Casual - Fear Itself

Jive: 1994

You'd think every dope album from the Golden Age Of Hip-Hop would shine bright upon some wall of fame for all to see, but to this day, some records still get passed. True, my perspective is quite skewed from rap consumption habits that are, at best, lackadaisical. And yet I come across CDs that leave me stupefied over their lack of discourse, even among those who consider themselves 'true, proper, underground hip-hop heads'.

I can never claim to be one, but I'd like to think myself somewhat favouring sounds off the commercial path (chart-topping classics notwithstanding). Still, it took me a stupid amount of time to check out anything from Casual. I like Hieroglyphics, and all their associative output with Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and Souls Of Mischief. Why so long, then, in scoping out solo material from a member with just as much presence within the group as all these other MCs? In all honesty, I simply didn't know he had solo material of any significance. Maybe a mixtape or item released through the Hiero Imperium, but for whatever reason, it never clicked for me that he was a separate artist from Souls and Del.

Release albums he has though, quite a few of them, even making his debut on Jive back when that label pretended to give a damn about the Hieroglyphics crew. Fear Itself came off the heels of '93 To Infinity and No Need For Alarm, and features all the soul 'n' funk samples and trunk rattling beats you can expect of this era of Hiero. You'd think this would make Casual's premier a shoe-in for legendary status along those two, but I've seldom seen in name-dropped. Was it a commercial flop? Well, no more than the others, but sales never stopped records from becoming 'backpacker classics'. Was it simply lost in the shuffle of all things G-funk out on the West Coast back then? Perhaps a little, but No Need For Alarm dropped the same day as Doggystyle (!!), and folks in the know will always point to Del's album as essential.

The only thing I can think of is that Casual doesn't come off as flamboyant as his Hiero brethren here. Absolutely he holds his own for the duration of the album, and his sinewy, husky flow is easily identifiable. For all his sharp battle-raps though, I can't deny there's just a little something missing from Fear Itself.

Menace, that's it. Hieroglyphics were never 'thug' rappers, but Souls didn't mince words about getting up in your grill. And when Del sounded pissed, you believed he'd “chop your muther-fuckin' head off”. I don't get that same sense with Casual, coming off fun lovin' and, at heaviest, rough n' tumble. Like, Smilin' Mark Henry, rather than Hall Of Pain Mark Henry. He'd definitely get there, subsequent years in the de-e-e-eep underground battle-rapping sharpening his edge. This first outing remains solid though, a worthy companion piece to the early Hiero saga. Can't knock them vintage Domino beats.

Boogie Down Productions - By All Means Necessary

Jive: 1988

It really is bonkers just how much of a game-changer the year 1988 was in the world of hip-hop. Even the lamest of laymen know the classics dropped: It Takes A Nation..., Straight Outta Compton, Strictly Business, Follow The Leader, Eazy-Duz-It, He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper... So many more I could name, such that it's not surprising that something like By All Means Necessary could so easily get overlooked. Yet the second album from Boogie Down Productions was a game changer all in its own right, one of the earliest examples of conscious rap. There were examples of street commentary and lyrical prowess before, but not to such an extent KRS-One brought here. The murder of your friend and producing partner would have that effect.

Not that BDP was glorifying violence on Criminal Minded, but right from the jump in My Philosophy, you can hear a change of tone in Mr. Parker's lyrics, presenting himself as The Teacha. Whereas before he'd show off his lyrical ability as street poetry, here he's using his verbal dexterity for higher thoughts, opening the minds of those who'd listen. These aren't the words of some street hood, but an individual who's studied why the streets are the way they are, and taking those to task who'd rather wallow in the bliss of ignorance. Small wonder he's posing as Malcom X on the cover art.

That's not to say he doesn't have things to say about the systemic issues in late '80s America that lead to such troubles. Stop The Violence rants on about the double-standards living in The World's Greatest Nation entails, while Illegal Business gets into complicity of police forces in the drug trade, taking bribes from peddlers to keep selling that crack to junkies. He even gets into some safe sex shenanigans with Jimmy, though in more a playful manner than the other tracks. Hehe, heh... “ding dong”...

It's not all soap-boxing though, KRS-One devoting just as much time to battle-rapping throughout the album. Whether still calling out wack MCs (Ya Slippin'), getting his braggadocios on (I'm Still #1), or railing against commercial sell-outs (Part Time Suckers), he's got plenty of shooting barbs. And while he's at it, may as well continue alternating between Bronx boom-bap and dancehall toasting, further proving one need not be limited in rapping delivery. Heck, the final track is basically a beatnik poetry outing.

Speaking of beats, in honour of the fallen La Rock, most of them retain the simple DJ cut-n-scratch or reggae bounce as he produced in Criminal Minded. While the extended BDP crew gets the credit, DJ Scott does get an 'Overseen' credit too. Aww, ain't that nice. Wish I could get as hype for the beats though, their dated attributes quite apparent when stacked against what The Bomb Squad was doing with Public Enemy at the same time. Not that it matters. By All Means Necessary is mostly about KRS-One's rhymes, and rhymes he delivers, yo'.

