Thirdmango's Quannum Project

[Thirdmango]

This is inspired by EWO's WuTang thread. Also I'm doing part of this for a music class as well but I'm sure this thread will last longer then the class I'm in as I get into some of the more abstract stuff. All of the songs will be in spoiler text so as not to clutter up the bandwidth of this thread.

I remember the day I first really discovered Hip Hop. I had been into music for years and had listened to rap in the 90s but for the most part it was never really my scene. But then in 2000, I had gone over to a friend's house and his TV was on MTV2, and they were playing the new song Quality Control by a rap group called Jurassic 5.

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For the first time I heard lyrics which seemed to flow in ways I had never heard them do before. There was an intelligence to the way they spoke and what was even more interesting was they had some DJs behind them putting down some interesting beats. I quickly went out and bought their album and from there I got into different facets of the underground hip hop scene. The person from that group that I followed the most was one of the DJ's Cut Chemist. The way he would spin those turntables was something magical to me.

Around 2007 I was looking for more good hip hop acts, Jurassic 5 had put out their final album Feedback and it wasn't as magical as Quality Control and Power in Numbers was. Shortly after that they broke up and I thought I would follow Chali 2na but his solo stuff really lacked the backing quality that a entertaining DJ could give him. The other members didn't seem to want to take a stab at a solo career and so at that point I thought Hip Hop wouldn't be able to grab me in the same way ever again.

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That all changed when I discovered Lyrics Born. I was looking for tracks that Cut Chemist had been on and I found this track with Cut Chemist and Lyrics Born together:

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The third verse is really what did it for me, though it is basically gibberish, it's done so fast and precise with a smoothness to it that I was looking for. I quickly went out and picked up his album and from there I found a whole new rap collective that had some amazing things for me to listen to.

That collective is known as the Quannum MCs. They started as a couple of rappers doing music together and it's turned into a full independent record label of people associated with the original members of Quannum. They have become my favorite rap collective and so I'm going to be doing a project where I'll go through and listen to each album associated with the group, rate them and put out my favorite tracks for you to listen to as well. The original 5 members of the Quannum MCs are:

Lyrics Born
Lateef the Truthspeaker
Chief Xcel
Gift of Gab
DJ Shadow

Since then they've added such acts as:

Apsci
Curumin
General Elektriks
Tommy Guerrero
Honeycut
Lifesavas
Piece of Peace
Pigeon John
Poets of Rhythm
Joyo Velarde

There is a lot of ground to cover and I don't as of yet own every album by each of these artists but I am pretty close.

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Discography: If the entry is bolded I do not as of yet own the album.


Blackalicious:

Melodica (EP, 1994)
A2G (EP, 1999)
Nia (LP, 1999)
Blazing Arrow (LP, 2002)
The Craft (LP, 2005)

Latyrx:

The Album (LP, 1997)
The Muzapper Mixes EP (EP, 1997)
Disconnection (EP, 2012)
The Second Album (LP, 2013)

Lyrics Born:

Later That Day (LP, 2003)
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season One (Mixtape, 2005)
Same !@#$ Different Day (LP, 2005)
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Two (Mixtape, 2006)
Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born Live (Live, 2006)
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Three (Mixtape, 2008)
Everywhere at Once (LP, 2008)
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Pho (Mixtape, 2009)
As U Were (LP, 2010)
Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Five On The Floor (Mixtape, 2012)
As U Were Remixes (Mixtape, 2012)

Lateef:

Firewire (LP, 2011)
Ahead of the Curve (Mixtape, 2007)
Truth Is Love (Mixtape, 2009)
Truth at Sea (Mixtape, 2011)

Lateef and The Chief:

Maroons: Ambush (LP, 2004)

Gift of Gab:

4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up (LP, 2004)
Droppin' Science Fiction (LP, 2008)
Escape 2 Mars (LP, 2009)
The Next Logical Progression (LP, 2012)
The Prelude (EP, 2007)
Supreme Lyricism (Mixtape, 2006)

Quannum:

Quannum Spectrum (1999)

Pigeon John:

