Wait, wait. A Hip-hop album without Wu involved? On 10Listens? I know what you are thinking… it’s impossible. Just because it has never happened, doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
That said, it’s hard to listen to a rap album ten times in a short amount of time. It is for me, at least. Hip-hop gets into me and forces my hand to tremble at the thought of doing anything more than analyzing the words. Albums of people talking to you, rhythmically, are hard to write or talk over. They pause my motion and demand my full attention.
This can be good, but it can also destroy an album’s credibility quickly. I can get very tired of cliches: you own guns, you fuck women, you have money, you sell drugs, you have killed people. Established. Got it. How clever can you be in delivering those ideas to me, and can you be talented while driving the point home? And this is to say nothing of the beats.
All that said, Statik Selektah delivers on his beats. Whether the rapper is as gruff and explicit as Freeway (his pornographic verses actually caused me to shutter at points) or as smooth as Talib Kweli’s (one of his best verses in years is on here), Statik kills it with consistency. Nothing makeshift exists on this album– everything is well thought out and crafted with the artist in mind and the listener in tow.
The artists kill it too for the most part. I can’t complain often, despite the brashness and repetition of coke-rap and kills shots. To be perfectly honest, I like that shit when it is done well. This album has clever rhymes, good flows, and ill beats. What the hell else am I looking for? Cop it. Maybe by the time you do, I will have found another rap album to obsess over. And, hell, maybe even review.