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Both Sides Of The Brain

Hiero Imperium: 2000

Widely regarded as the kick-off to what would be Phase II of Del's career. Okay, maybe you could point to the Hieroglyphics debut 3rd Eye Vision as the proper kick-off. Come to think of it, didn't his actual Phase II drop with No Need For Alarm? Or would I Wish My Brother George Was Here be pre-Crisis Del? I'm getting too many of these comic book analogies mixed up. Let me backtrack.

Both Sides Of The Brain came out in the year 2000. The following year, Deltron 3030 dropped, Gorillaz right behind. And with 3rd Eye Vision being out just prior, you can say Del'amania was running wild at the turn of the century. All this while being fully independent too, the Hiero crew among the first rap conglomerates to truly take advantage of a blossoming internet, exclusive content only available through their website. The CDs had better distribution than that, but with the advent of file-sharing, Del's newest material made its way across the globe to such a degree even his old label Elektra couldn't have imagined. Like, if they had, they wouldn't have dumped him so unceremoniously in the first place.

For those who were just discovering Del, Both Sides Of The Brain was about as perfect a summation to the chap's approach to hip-hop as they could hope for. Whether being known as among the best of the battle-rappers, or having one of the funniest outlooks on the ridiculousness of his surroundings, this album provides it all. I mean, the second track on here is If You Must, a tune literally about all the stinky people he's had to deal with, and super-catchy to boot. You'll never hear as many different ways of describing foul human odours as on this cut. Oh, and if you're down with the dorky side of Del, there's also Proto Culture, where he and Khoas Unique go on about classic video games. Handy way of getting a good word in for future Tony Hawk consideration.

If You Must aside, the first half mostly has Del spouting off about the rap industry while showing off his Jaw Gymnastics. On the other half, tracks like Style Police, BM's, and Soopa Feen have more fun with their topics. I almost want to put Skull & Crossbones in with that group, but Del seems deadly serious about the perils of drinking and driving on that one.

I could go on and on about all the stuff Del's rapping about, and rightfully so since he's a rap artist, but man, how can I ignore all these dope beats? There's so much going on here too, I could eat up a whole review's worth. Heck, Pet Peeves alone is over seven minutes long, with three totally different segments tying it together. Then you get production from Prince Paul, El-P (fresh off his seminal work with Company Flow), the usual assortment of in-house Hiero cats... All killer, no filler in this seventeen tracker, my friends.

Swollen Members - Balance

Battle Axe Records: 1999

I don't always look back on my time working a little music shop in the hinterlands of British Columbia in the best of lights (so bored, so little pay...), but I do appreciate it expanding my pre-Audio Galaxy music consumption. Ordering in all the electronic music I wanted was no small thing, and it wasn't long before my peers came to me with requests as well. This eventually drew the attention of connoisseurs of other genres, particularly underground hip-hop. For sure they helped me clue into Wu-Tang Clan and OutKast, but without these folks asking for acts like Hieroglyphics or Jurassic 5, where would my rap knowledge be? Not terribly good, I wager.

Swollen Members was another such unknown entity. I'm sure a number of my Canadian brethren are wondering, how can that be? For a time, the group helmed by Mad Child and Prevail was one of the biggest rap acts in the country, only ceding their time at the top when Drake came along as the New Canadian Hotness. This is true, but before their big break with the album Bad Dreams, they debuted with this record, Balance. And as the current Top Canadian Rap Act was then Rascalz, Swollen Members had to bide their time in the underground. For there can be only one Canadian Rap Act in the public eye at any given time. I honestly have no idea how or why this is so, I just know it to be so.

In any event, I doubt Swollen Members could have become an overnight sensation even if they wanted to. Their style was always heavy on themes of the occult, not exactly mainstream friendly, and rather fringe even back in the '90s. It honestly still boggles my mind that an act that had Mad Child rapping about witches and demons would go on to have any radio play, but then I suppose Rascalz weren't doing so hot, and Canada needed something to fill their One (1) Popular Rap Act quota. Balance generated more than enough buzz to get record execs looking.

For a young white dude with some dorky traits, hearing another white dude rap about dorky things while in the presence of dope-as-fuck rappers like Del Tha Funkee Homosapein, Everlast, and Dilated Peoples, producers like The Alchemist, plus scratch masters like Mix Master Mike and Kut Masta Kurt, you bet this was right up my alley! Not that this is some horrorcore schlock, Swollen Members sticking to most traditional 'backpacker' rap topics about how lyrically dope they are and all good stuff. They just use unconventional metaphors, is all, with moody, minimalist beats, pianos, guitars, strings, and chants to back them up. The only time this album gets 'fun' is on the Del cut Left Field, which sounds like a tune from one of his own albums, Swollen Members guesting.