Pigeon John Is Clueless (EP, 2001)
Pigeon John Is Dating Your Sister (LP, 2003)
Pigeon John Featuring Pigeon John (Mixtape, 2004)
Pigeon John Sings the Blues (LP, 2005)
Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party (LP, 2006)
Pigeon John Featuring Pigeon John 2 (Mixtape, 2007)
Dragon Slayer (LP, 2010)

General Elektriks:

Cliquety Kliqk (LP, 2003)
Good City for Dreamers (LP, 2009)
Parker Street (LP, 2011)

Honeycut:

The Day I Turned To Glass (LP, 2006)
Comedians (LP, 2012)

Lifesavas:

Spirit in Stone (LP, 2003)
Gutterfly (LP, 2007)

Apsci:

Get It Twisted (LP, 2003)
Thanks for Asking (LP, 2005)
Best Crisis Ever (LP, 2009)

Curumin:

Perro (LP, 2005)
Achados e Perdidos (LP, 2005)
Japan Pop Show (LP, 2008)
Arrocha (LP, 2012)

Tommy Guerrero:

Loose Grooves & Bastard Blues (LP, 1998)
A Little Bit Of Somethin' (LP, 2000)
Soul Food Taqueria (LP, 2003)
From The Soil To The Soul (LP, 2006)
Return of the Bastard (LP, 2008)
Lifeboats & Follies (LP, 2011)
No Man's Land (LP, 2012)
backintheDay+fotraque 7inch (EP, 2002)
Year of the Monkey - EP (EP, 2005)

Joyo Velarde:

Love and Understanding (LP, 2010)

DJ Shadow:

Endtroducing..... (LP, 1996)
Preemptive Strike (LP, 1998)
The Private Press (EP, 2002)
The Outsider (LP, 2006)
The Less You Know, the Better (LP, 2011)
Total Breakdown: Hidden Transmissions From MPC Era 1992-1996 (LP, 2012)

[Thirdmango]

Latyrx -- The Album (1997)

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In 1997 Lyrics Born and Lateef put out the album, a collection of some of the stuff which had been making them sorta famous the year before and some new stuff made exclusively for the album. The most famous song off the album and one of the coolest songs I've ever heard is the first song entitled Latyrx. What's so cool about this track is that both Lyrics Born and Lateef put down tracks and DJ Shadow came in and wove those two tracks together in a really cool duel of raps going on at the same time. The whole song is incredibly complex through out and it shows what amazing talent these guys have right at the beginning of their career. If the double thing starts to make your head hurt, don't worry it's only during the first verse.

Song: Latyrx

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My personal favorite part of that song is the second verse when Lateef takes over and he says:

"while you're caught up, thinking rap is just sex, sex, sex, and more flesh, flesh, flesh, robbing the soul of it's precious sensuousness."

That part gets to me every time.

My other favorite song on this album is Burnt Pride, mostly I just love it because it's basically just six minutes of Lyrics Born going absolutely nuts. It's like the choruses where he still says stuff is his time to relax and calm down before he goes into another verse where he goes crazy again.

Song: Burnt Pride

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Overall I do really like the album but one of my biggest complaints are when albums have things like someone talking on a answering machine for an entire track. The other trouble with this album is that some of the songs when they're done the beat goes on for an extra 20 seconds or so, just the kind of thing where they could shave off a couple seconds. This album is very raw, it's not as polished as some of the later albums. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, but that for me I tend to skip some of the repetitive beats after when I feel the song is actually done.

Fantastic album -- 3.5 out of 4 stars

[EyesWideOpen]

I know pretty much nothing about the Quannum crew so I'm looking forward to this.

[Thirdmango]

Blackalicious -- Nia (1999)

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Blackalicious comes around with their first full album "Nia" in 1999. Blackalicious is a mix of rapper Gift of Gab and Producer Chief Xcel. One of the best things about this album is the length, there are so many times I've been disappointed by a freshman album because it's so short, this album though clocks in at 74 minutes long, so they're giving you a lot of stuff to listen to. This album has a good mix of fast raps that charge through but it also has a lot of grooving more subdued tunes. The middle part of the album is my favorite, it has some really crunchy tunes with some fantastic raps behind it. There are some tracks that are easily skippable but because of the length this is to be expected.

