Dr. Lecter-Action Bronson

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a little late to the Action Bronson bandwagon. In fact, the first time I heard him was on Legendary Weapons a couple weeks ago, and I have yet to check out his mixtape or other album. The review that follows is simply my thoughts on him from this album alone, free of external bias. Which is probably the right way to write a review anyway.
The first thing everybody says when Bronson's name is brought up is: Oh, he's that Ghostface biter. Which brings up the subtle question, What is the difference between biting and homage? Elzhi very clearly and deliberately changed his rhyme schemes to fit Nas's when he recorded Elmatic (play The Breakfast Club and Elmatic back to back if you don't believe me), but this wasn't seen as biting because the album was a deliberate homage. On the flip side, one of the largest arguments against Jay-Z's place as a great rapper is the allegations that he bit many lines from Biggie and others (Cam'ron's epic diss "Swagga Jacka" is a must-hear). These lines may be defended as homage, but the fact that Jay often just uses them without adding additional interpretation is troubling.
I'd place Action Bronson somewhere in the middle, equivalent to the place Eminem found himself in 1996, when critics accused him of sounding like AZ. On the one hand, Bronson's voice, flow, and rhyme scheme sound eerily like Ghost's; on the other, it's clear that, although he's flattered by the comparisons, these similarities are unintentional. Unlike both Elzhi or Sean Carter, he doesn't repeat lines; what he spits is fully of his own unique creation. In my humble opinion, the coincidence can only help him going forward; Ghostface's myriad fans may soon become Bronson's as well. Additionally, his voice and rhyme scheme are odd in comparison to most other rappers, so the fact that there's been an artist with the same stylings whose gained mainstream success might open the door for Bronson a little more. But enough with the hypotheticals; let's talk about the music.
The production on the title track 'Moonstruck' is handled by the previously-unknown Tommy as, who also produces the rest of the album, and it's very clear from the get-go that his stylings match Bronson's flow perfectly. A simple jazz-synth loop with one of my favorite hooks of the year manage to produce a sound that is grimy, dark, and just a little Wu (That may hurt the case against Ghostface comparisons, although the most Wu-esque album by a non-Wu member has to go to General Monks' Each Step Becomes Elevated). The rest of the album's beats are just as dope, and perhaps Mas's crowning achievement is that Bronson's voice is never overpowered nor overpowering; he keeps the beat interesting yet simple enough to highlight the emcee over it.
Bronson keeps up his end of the deal, too. On my first couple listens I didn't pay much, if any, attention to subject matter, but still found myself remarking over the number of food references. By talking about something close to home, Action Bronson makes his lyrics unique and personal, yet the constant, seemingly nonsensical allusions ("Crack the pepper over thin crust that's handmade") call to mind, you guessed it, Ghostface. Still, from a technical aspect his rapping is top-notch, and he maintains that standard over the entire album.
The only place I can criticize Dr. Lecter is in its terrible features. It's for good reason you've never heard of Meyhem Lauren and Shaz Illyork; they're boring, predictable mediocre rappers who have no business being on tracks with Bronson or Mas. Still, the eleven solo tracks are among the most enjoyable on the year, and this album falls squarely into my Top 10 of 2011.
Rating: 9/10
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By Crakpot
http://crakpothiphop.blogspot.com/