And yet, despite quite liking Balance, I never followed this group after. Sadly, Canadian over-hype has a way of sullying a good thing.

Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded

B-Boy Records/Traffic Entertainment Group: 1987/2016

Can't be a hip-hop completist without having Boogie Down Productions in your collection. Not that I'm under any delusion I'm a completist - I'm in no hurry to add Biggie, Jay-Z, or Lil' Wayne to my rap shelf (far right, lower third). Just saying, if you want hip-hop heads taking you seriously, the group KRS-One built is required study material, this debut album from the BDP posse a Very Important rap album from the '80s. A remarkable feat, considering there's no Rick Rubin or Def Jam association with Criminal Minded. Can't escape the influence of an AC/DC sample in Dope Beat though. But hey, a ton of hip-hop culture cribbed from Boogie Down Productions after, so fair play.

Like gangsta' rap! Only, Criminal Minded isn't gangsta' rap at all, at least not in the way N.W.A. would define it. No doubt KRS-One gets into some gritty street tales, like resorting to gun violence to save his ass from home invaders in 9mm Goes Bang, or dealing with a crack whore in Remix For P Is Free. That's only two tracks out of ten though, hardly enough material to consider this album gangsta' rap through and through. Hell, such tracks aren't even playing up the 'gangsta' lifestyle, no more than Grandmaster Flash's The Message does (and it doesn't). It's that cover art, isn't it, KRS and DJ Scott La Rock all decked out in a small arsenal. Definitely a first of its kind, rappers showing off their guns and ammo rather than their sneakers and jewellery, though seems overplayed for the sake of marketing here. Gotta' draw attention from that crashed jet on License To Ill somehow.

Beyond all that though, Criminal Minded still has its feet within the realm of old-school hip-hop. The beats are simple boom-bap and quick-cut sampling (rock and James Brown, naturally), with Scott La Rock scratching between KRS-One's verses. Meanwhile, Mr. Parker goes off on a variety of topics, mostly showing off his lyrical prowess (Poetry, Word From Our Sponser, Elementary, Criminal Minded) while going after lesser MC – truly, the essence of vintage street battle-rap. In fact, this album was also among the first in bringing crew feuds into the spotlight, KRS-One singling out the Queens rapper MC Shan of the Juice Crew for being a style-biter and “sucker MC” compared to talents from the other Boroughs of New York City. South Bronx and The Bridge Is Over are often name-dropped as seminal classics of 'diss rap', and hearing them even this far out of context, I can't help but lean back and proclaim, “Daaa-yuum!”

And there's more! KRS-One switching between Jamaican toasting and his Bronx flow, properly bringing the two styles together. The tragic fact this was the only material we'd hear from Scott La Rock, murdered later that year. The album's underground status cemented due to years of being out of print from label mismanagement. Me finally knowing where Method Man got that 'super sperm' line from. It's all here! Completist material indeed.

Canibus - 2000 B.C. (Before Can-I-Bus)

Universal Music: 2000

For a very brief window, I was listening to every new hip-hop album that entered my little hinterlandian music shop. I didn't actually buy every new item, oh no; this one though, 2000 B.C. (Before Can-I-Bus). I didn't know who Canibus was, but he was dropping bars with an intensity that properly drew me into the artform: battle-rap. Dudes like Del and Deck, firing off fiery metaphors and similes with such complexity and ferocity, few could stand toe-to-toe in the arena. And now here's a guy who's entire deal is doing such a thing, a full album's worth of such bars (and some other nonsense).

Jamaican born, commanding the microphone must have been in Mr. Germaine Williams' blood from the start, making a name for himself throughout the underground freestyle circuit in New York City. It got him noticed by some Very Important Persons in the hip-hop community, including LL Cool J and Wyclef Jean, the latter even producing Canibus' debut album. That... didn't turn out as his fans expected, Wyclef trying to mould Canibus into a commercial star. The album sold well enough, mind you, but heads wanted the real battling 'Bus. Thus for his follow-up 2000 B.C., Canibus throws down as hard as everyone hoped he would.

The album opens with a heavy boom-bap beat while various former bars are stitched together, eventually erupting with a triumphant fanfare as Canibus declares it's The C-Quel. And if that doesn't get you fired up, then the titular cut damn sure well, all apocalyptic choirs as dude doesn't hold back on proclaiming his lyrical greatness (while throwing a couple barbs at Wyclef in the process). The rest of the album pretty much plays out like that, Canibus coming in with a solid Eastcoast beat, going off on how great he is in a myriad of creative ways. Sometimes he brings in other famed lyricists like Rakim, Killah Priest, Rass Kass, and Kurupt, other times he goes off for an unprecedented one-hundred bars (100 Bars). Gander at one of my favourite verses from Doomsday News, for obvious reasons: “If I had half as many bars in gold as I had in lyrics when I flowed; I'd be the richest man on the globe; Niggas wanna know is Canibus gold? That's a stupid-ass question motherfucker, is Canada cold? 'Bout a thousand degrees lower than liquid nitro is.”