This is not my favorite Blackalicious album since they clearly learn from their mistakes in their future albums and they get better at what they do as they go on. But for a first album it's fantastic. The first track I'm going to link to is a good representation of the overall feel of the album. It also has a really good representation of the overall goal of Blackalicious. This track is has a good mellow groove to it and I'll add the lyrics below.

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I just keep moving on... (moving on...)
I just keep moving on... (moving on...)

Time and time, a brother asks why
The rhyme is not laced with a gangsta touch
I said "Simply because I don't live that way
Still kickin' them rhymes rugged and rough"
"But that won't sell,
cause you gotta keep it real
so that we can feel
where you're coming from
Because these streets is ill so if you ain't
killing niggas in rhymes
your whole sound's just bubble gum"
I said "I won't contribute to genocide;
I'd rather try to cultivate the inner side
and try to evolve the frustrated ghetto mind
The devil and his army never been a friend of mine"
"But niggas don't wanna hear that shit" said the brother
Who was obviously totally misled and yelled out
"murder murder, kill, murder" instilled in the influential walks
Of our kids' heads

Shallow days, you never wanna
Let a brother be a brother
Fully inner to the outer
Caught up in all them hollow nights
Can't escape cause everywhere that I look
People front, and it just ain't right
[repeat]

I said "Don't you know the powers that be
are using people as pawns, devouring we
until they see us all gone and outta the scene"
And as I passed the chronic, he said "look at where I be,
I tried to get a job for real,
but all the homies hit licks and rob and steal
and keep fat pockets caught in a rut to catch ground
this way's in, plus who could you trust?"
I said "I'm all about protecting mine,
but neglecting minds for getting left behind.
Why don't you change your environment?"
He said "This is all I know,
plus my fam's all that I got, I can't go"
I said "You gotta make it for the fams"
"Damn," he said "I didn't make the ghetto,
The ghetto made the man"
I said "You're more than just that,"
Shook his hand, said "Damn, you gotta find a way
To break the devil's master plan, peace"

Shallow days, you never wanna
Let a brother be a brother
Fully inner to the outer
Caught up in all them hollow nights
Can't escape cause everywhere that I look
People front, and it just ain't right
[repeat]

The word "peace" is just an expression
Used to say bye when it's time to jet
And them red black and green medallions
Was all just part of the trend, I guess
Hardly ever them around brothers' necks no more
Instead of that gold gats
Inspiring gangstas and macks
Who at the young age of four
Be seeing more drama than war veterans
Instead of learning God's laws
And hip-hop is a voice so we enlist that
To express how we be feeling about this and that
But music does reflect life
And kids look up to what you're portraying
And mimic what you act like
It's time for a new day
An era in rap, conscious styles,
Makin' them aware of the happenings
But their ears seem more steered towards
Self-annihilation so then they might laugh
And write this off, like I'm out here just
Blowing wind, maybe label us soft or unreal,
Something they just can't feel, while they yell
"murder murder murder, kill kill kill"

I just keep movin' on (moving on ...)
I just keep movin' on (moving on ...)

Shallow days / hollow nights


What I really love about this track is the first verse, saying how he won't give in to the idea that he needs to be a gangsta to sell his albums. This album came out in 99 and that really was one of the big parts about selling rap albums at the time.

My favorite track of the whole album is called "Smithzonian Institute of Rhyme." This one features Lateef. The way Lateef sings and raps at the same time is beautiful. This song is in my top 10 songs of all of the albums from this crew.

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3 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Blackalicious -- Melodica (1994)

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The first of Blackalicious' EPs is Melodica from 1994. This was early enough that Lyrics Born was still being called Asia Born. Probably the biggest problem with these guys being so young is they didn't know when to end a song. There's one track where they stop rapping at about 3 minutes into the song and the fairly mediocre beat goes on for another 3 minutes without any new sounds. The only reason you would want to get this EP is that there are two songs on this album you can't find anywhere else. The other 5 tracks you can find on other albums. The best song which you can also find on The "Solesides Greatest Bumps" album (which I'll review later) is the song "Deep In The Jungle." This song is a great song to show what each of the members of Quannum could do back in 94.

