a little more serious, and a little more "ig'nant" as Zone calls it. No survivors left, in other words, except for the heads that knew the time all along.
Speaking as a fan of Zone's, but more so as someone interested in hearing what Celph can really bring to the table for an entire album, I would venture to say this new album is gonna be on the money.
*BLING!*
Coming up tomorrow: I get to start nursing/catsitting a cat with cancer for the next four days! Among other awesome miscelleneous money making tactics to make all my friends still in school jealous! Wake up call 8 am! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSDARETOBEONCRACK.
Also on the way, a surprise. And it involves me. Humuliation may occur. Stardom...unlikely.
Cheers,
~*E*~