I can't say it's all gold, though. Life Liquid has Canibus spitting over-the-top ultra-violence and homophobia to show how 'street hard' he is (Watch Who U Beef Wit's a far better grimdark street cut – message!). A few beef jabs are fine, but Canibus does overplay it with Die Slow and Phuk U. Odd having Pharoahe Monch featuring solo on a pure freestyle in Horsemen. And no matter how creative he does get, hearing Canibus constantly telling you how awesome he is does wear thin by album's end. Beyond those quibbles though, 2000 B.C.'s a dope record for folks who dig rap's true lyrical potential.

Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision

Hiero Imperium: 1998

Basically mandatory listening for anyone who figures themselves a 'true hip-hop head', though I wonder just how much weight such a proclamation carries in this day and age. Back in the '90s, the Hieroglyphics crew were one of the most respected underground collectives you could find. They were rappers who flirted with major labels, even found some minor success with them, but never compromised their integrity for that easy crossover money. They were thus dropped and forced them to go proper independent before they could release an actual debut with everyone involved.

3rd Eye Vision wasn't just the culmination of the years of hard work put in by Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Souls Of Mischief, Domino, and Pep Love, but a mission statement that underground hip-hop could succeed on its own terms, supported by hardcore fans, with no major label backing sullying your vision. You had to work to find this music, and would be rewarded with hip-hop of greater class than what was polluting the charts. Heck, I only came upon this as a special request order in the music shop I worked for in the Canadian hinterlands, though the dude who wanted it couldn't pay the $30 for it. Me though, I had no problem snagging that CD for myself, after which the guy was quite sore about, but yo', I gave him a month to come through. Shit's too dope to just sit on our shelves unloved.

Of course, finding such music is now easy-peasy, so claiming righteous 'backpacker' cred in owning 3rd Eye Vision's a moot point. And as hip-hop has morphed and changed in the two decades since this dropped, does there remain much interest and necessity for an underground classic sporting some of the best MCs out of Oakland riding mint beats and jazz-funk samples while taking to task a culture long since removed from dated gangsta' tropes? Oh, you know that answer is a 'yes'!

The posse anthems - You Never Knew, The Who, Off The Record - are as earwormy as anything you might have heard from other rap collectives, each Hiero member proving just how part and parcel they are to the whole. Not that each MC doesn't get their own chance to shine solo though, each member given an eponymous short tracks to spit some bars scattered throughout the album. Hell, Del kinda' gets two such tracks, At The Helm a classic Funkee Homosapien sounding-off cut that ranks up with any of his best work.

While the album does run a tad long at twenty-one tracks, you feel it's warranted with so many skilled lyricists on hand. Heck, they probably could have done the double-LP deed, but considering every hip-hop artist was bloating the scene with such efforts, keeping things at a tight, sharp regular LP length was best. Get in, prove your point, get out, and reap the rewards as the hip-hop community celebrates your triumphant statement that underground rap could flourish in the new millennium. At least until crunk ruined everything.

Czarface - A Fistful Of Peril

Silver Age: 2016

Faster than The Flash pulling a Lickity-Split, Czarface returned with a whole new album, on a whole new label, with a whole new promotional campaign targeting the comics industry. I doubt Deck, Eso’, and 7L had such a business partnership in mind when they created the throwback project, but one couldn’t ignore how much influence they were drawing from nerd culture. Likewise, geeks couldn’t help but get hype to an underground rap act celebrating their cherished institutions, and it wasn’t long before bootleg Czarface material hit the comic-cons. Well shit, son, if there’s a market for t-shirts, action figures, printed comics, and skateboards (!), y’all may as well get in on that gravy too. A Fistful Of Peril feels like it was released quickly not because Esoteric and Rebel INS were filled with tons of creativity they just had to get out, but to capitalize on all the positive buzz Czarface was generating with the nerds of America. Man, they really are influenced by the comics industry!

