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ALBUM REVIEW 01-11-13
Hip hop is easily the most creative and most expressive subculture
today. No other music since b-bop has
provided artists the ability to explore an infinite number of sounds and
themes. But, if your choice of ‘hip hop’
is limited to Rick Ross, Nikki Minaj, 2 Chainz and Wiz Khalifa, you wouldn’t
know that. This ‘pop hop’ is extremely
narrow in musical production and lyrical content and delivery. However, if you defy the corporate rap
industry juggernaut and listen to true artistry and crave real emceeing, then
you know that the music of hip hop is among the most important being produced
in the world today. If you forgot or
don’t know about the importance of hip hop worldwide, its true artistry or its
potential to be the soundtrack to a global movement, then Krazy Race’s The International Project is here to
remind you. And even more importantly,
this music bangs. Krazy Race and guest
emcees spit fire and deliver one heater after another. This cd is too important to miss. Everyone needs to pick it up. I especially encourage pop hop corporate rap
stars to buy several copies and learn about true hip hop from the street.
Krazy Race’s label, Realizm Rekords, dropped the 25-track
compact disc (enough for a double cd or two-volume set) in late 2012 just in
time to celebrate the coming of the Sixth Sun and the new world it promises to
bring. The cd signals what might be
coming in the next age as the veteran Los Angeles underground emcee teams up
with an international cast of producers.
The producers of The International
Project come from 16 different countries including Spain, Japan, Latvia,
Mexico, Slovakia, India, and Colombia.
Krazy Race also teams up with a number of different emcees from across
the country who deliver gems on their guest verses.
A large number of producers, emcees, singers and/or guest
musicians involved in a project often creates an incoherent product that is
‘all over the place’ in terms of its sound, style and themes. However, Krazy Race’s strength as an emcee
and executive producer who knows how to bring a project from start to finish
holds this cd together. The tracks that
he chose to rhyme to have commonalities that reflect the themes he examines in
his lyrics. Krazy Race develops three
main lyrical themes: aggression and bravado; relationships; and politics, power
and resistance. He does this through
great storytelling and extended metaphors.
The compact disc is always serious with musical production that relies
on eerie, synthesizer-heavy music over bass drums.
Many songs elicit a sense of danger through the use of
European classical music that might serve as the soundtrack to movie thrillers. The producers incorporate operatic and
symphonic sounds throughout to increase the sense of danger and elicit an emotional
response. The musical production on
this cd is exploding with creativity.
This is not the same ol thing that is being played on the radio
today.
Highlights from the cd include the following:
--Besides Krazy Race’s intelligent and mature lyrics and
great storytelling, producer, elespecialista from Spain provides the best
moments of the cd. He produced seven
tracks. Track four, “Beats, Bars and
Spit,” is a street hop anthem. It shows
off Krazy Race’s flow and rhyme skills.
He defines hip hop and his place in it as a West Coast, specifically,
Los Angeles emcee. In addition to K.R.’s
verse, Pawz One and Destruct add fiery guest spots. InDJnous adds perfectly executed scratches. Elespecialista also produced “Murder
Fest.” I-Man adds a hard-spit, fast rhyme
to the hard-driving beat. On “Guns,
Bullets, and Kevlar” he does it again.
He puts together hard-driving drums with a mesmerizing piano melody that
is perfect for Krazy Race and Sporty Loco’s song about a major armed robbery of
“one of the biggest landmarks in LA.”
They tell a detailed story about how “Mr. Candelaria” puts a team of
specialists together to pull off a heist including a shootout with over 50
police officers. This is classic hip hop
storytelling. On “Reflections”
elespecialista uses a haunting piano melody to set the tone for the dark
message of self-reflection with a special emphasis on pain and danger. Vic Garcia adds a throaty, screaming vocal
performance. His brilliant work
illustrates a fusion between the rebel cultures of hip hop and metal. “The Journey” joins Krazy Race and Ricasshay
and amazing drum tracks from elespecialista.
The beautifully sung chorus delivers the interesting idea that “there’s
a place in the sun for anyone who has the will to chase one.”
--Track 6, “L.L.U.H.H.,” is another anthem song in which
Krazy Race and guests Godilla and Lil Race pay homage to underground hip
hop. Once again Krazy Race takes a stand
as an independent/underground, non-corporate emcee. His hip hop comes organically from the streets
of L.A. not from the offices of record executives.
--“Gladiators” features a raw Spanish language verse from
Abusivo. MCM from Slovakia sets the
tone with the use of synthesized violin sounds.
On this track Krazy Race details
a battle in which he “bows down to no one.”
It’s a track about triumph over difficult odds.
-- French producer, XFA7 uses church bells, gongs, record
scratches and high-whiny synthesizer melodies and sounds to develop a sense of
urgency and excitement on the fast-paced, “Black Out.” The emcees including guests I-Suppose and
Mesidge speak about battle and warfare.
--“You Never Know” is a song of the arrival of death from
many angles. It is supported by another
mesmerizing piano melody; this time producer Weirdo from Italy is responsible
for the great music.
--The synthesized, operatic singing is a highlight of the
song, “Chemtrails.” Krazy Race explains
at the end of the song that the haunting singing is Mother Earth crying out due
to the pain she is suffering from corporate and political greed. The song is about the mysterious white trails
that we often see in our skies. These
chemical trails are believed to be highly toxic. Krazy Race provides a number of important facts
and ideas related to these chemtrails and other environmental problems
including accusing the most powerful agricultural corporation in the world,
Monsanto, of being a drug dealer. Audio
clips of experts on chemtrails at the close of the song confirm Krazy Race’s
analysis.
--Krazy Race tells another great story on “Love Gone
Wrong.” This time the story is about
betrayal by a lover. A highlight is
Nancy Ocampo’s beautifully sung chorus.
--Children’s humming emphasizes the heartful nature of “From
the Heart.” Krazy Race offers us a
spiritual with this song of gratitude and prayer for a better world. Diamonique adds a layer of complexity to this
introspective song.
--Skinny Beats from Japan uses a rock guitar solo and
dRumRap from All Else Fails plays LIVE drums to form the unique musical foundation
on “Master of Ceremonies ” for Krazy Race to rhyme over.
--Gremlin, Top Dime and Mexicali team up with Krazy Race to
tell a great story of a gang of Western desperados on “Desperado.” Queen of the mic, Top Dime, spits a great
multilingual, mostly spanglish verse.
This song and “Guns, Bullets, and Kevlar” are as vivid examples of
storytelling as the best action movies from Hollywood. And
they bang!
You will want to listen to this cd over and over again. There is so much going on from complex and
unique musical production to great metaphors and stories that you will want to
continuously “rewind” songs. The cd is not only enjoyable; it is
important. This is the type of music
true hip hop headz are looking for. It
is only the independent and underground who are providing us with the musical
sustenance that headz and hip hop require in order to survive.
Review by: Pancho
McFarland
Associate Professor of Sociology at Chicago State
University
Author
of Chicano
Rap: Gender and Violence in the Postindustrial Barrio (University
of Texas Press, 2008) & The Chican@ Hip Hop Nation: Politics of a
New Millennial Mestizaje Coming Soon (Michigan
State