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Rating: 1.5 out of 4 stars

----

Blackalicious -- A2G (1999)

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The second Blackalicious EP is A2G. This one came out a couple months before Nia and is basically a precursor to the album since track 1, 5 and 6 can all be found on Nia. Besides those three tracks there are four other tracks which are all quite good. The song which has become most famous out of all of them is "Alphabet Aerobics" which features Cut Chemist. It clocks in at 2:14 and is insanely impressive. This really shows Gift of Gab's breath control, he raps with each of the 26 letters and as the song goes the song gets faster and faster and faster.

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Basically it seems like when making Nia they found they wanted to have a soulful album so the faster songs they put on here. My other favorite song on this album which is also quite fast is "Clockwork." The guy who made the video put the lyrics in it as well and it's very easy to read.

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Rating: 2.5 out 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Quannum -- Quannum Spectrum (1999)

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In 1999 the guys of Quannum decided to make an album together with some of their acts that they were bringing on when they decided to do a record label. So together they made a really amazing album called Quannum Spectrum. Each of the members of the group have really good periods and some not so great periods but it was here collaborating together that they made one of their best albums. This album has something for everyone. It even has the first instance I've found of Joyo Valarde, who is a singer and ends up becoming Lyrics Born's wife.

There are three exceptional tracks that I've listened to more then any other but overall there's barely a track I don't listen to on this album. But the three exceptional ones are the ones I'll be linking here. The first is probably the one I listen to the most is by Latyrx. The song is called "Storm Warning." It even feels like a storm through out and it's even better to listen to during a severe thunderstorm.

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I know I've said it before but Lateef and Lyrics Born here feel like two instruments intertwining. Fantastic stuff.

The second song is "The Golden Rule." This is the first time Lateef and Chief Xcel were by themselves and the two of them together are known as Maroons. It also features Erin Anova who is all over the Blackalicious album Nia.

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Finally I'll end with Bombonyall which has everyone from Quannum and each of them do really fast raps which is what I love the most. It also feels like it has some Sugarhill Gang influences with the calling to each other.

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Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

[EyesWideOpen]

Really good writeups.

I ordered the Latryx and Quannum cd's online for $5.50 shipped total for both of them.

[Thirdmango]

Blackalicious -- Blazing Arrow (2002)

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Blazing Arrow is a strange album to me because for the most part reviewers really like this album and yet it's my least favorite Blackalicious album. The things I do like are that it's a very full album coming in at 75 minutes long. My favorite song is basically a sequel to Alphabet Aerobics called "Chemical Calisthenics." Unfortunately the only youtube I could find has a ten second thing at the very beginning telling you where you can download the song, it's not a part of the song. This applies to both songs I'm posting for this album. :(

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The song is interesting because it's a science lesson mixed into rap.

The other song which is really good is a long one that is done in three parts, it's called "Release." This song is also quite long coming in at 9:26.

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The first part is the Gift of Gab almost losing his breath as he goes crazy with a rap and it does have Zach de la Rocha saying Release a whole bunch. The second part has an poem by Saul Williams, and then the third part has Lyrics Born ending with as good a rap as the one started by Gab.

It's not so much that the album is bad because it isn't, it's that all of my favorite songs by Blackalicious are on other albums. There are a lot of decent songs on this album but nothing truly funky or exciting.

Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Lyrics Born -- Later That Day (2003)

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I have been lauding praise on Lyrics Born anytime he showed up on someone else's album, and finally he decided to make his own album entitled Later That Day. Well on this one he comes out swinging. This is among his best and it also has my favorite song that he does. I highly recommend this album, it's got a full funkiness throughout the whole thing. To display that overall funkiness let's start with track 4 titled "Callin' Out."

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I think the thing which really surprised me about this album is he didn't just show off his skills as a fantastic rapper, he showed off that he knows how to DJ and put together the music of an album as well.