But this one isn’t as good as Every Hero Needs A Villain, if for no other reason than it’s a skint offering compared to the previous album. Inspectah Deck and Esoteric are dropping battle and brag rhymes with the same level of skill, though the punch-lines don’t hit quite as hard. Sometimes Deck is recycling stuff from old Wu joints like a comics penciler re-tracing famous poses - Revenge On Lizard City in particular apes Method Man’s Bring The Pain for a couple bars. That said, this bit of movie metaphor from Eso’ in the same track made me do the ol’ “DAAYY-YYUMM!” double-take:

“Stop your motion like Jason and the Argonauts
Ray Harry how I'm housing in the parking lot
Rap whiter, track writer, rap writer around your neck
I fuck up Superman like Zack Snyder on the set"

Music wise, A Fistful Of Peril also takes a step back, sparser in production, moodier in tone, and more reliant on straight-forward loops compared to the dynamic shifts displayed in Villain. A few tunes do come correct with the freestylin’ beats though (Dare Iz A Darkseid, Steranko, an extended turntable session in Sabers). And while my enjoyment of a rap record doesn’t hinge on the quality of guest verses, it cannot be denied there’s a major drop-off in that category too. Psycho Les, Blacastan, Conway, Mayhem Lauren, and Rast RFC handle themselves fine, but c’mon, they ain’t no GZA, MF Doom, Ghostface, Action Bronson, Method Man, Large Professor… you get the idea.

There’s still enough solid, straight-forward hip-hop in A Fistful Of Peril to enjoy, but I can’t see the Czarface project lasting long if it keeps falling back to boom-bap brags filled with geek culture references. Why not take things to the next level, go full nerdcore by adopting the Czarface persona completely, and telling a full-length narrative of his exploits in the process? Tell me that wouldn’t be dope as all hell. This project is practically preordained for it!

Czarface - Every Hero Needs A Villain

Brick Records: 2015

Less than two years after Czarface caught the attention of discerning underground heads, Inspectah Deck along with 7L & Esoteric returned to their comic-book inspired, anti-hero/posi-villain creation. And this time, “it’s personal.” No, wait, that doesn’t make sense. Maybe, “…and this time, they Czar harder!” Nope, that’s even less sense. Maybe “Not a hoax, not a dream – this album, Czar’s enemies DIE!” Look, most of my comics reading consists of Transformers. I dabbled in some Marvel stuff in my youth, and keep tabs on the industry for curiosity’s sake, but aping classic taglines? You’re better off consulting Linkara.

The chaps behind Czarface though, they know the scene they're taking influence from, filling their rhymes with all sorts of nods to nerd culture. You don’t need intimate knowledge of comics, wrestling, and sports (!) to enjoy these two MCs and one DJ doing their thing, but it certainly helps. The eight-minute long opus on this album, Escape From Czarkham Asylum, is loaded with them – heck, even the title alone is a nod. Deck spends a whole verse comparing the impact of his bars to that of rampaging kaiju, and Esoteric gets in similar lines too (“I’m 90 Yao Mings tall, I’m 50 Fat Joes wide”; “My footprint is bigger than Fenway Park”).

And holy cow, but the production on this track is nuts! So many change-ups throughout, running through funky licks, straight-up boom-bap, and a tight electro thing with Airplane warning pings (makes sense with all the flight metaphors in that verse). True, an eight-minute long rap track needs some diversity to keep it interesting all the way through, but this whole album’s filled with dope, diverse beats. If the debut was about this trio throwing some jams out for the fun of it, Every Hero Needs A Villain finds them taking things more seriously, showing not just the verbal synergy between Deck and Eso’ but the production talents of 7L too.

For sure the boom-bap dominates, as it plays best to the Rebel’s and Eso’s strengths as rappers. In fact, the two have remarkably similar flows, their regional accents about the only identifiable difference (bar construction too). Funky jams find more room here compared to Czarface, including tracks like Lumberjack Match, ladies come-on cut Nightcrawler with a guest spot from Method Man, and the punch-line heavy Junkyard Dogs with JuJu (oh my God, these lyrics! Dr. Octagon reference!). Elsewhere, the production gets experimental, When Gods Go Mad offering something more cinematic (GZA verse!), while Ka-Bang! goes grimy and minimalist, which suits guest rapper MF Doom’s style just fine. Ooh, now there’s a crossover issue made in heaven-hell: Czarface vs. MF Doom. Maybe Deltron Zero can make a cameo!

I don’t ask for much in my hip-hop. Some verbal dexterity, killer beats, and metaphors that don’t fly over my head like Greatest American Hero is plenty. Twice now, Czarface has delivered as a pair of ace spades. Will their third album serve up the triple? (note: never let me ghost-write lyrics)

Czarface - Czarface

Brick Records: 2013

Much as I’ve enjoyed Inspectah Deck’s rhymes in the past, it didn’t look like the album market would ever yield an all-time classic. Some dope moments scattered throughout, but nothing that compare to most of his Wu-Tang brethren. And it appears even Mr. Hunter had come to this conclusion too, 2010’s Manifesto his last proper album, and seemingly his final one as a solo artist. He may drop a mixtape here and there, but for the most part he seemed content moving on, supplying guest verses for Wu affiliates while working the touring circuit. It’s where the real money lies anyway, and there’s plenty back-catalog between his material and Wu-Tang hits that he could ride the rest of his career out that way.