Vakill-Armor of God

It's been a long time -- I shouldn't have left you... without a fly rec to step to. (I see you're hyper as a heart attack -- nobody's smiling). But I've been sifting through some decidedly meh albums (Moruf's Garden State of Mind, to name one) looking for a juicy review that just wouldn't come. So I decided: You know what? Fuck it. I'll review the next album I download. And when crunch time came, and the all-important decision of whether to DL Armor of God or Legendary Weapons first came up, the coin flip decided against the latter. And here we are.
But as I am cursed with an awful roundabout writing style, this review will be about more than Vakill's latest work; I am attempting to tackle the whole question of why people dislike mainstream hip hop. And while this is a question that many writers more knowledgeable than I have failed in tackling, I hope that if I can't hit the nail on the head, I can at least drive it a little further into the wood. Let's roll.
We all know that mainstream taste is fickle. (Any doubters can simply look at the artists we knew were bound for success in 2008; XXL Freshmen that year included Mickey Factz and Ace Hood.) In seemingly an instant, public opinion can shift between wanting soft ballads to wanting club hits and back again. So then it would make sense that the artists best primed for success could change with the tide; taking a look at Drake's hits, we see romantic ballad ('Best I Ever Had'), posse cut ('Forever') and club banger ('Fancy'). But remove yourself from the mainstream circle and suddenly no one likes Drake anymore. Why?
The answer to that question is that fans of underground hip hop are far less fickle, and more likely to support an artist who does not change his style. The best example of this rift can be found in the hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil. On tracks like 'Renegade' and 'Bad Meets Evil', Eminem and Royce exchanged over-the-top, faux-sadistic punchlines and appeared to be entirely in sync. Then, off of the success of The Slim Shady LP, Eminem blossomed into a superstar and his buddy Royce was left in the dust. Eminem went through all sorts of phases: The hyper-emotional train wreck of The Marshall Mathers LP, the winking-at-inappropriate-without-crossing-boundaries pop star of The Eminem Show, and the hopped-up-on-NyQuil hospital patient of Relapse. Royce, on the other hand, basically stayed the same. Through Death Is Certain, Street Hop, and the Slaughterhouse albums, he's basically remained the same battling punchline rapper of 1998. And while Eminem has been a megastar in the mainstream spotlight, he's largely hated in the underground community; Royce da 5'9" is pretty much universally respected by hip hop heads.
So where is this going, and how does this connect to Vakill? Why have I wasted 4 paragraphs without so much as a lick of useful information? Be patient, padawan. The answer to those rhetorical questions is on the way.
I guess my point is one I have made before, in the context of Lil B's album: Good music comes from truth. Which is why I'll always enjoy Styles P, Fat Joe, early 50 Cent, and yes, Waka Flocka Flame more than artists like Drake or Wale. The former have found a niche that works for them and can consistently make music that sounds truthful; the latter insist on trying to switch up their styles in an attempt to please everyone (being hood yet conscious) and end up sounding corny and fake.
Okay, point made. How does this relate to Armor of God? I thought you'd never ask. The reason I'm telling you all this is because Vakill on here seems like the perfect embodiment of that "I can't do everything, so I might as well stick to what I know" kind of attitude, which makes the album amazing. Here's some bars from the title track which sum up the point I've been trying to make in the last several paragraphs:

Give a fuck if fans okayed it; all I got is my balls and my word
If the streets hold me to my word, we already know where your hands located
Your fears confirming my thesis
The time fabrics in permanent creases
Pressing the luck you weigh, when bucks spray, you lay
Uckfay ouyay, want some positive shit? Motherfucker play Lupe

Armor Of God is wicked cohesive in that aspect; the songs are for the most part either street ballads, or punchline-heavy battle raps, or both. The only places where 'kill falters are when he tries to take things above and beyond, on the passable political effort 'A Lynched Legacy' and the groan-inducing force that is 'Bi-Polar.' Still, those don't come until the very end, so for 13 songs Vakill is his usual hustling self. Which, given his old-school skills and ear for dope lines (“An animal, on his corporate grizzy, spit divine as Corpus Christi, flowing hellfire until your corpse is crispy"), is more than enough, especially considering the production. You know what? (What?) The production deserves its own paragraph.
Panik, who produced 8 of the 16 tracks on here, is simply out of this world, crafting beats that are multi-layered without being flashy or overpowering, and allow Vakill to perfectly display his lyrical talent. In fact, I'll even go so far as to name his production the best beats of the year; I really need to check out the Molemen's solo joints. Maybe I'll check out Ritual Of The... (featuring Aesop Rock, Slug, and MF DOOM), and then, I don't know, write a review or something.
Final Rating: 9/10
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By Crakpot
http://crakpothiphop.blogspot.com/

Grieves-Together/Apart

Grieves - Together/Apart
Most of the time, the first thing I notice about a rapper is their rhyme scheme. I'd even go so far as to say that it is the single most important thing about lyricism, and those artists that do go above and beyond in that aspect (MF DOOM, Tonedeff, Sadistik, Gift of Gab, Earl, Big Pun, etc.) make up almost all of my GOAT list. However, there are some artists that can get away with a shoddy rhyme scheme on the grounds of strong storytelling and emotion. And I'm happy to say Grieves fits right in with this category.
Many people are quick to label Grieves as emo-rap, but I, a proud resistor of labels, prefer to group him into whatever category you'd stick late-Atmosphere into. Indeed, at his best, Grieves sounds a lot like Slug in that he's more interested in putting together concepts and stories than having consistent rhyme patterns. Something he also does very well is something I'd previously only seen Tonedeff accomplish; he basically sticks several metaphors end-to-end and runs through them to produce a larger theme.
Really, my only complaint about Grieves here is that sometimes he tries to bring his production to the forefront, instead of letting it slip into the background where it belongs. Still, most of the time it fits his style of writing beautifully, although I would love to see him team up with Ant or Kid Called Computer to see what they could do.
In conclusion, you should go out and buy/download/steal this album as soon as possible, especially if you're a fan of The Family Sign. It's a strong contender for album of the year, and a more-than-worthy successor to 88 Keys.
Final Rating: 9.5/10
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By Crakpot
http://crakpothiphop.blogspot.com/