But the standout track on the album is "The Last Trumpet" featuring Lateef. The lyrics to this song are interesting but what really gets to me is all of the extra things within the song. The full use of crescendos, the usage of voices to make different parts of the music. The song is so complex and it rises and falls at different times until near the end it builds into a really amazing crescendo and excitement.

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Let me know if the link doesn't work, I uploaded it myself since I couldn't find the album version on youtube.

This is definitely a 4 star album for me but it's not my favorite album he does.

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars.

[Thirdmango]

Lifesavas -- Spirit in Stone (2003)

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Now that Quannum was an established crew and they started their own record label it was time to start signing on some new artists. Lifesavas put out their first album in 2003 called "Spirit in Stone." Lifesavas is a hip hop duo consisting of Jumbo the Garbageman and Vursatyl. This is one of the albums that I picked up specifically for this project so this was my first time hearing this album and I was really surprised since I hadn't really liked their other album the first time I heard it. But this one is pretty good. The soul is ever present on this album, they rap well with the beats they created. Take a listen at the track "Me" as an example.

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The soul and even Gospel feel to it is really interesting. I'm not sure if this is true but I think they might have some of a Gospel background considering they have a lot of allusions to the Bible through out their album, but mostly with stuff about the Apocalypse. The song that I really want to feature their wordplay is the song "Hellohihey," so I'll include the lyrics along with this one.

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[CHORUS]
I'll keep this brief it's nice to meet you
Though I can't get past your ego
I never hold a grudge cause love is the way
Hello hi hey...anyway

When we do talk then I get sucked into
Introductions to your ego
You're rubbing me the wrong way
Hello hi hey...anyway

[VERSE 1: Vursatyl]
Hey yo peace Vursatyl

Hey what's up dude

Yo my name is Brian but my MC name is Catapult (oh word?)
Word my crew is called the Cannibals (ah cool)
Yeah we're 30 deep and each member's a mutant culmination of six animals
See each MC is simultaneously (okay) six creatures, that's six styles with six features
Man we're the wild kingdom of hip hop...

Okay! Hey! It's nice to meet you but I'm just about to go on stage...

Right, well, speaking of stages we're the latest phase in hip hop
And I mean face it..hip hop sucks without us
And we're the best that bust and best at touching the mic
I mean I like how y'all do (thank you)
But we on some new next level complexity, tarzan telepathy, organic especially
Me see I'm kinda like the leader..

Damn, I wasn't knowin!

Well, you sleepin on a heater..

Nah, I ain't never been the type to sleep...

Me either!
And that reminds me, we just recorded 90 new treats (uh huh)
Our 15 CD box set is finally complete (whoa..)
And did I fail to mention also I do beats on my Playstation 2
And I've comprised the hi-fidelity medley supreme stream a heater beat you won't believe I'm even makin' mu...

Hold up cat, beats you makin for me?

No doubt, wait til you see!

Now why you doing that man?

C'mon Vurs, man you my favorite MC, next to me
Cause these MCs are losers! (crumbs!)
They just some wannabe bunch of me broken boosers (bums!)
Word that's true and even my crew
The truth is without me those dudes are borderline useless

Which brings me to my solo LP, my new website, my summer tour (wow)
My cameos and collaborations with some obscure artists.. (shh..)
It's hard to harness this much talent (yeah I'll bet)
C'mon Vurs man you should know you're a vet
And by the way when's the next time y'all playin?

Well besides tonight I think it's uh...

Uh huh right like I was sayin
I'm nice and if you got some advice on points I'm missin my ears are open

Alright listen..

[CHORUS]

[VERSE 2: Vursatyl]
None of this is concocted
It's not pretend
Honest depictions of what I comprehend as a parent arrogant
And I've got a friend that sometimes get's into (phone rings)...hold up this might be him

Hello?

Hi is Erb there?

This him

Hey what's up with you bro?

Loungin man
Long time no hear from

Yeah I know
Man I just flew in last night
I caught y'all show
I could of had that slot but they was fakin on the dough

Word?