Then I started hearing buzz about Czarface, sprung up practically overnight. Could it be true, a Rebel INS project that finally captured all the fiery MCing I loved from his early Wu verses, wrapped up in some nebulous nerdcore concept? No way it could be that dope, and true enough it wasn’t quite that, but definitely enough going on here that talk of “the old-school fire is back” and “career renaissance” have steadily built Czarface up as one of the hottest, throwback underground groups around. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention this is a partnership between Deck, Esoteric, and 7L? How remiss of me.

Truth be told, I don’t have much to say regarding the DJ and One MC combo of 7L & Esoteric, because I don’t know much about them at all. The names have floated on the periphery of my attention since their breakout at the turn of the century, always in association with underground hip-hop acts that commanded a little more mainstream attention (now isn’t that an oxymoronic sentence!). I didn’t dig further though, as I always got 7L confused with either the riot grrl punk band L7, or the R&B singer LV (aka: the sweaty guy from Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise). How I got a DJ mixed up as either, I haven’t a clue, though never actually taking in a 7L & Esoteric production certainly didn’t help matters. And I didn’t hear great buzz about them in all these years because the duo hails from Boston. Unless you’re a serious head, underground hip-hop hype from the Massachusetts capital won’t break through on my side of the continent. And I’m a Basic Casual at best.

Anyhow, Deck had collaborated with the duo before, and when they approached him with their idea of a vintage boom-bap rap album that’d play to both Rebel’s and Esoteric’s lyrical style, Mr. Hunter joined forces to form Czarface. Throw in guest spots from Ghostface, Action Bronson (plus others I don’t recognize), and a few productions from DJ Premier too, and you’ve got an instant underground hit. One that must have got the creative juices fired up something fierce, as two more LPs were released in short order. Which I got as well. Oh yes, Czarface will return soon, my friends.

Hieroglyphics - Over Time

Hiero Imperium: 2007

Speaking as a relative casual fan of the extended Hieroglyphics crew, Over Time was a welcome, nay needed reminder of why the Oakland hip-hop group deserved their underground praises. The honest truth is for all their accomplishments leading up to and through the turn of the millennium, their respective stars had sadly dimmed as the '00s carried on. Part of the problem can be attributed to changing trends within hip-hop as a whole, but a dearth of fresh, fiery material sparking interest in Del, Souls, and co. didn't help either. Yes, they were becoming victim of the ol' “falling off” narrative, a death knell within hip-hop if ever there was one.

Whether by accident or design, Over Time came out at almost as perfect a moment as any. It'd been half-a-decade since Full Circle had dropped and generally forgotten, and solo Hiero projects were growing few and far between, almost devoid of hype. A greatest hits collection would likely help keep their name out there, but this is a crew that knew its audience, underground heads who'd already have the best of their material – such a release would be hopelessly redundant. What of the rarities though? Only the most hardcore of the hardcore would have gathered all the available Hieroglyphics music, much of which had gone discontinued or become stupidly expensive on the collector's market. Why not offer the b-sides, remixes, and that as a treat to the casuals of their following, who joined the Oakland party late (*cough*)?

A sweet deal for fans then, but here’s where Over Time excels: it encapsulates the Hieroglyphics manifesto in such a complete way, I’ll argue this is required listening even if your knowledge of the crew only goes so far as Clint Eastwood. For one thing, some of their best songs are here, and though they’re in remixed form, tracks like You Never Know, Phoney Phranchise, and Soundscience remain great examples of the lyrical diversity the Hiero crew are known for. And speaking of remixes, Dan The Automator’s rub of Del’s ode to good hygiene If You Must (no, really!) is a hoot, including a child’s jingle about how you shouldn’t worry about getting sucked down a bathtub drain.

Since Del was the busiest body during the ten year period this collection gathers material from, nearly half the tunes are his. He’s often tagged up with fellow Hiero mates though, like Tajai in the thumping Masterminds, or A-Plus in the chill Battle Of The Shadow. One of the more interesting of his cuts is Cyberpunks, a harrowing ‘nerdcore’ cut that predates his Deltron 3030 work that appeared on a relatively forgotten compilation from Strength Magazine (never heard of the rag); Pep Love’s battle-rap outing Prose Officially also appeared on that CD.

In a nutshell, Over Time has the one thing RapReviews.com writer Steve ‘Flash’ Juan claimed Full Circle lacked: dopeness. While I won’t call this disc a definitive collection of the Hieroglyphics crew, it’s a strong summation of their unique strengths.

Del! The Funky Homosapien - No Need For Alarm

Elektra: 1993

While I've no doubt Del's ire against “wack MC's” was primarily directed toward those on his side of the pond, it sure is funny hearing him spouting off on lyrical lameness after I indulged a stretch of euro-dance raps. I can only imagine what the Funkee Homosapien would have thought if the likes of 2 Unlimited and Maxx had as much influence in America as they did in Europe, and how viciously he'd go for them if he cared to. Just as well Del focused his attention on his immediate competition in the hip-hop game, the silliness of euro hardly worthy of his wrath.

As for what got him so pissed off in the first place, I honestly don't know. Long-gone is the laid-back, funkadelic, 'lighter side of life' vibes that made up his debut album (Wrong Place notwithstanding). Perhaps one too many R&B chart-toppers finally broke his backpack, or maybe hip-hop’s growing dependence on gangsta tropes to shift units left him jaded with the art. Why should he have to spit about material he had no real experience with, nor wanted to fabricate to appease label heads? The core of rapping was about proving who could command a microphone and hold an audience’s attention with your lyrical skills. By 1993, too much of it had devolved into style over substance, flashy stage presence over verbal dexterity, and slick video mugging over direct connection to the kids in the streets. Fuck that noise, says Del - he just wasn’t gonna’ take it anymore.

No Need For Alarm has him removing the gloves, taking the entire hip-hop scene to task with an endless barrage of battle-raps. The opening salvo of tracks - You’re In Shambles, Catch A Bad One, Wack M.C.’s, and No Need For Alarm - became classics of the burgeoning ‘backpack rap’ scene, where lyrics cutting down hip-hop’s lamest, clichéd tendencies are the norm. This still being a young Del, however, he can’t help himself falling into some of the violent metaphors much of gangsta rap was littered with at the time. Catch A Bad One is filled with tons of aggressive imagery (to say nothing about “ripping heads off” of stuck-up girls in Boo Booheads!). He obviously wouldn’t literally do these things, but it’s a rather shocking side of Del he left behind long ago, unparalleled wordplay now his preferred weapon of choice.

Completing the ‘strictly underground’ vibe of this album is the bare-bones production, including jazz samples of wobbly cellos, out-of-tune horns, and muddy-as-shit rhythms. When your showcase is Del lyrically riding whatever beat you throw at him, you don’t want glossy nonsense getting in the way. Not exactly a strong selling point for, then, if Deltron 3030’s more your thing. Honestly though, No Need For Alarm serves best as a time-capsule, where Del not only stepped out from the shadows of a bloating hip-hop scene, but became a champion of heads hungry for underground, lyrical warriors mercilessly decimating false idols. He’d only get better from here.

Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP

Interscope Records: 2000

I admit I've yet to check out The Marshall Mathers LP 2. Yes, I know it's been heralded as a proper-proper return to form for Eminem (no, for realsies this time!). To be honest though, it's hard to get excited about anything Eminem's done for over a decade now, as I gave up on his shtick around the D12 debut, not even bothering with The Eminem Show (“nobody listens to techno”? Lamest. Diss. Ever.).

For all the verbal dexterity lil' Slim's given us over the years, I suspected early he's only as good as he's got something poignant to prove. Slim Shady LP was about making his mark, Marshall Mathers LP's about dealing with his successful aftermath and not coming off as a novelty (hey, look at the good white rapper!). The Eminem Show though, what's left to prove? Sure, he can still come up with decent songs filled with sly wit, but it's a treading album. If I want to hear more of Em' dealing with fame, issues, and shit, I'll just throw on MMLP again, thanks. It's got better songs. After that... well, I jumped ship early, and turns out my assumptions about Eminem's drive as an artist weren't far off. Still, if the buzz surrounding MMLP2 is true, it would indeed appear that he's hungry in all the right ways again.

But enough of that. What is it about MMLP that’s held in such high esteem more than a decade on? Part of it truly was the growth in maturity as an artist Em’ showed us. Few rappers got as big as Mr. Mathers did in such a rapid amount of time, if ever. Lesser MCs often take their newfound fame as a chance to endlessly brag, but Em’ gives us a remarkably humble inside look into the pitfalls of such notoriety. Whether detailing over-obsessive fandom (Stan, The Real Slim Shady, Who Knew) or the societal conditions that could create an icon such as Slim Shady (The Way I Am, Marshall Mathers, Bitch Please II, Criminal), he illuminates American problems along with the shock stories and battle raps. Yep, he proved he could do conscious hip-hop!

It also helped he had Dr. Dre on hand while the good doc’ was still on fire after Chronic 2001’s success, giving us strong beats aplenty with few duds. One of the few non-Dre highlights is the megahit Stan, whom introduced Dido to the US (eh, I already knew her through Faithless), and convinced housewives all over to buy this album. Imagine their surprise at how the rest of the album went, including the brutal endurance test that is Kim at the other end. Em’ also produced the fiery The Way I Am, proving his capabilities behind the boards as well with pen and paper.

This used to be the only Eminem album you were supposed to have, even if you weren’t an Eminem fan. Guess I’ll have to check out MMLP2 now to confirm that. Things I do for accuracy.