Yeah they fronted

Well we just wanna get heard

Well yeah y'all should settle
I keep forgetting y'all ain't on my level
And so many are not quite
The MC that I am I guess it's lonely at the top right? (well, yeah I guess)

Man it's hard being the best
These MCs get pissed cause next to me they almost don't exist
No diss but who can really say that they've gone where I've gone
Or play where I've played
Or that they've done what I've done
Stay where I've stayed
Sold what I've sold
And done close

Yeah the nerve of some folks

Yeah and even y'all can't compare
Y'all startin to swell
But a cameo from me would really boast your record sales

Mm...well we kinda tryin to build with these cats from round the way

Man don't tell me that you feel them paperweight so-called rhymers I can make or break
Hold me, eternal gratitude, show me respect
And ask any record store
People might buy your album but it's really me that they checkin for
I've seen it once or a hundred times

[phone rings...]

Hold up folks I got somebody on the other line

[CHORUS REPRISE]
Though we're good friends it never ends
Your self destructive massive ego
I never hold a grudge cause love is the way
Hello hi hey...anyway

You've gone too far
It's just the way you are
Hope that doesn't scar your ego
You're rubbing me the wrong way
Hello hi hey..anyway

[VERSE 3: Vursatyl]
Vur-sa-tyl

I must be tired I'm hearing voices

It's me Vurs the one who interferes in your choices

Wait, who are you?

Now see there that's the treat
I've been known as arrogant
To sometimes conceit
Self-absorbed, self-centered
I'm cocky, vein
Stuck up, proud, pompous, other vulgar names

I'm closely associated to fame and success (alright)
But I'm a part of everybody's thoughts more or less
I'm just confidence misconstrued as something evil

Alright get to the point man...who are you?

Your ego

Nah I play the humble (true)
I watch my words close
My rep proceeds me
You never heard Erb boast

Hold it
Need I remind you of the clever
Kid rhyming backstage in your ear forever?

Yeah, so?

And what about the call from your friend?
Who was kinda jaded, kinda dissed you at the end?

Now what you getting at?

That was us

Us who?

Me and you
Man we were that kid Vurs

Nah man!

It's true!

I never sweat other rhymers!
I never diss my troopers!

Well that kid was our past
And that friend could be our future

Nah you got me twisted
Ego trips don't concern me!

Chill Vurs those we're just stages on your journey
I mean you are dope

Stop it man

[Vurs is hearing voices...]
I mean you're the best rapper
I mean really
Just think about it man
No one can touch you
I mean you're better than all the other MCs out there

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!

[CHORUS REPRISE 2]
How can this be?
I finally see
That it was me who had the ego
Please don't hold a grudge cause love is the way
Hello hi hey...anyway

Swallow my pride
Now that I'm wise
Sincerely I apologize
For rubbing you the wrong way
Hello hi hey...anyway

My favorite track on the whole album is another collaboration with the rest of the quannum crew, if you can't tell it's these collabs that are usually my favorite. This one is called Emerge.

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This album was really cool and soulful, I actually paid a lot of attention to the lyrics because their voices are very clear and easy to understand. This is a great album and a good freshman album from these guys, their next album I didn't really like the first time but that was a couple years ago so I might have a new found love for them after this album.

Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

General Elektriks -- Cliquety Kliqk (2003)

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/thirdmango/Quannum/generalelek-cliquety.jpg

General Elektriks is the stage name of French musician Herve Salters. He met the Quannum Crew in 1999 and started working with them. His sound relies a lot more on keyboards and mixes funk with hip hop beats and pop. He is also one of the members of Honeycut and has helped on many other albums with Quannum including working heavily on Blackalicious' album "The Craft." This album only has two "hip hop" songs with Lateef doing the vocals on both of them, but this album is really good even without the hip hop. The two hip hop songs receive heavy rotation from me, the first is Facing that Void.

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My favorite lyrical phrase is the end of the song:

Last time that I seen her she was all alone
So high that I thought she could probably have flown
She recited some weird strange haunting poem
then laughed at a joke that was solely her own
I had to walk away and leave that girlie alone
Cuz I knew her type that same zombie clone
Hope she finds what she's looking for
And fills that void before her mind is gone

A haunting melody and a haunting song.

The other hip hop song on this album is Take You Out Tonight, it's a little bit more of a mix of what General Elektriks does mixed with Lateef pulling the verses.

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Then I'll end with my favorite non-hip hop song on the album and that is the second track Frost on your Sunglasses.

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The entire album has that sort of haunting quality. The only exceptions are the intro and the ninth track called Le caroussel cosmique, both of those songs are sort of throw away. But the album overall is really good and as his stuff goes on you can start to hear his influence in the rest of the group.

Rating: 3 out 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Pigeon John -- Is Dating Your Sister (2003)

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When I was first getting into Lyrics Born I had seen Pigeon John's name on a couple of different collaborations, but I was really introduced to him when I went to see a concert of Lyrics Born and Pigeon John was on first. He's a rapper who wears sweaters and slacks, and from a lot of lyrics he raps about having low self esteem around women, looking for jobs and just being a regular guy. He seems to have a really good humor about him, plus with his first album titled "Pigeon John is Dating Your Sister." That's a really good title for an album.

Pigeon John's rap style is interesting, he has a soothing voice and he goes into singing quite a bit. This album is a good freshman outing but it's not my favorite showing of his. There are some songs on here like one called "Sam The Goat" which I just can't listen to all the way through. But the song of his which has gotten the most listens and is probably my favorite one of his songs is on this album and I'll start with that one, it's called "Deception." I'm adding the lyrics to this one because they're really awesome. I come from a family full of ambitious people and this is the kind of song which speaks to me in that way.

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Lord, I won't do this song
This is a fight with myself
I wanna gain much wealth
I wanna live by myself.
But Im surrounded by...
I'll keep that to myself
Im so stupid

Well hello my little friends and look at them run
I'm still at home with no ends and look at them run
Hopping in a tricked out Benz and look at them run
While I'm clocking in as a temp boy look at them run
It is too late now to affect the whole world, or is it just dated now?
They could care less who invaded now.
Really am I silly with the dreams of the milli'?
Top billing with a big fat record deal-ly
First I buy a house way up on the hill-ly
Then I get a girly dressed like Mr. Furley
Met her in Nashville or was it Philly?
Her hair so curly and look at me burly
But my dream deferred, I felt the same words that Langston heard
I watched them pass and it seemed absurd.
A decade of dreaming and it seeming that they
Just run away with my verbs.
And its:

Deception. Look at them dancing in the field goal
Deception. I look at me and Im getting old.
Deception. How many records have I really sold?
Deception. Whoops I did it again boy. (2X)

Ten years ago I woke up with a dream in my hand
Ran for a couple of yards, but tripped and fell to my hands
And then got up because the Lord Almighty told me He can
Ran for a couple of more, and tripped and fumbled again
And people asking what you getting up for go get a job
but I gotta carry out this dream or my life I rob
And when Im gonna work for 45 years up in the mall
And when I'm old and gray wondering where's my calling?
And I'd rather die now than never wonder how.
Never ever try now coulda' woulda' shoulda' will be
All I sigh how can I live a mediocre
Life and not ever ask You why.
Are we hear specifically not mundane
But a gifted people.
We must shine and it must be equal.
Live your life cause there is no sequel.
Oh it's a reception

Deception. Look at them dancing in the field goal
Deception. I look at me and Im getting old.
Deception. How many records have I really sold?
Deception. Whoops I did it again boy. (2X)

Hey, Hey, wait I'm called to do something.
I don't know exactly what it is but I'm hunting.
Getting lost in this record biz and I'm fumbling.
Oops I did it again boy.

The other song I highly recommend is the first track "Highschool Reunion." Again the kind of thing you don't find too many rappers rapping about, how you're feeling inadequate before seeing how other people have flushed out their lives in the past however many years.