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Golden Era

The Council: 2011

Oh man, I'm dodging a bullet on this one. Golden Era is a three-disc album, but two of these CDs are previously released 'net-albums, including Funk Man, which I already covered. And really, the differences between Golden Era Prime and Automatik Statik are minimal, so I may as well treat these remaining two as one. Besides, who even knew Del had released another online album? Lord Discogs draws blank on it, and even RapReviews.com’s got nothing, so I suspect whether Automatik Statik even did get any kind of proper release beyond, say, Soundcloud or Hiero Imperium email. Someone was clued in, though, an enigmatic label called The Council, who not only finally gave Funk Man and Automatik Statik proper hard-copies, but yet another disc of fresh material, from which entails Golden Era Main.

This has been quite a run for Del, three albums' worth of material released in such a small frame of time. It's almost on par with his turn-of-the-century peak years in terms of productivity, but then he had a pile of different projects pushing him forward (solo, Hieroglyphics, Deltron... you know the drill). He doesn't have quite so much on the go now, but someone must have informed him the best way to stay creatively sharp is to keep producing, keep rapping, keep writing. And so he has.

While this does benefit Golden Era to some degree, it also comes with weaknesses. Lyrically, Del’s as sharp as ever, wordplay and stylistic enunciation on par with any prior work. Content wise, however, he isn’t saying much that we haven’t heard before. He’s the illest mofo in the rap game, check. He still cannot stand them wack MCs, damn skippy. He’s a funky homosapien, of course. Del’s lyricism’s always enjoyable, but more variety in theme is needed to elevate Golden Era beyond nodding “yeah, it’s dope” assessments. At least Funk Man had some minor running theme tying it all together, redundant though it eventually got. It almost seems blasphemous to think it, considering how much they often ruined many a hip-hop album, but maybe a few skits, interludes, or monologs would help break up the monotony of Del going on about his impeccable rapping skills track after track.

Meanwhile, on the production front, things have improved from Funk Man. Apparently Del’s still behind the boards on everything (there are no producer liner notes, even on the hard copies), and he comes up with plenty of memorable, funky loops (ooh, love that nod to classic Public Enemy on Raw!). Mostly though, the beats are there to serve his rapping, so don’t go expecting fancy flourishes beyond what he’s spittin’.

That about sums up Golden Era. It’s a showcase of Del doing what he does best, over the course of three CDs. You probably wouldn’t want to listen to the whole thing in one sitting, although they aren’t terribly long discs (Golden Era Alpha’s less than forty minutes long!), so you can breeze through ‘em on a nice summer day.

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Funk Man (The Stimulus Package)

self-released:2009

While folks have been waiting for a new Deltron forever now (a… torturous… wait…), in the long meanwhile, ol’ Del kept himself busy, mostly concentrating on solo material over the past decade. I kind of ragged on him with that Hieroglyphics album, but following a little downtime after it, he seemed to find his form again, if not repeat the brilliant creativity that marked his turn-of-the-century output (not sure anyone could though). In 2008, he finally released a proper follow-up to his 2000 album Both Sides Of The Brain, Eleventh Hour, a relatively light-hearted romp that recalled many of Del's sillier moments on prior releases. As it didn't really show signs of musical growth, it was a small disappointment for folks hoping he'd come back with more fire. Still, they couldn't argue Del had lost his touch, as that album delivered exactly what you'd expect from a Funkee Homosapien full-length.

This Funk Man album was a quick follow-up to Eleventh Hour, a sort of yang to that one's yin. Whereas the former showed off Del's playful side, this one's a showcase of his battle-rap skills, a field he's just as adept at as his off-kilter material. If you've been hankering for a return to his pissed-off No Need For Alarm era, this is about as close as it's come. To be fair, Del ain't sayin' nothing we haven't heard from 'underground conscious' rappers for years now, but he does it in such a flamboyant, cutting style that you can't help but sit up and take notice.

As the title suggests, Funk Man has a running theme of Tha Funkee Homosapien being the funkiest character around, going so far as to use the unfortunate “I'm stank, so I'm dope” trope …or something. Frankly, a track titled I'm Smellin' Myself should bomb, especially so when the lyrics contained are about as eyebrow rising as you'd suspect. Somehow though, Del pulls it off, but only just, my friends, only just.

Lyricism was never going to be a weak spot on a Del album anyway, but unfortunately the beats aren't quite up to snuff as prior albums. As everything's self-produced, the music tends to run through serviceable loops, mostly funky beats and the like. Del's an alright producer, but when he's had the likes of George Clinton, Prince Paul, and Dan The Automator providing the tunes, Funk Man can't help but come off a weaker offering in Del's discography.

So if that's the case, why should anyone but devout fans even bother with Funk Man? Well, how's about it being a free download sound to tempt you? Yep, there was no official release with this one, though it was added as a bonus disc to the 2011 album Golden Era. While I wouldn't recommend Funk Man as a starting point for Del's work, there's no reason to not check it out if you're at least a passing fan. Or if you need a Funkee Homosapien fix while waiting for the next Deltron album.