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Like I said this is a good freshman album but as far as Pigeon John goes the first album I'd recommend is "and the Summertime Pool Party." Most of the best stuff on this album are in the first half of the album, I don't really like the second half of the album.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4

[Thirdmango]

Lateef & The Chief -- Maroons: Ambush (2004)

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When Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel are together they are Blackalicious. When Lateef and Lyrics Born are together they are Latyrx, so keeping with that tradition Lateef and Chief Xcel decided to do an album together and the two of them collectively are known as Maroons. What's odd about it though is that every other album up to this point was quite lengthy, but the first album with these two together they can only string together 9 tracks and the whole album doesn't even break 40 minutes. But it's still a little too long to be considered an EP. The sad thing is Lateef up to this point hasn't done a solo album so when all I want is a Lateef album, it's too small and only about half of it is good. This album is a disappointment overall but it does have a couple of tracks which I keep in heavy rotation. The other odd thing about the album and I guess I shouldn't be too surprised is the whole album is heavily politically charged, it did come out in 2003 and there are a lot of tracks about how they didn't like George Bush. It's not a big complaint but it gets a little tiring after they spend about half the album talking about it. The two tracks I'm linking are the only ones I listen to on a regular basis. The first track, "Ambush."

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And the fourth track "Don't Stop."

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This was and still is a disappointment. I suppose every group has to have bad albums.

Rating: 1.5 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Lyrics Born -- Same Shit Different Day (2005)

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I think this album may have been the idea behind making Variety Shows that he does later. Basically what this album is, is a remix album of the first one with a couple of added new songs. It would be a little disappointing but some of the remixes are better then the original versions and some of the new songs are really fantastic. It isn't as good an album as Later That Day but it's still pretty good. As a for instance of how it's better then before is the first track on "Same !@#$ Different Day" is a remix of probably my least favorite song from Later That Day. So here's the remix of Hello from this album which I love:

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That was a really funky upbeat song, and then the version from Later That Day is much less energy:

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Now don't get me wrong, I still like this version of the song, but the upbeat version I just like much more.

A song LB released as a single appears for the first time on an album this time around. It's a really funky and smooth song called "I Changed My Mind."

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My favorite song that is new to the album is one called "The Bay." My favorite part is actually the beginning when LB first comes into the track. His voice is so soulful on this part.

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The album overall isn't as good as Later That Day, it does have some remixes that aren't as good as the originals like "The Last Trumpet" and "Callin' Out." I'd still recommend this album but it's not one of the essential albums out of all of Quannum's stuff.

Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars.

[Thirdmango]

Pigeon John -- Sings The Blues (2005)

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So I had completely forgotten one of the lyrics in the song Perfect Formality. Which I'll link to before I move on.


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Did you catch that? He said "But I get 2 stars and a half instead." I had completely forgotten about that line and for his first album I gave him 2 and a half stars. So for his sophomore album Pigeon John Sings The Blues! He comes through on his promise to sing the blues. The first half of the album is absolutely fantastic. The first 8 songs are all great, but then he puts a couple of strange remixes of a couple of his lesser songs from his first album and the remixes don't really do anything to improve those songs so it's sort of a strange place to put those songs. Then he finishes out the album with two okay songs which aren't as good as the other stuff on the album. The album comes in at a little under 50 minutes so it sort of feels like he had some really good ideas and couldn't come up with something else to fill the rest of the time. So as for the other good song on the album I'm going to choose "You Can't Have It."

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Despite having a good first half this is his worst outing. Luckily he gets much better later.

Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Lyrics Born -- Variety Show Season 1 (2005)

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My favorite album by Lyrics Born is one he only put out on his website. I'm not sure where he got the idea but he decided to put out a couple of albums called Variety Shows where he could show off remixes and different collaborations that were hard to find. Volume 1 showcases the best he has to offer and not only that but he does a really good job mixing all of the songs together so that it doesn't really stop rocking the entire time. All of the songs on this album can be found elsewhere but with different results. I'm going to start with the last track on this album called "8 Point Agenda" The place you can find this one is on an Herbaliser album but I like this version better. The lyrics in specific are awesome in this one.

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We believe in all of the above just for the reasons given
Up, livin' it up, livin' not.. givin' up - setting
Government and loving it, so we self-sufficient
Not trippin' off of that subliminal stuff
We not submitting coming with it rough and tough
We gonna suppliment your knowledge with.. a substance
We not gonna let an opportunity get left out
We not.. gonna let some indecision stop what we about
We not.. gonna show no mercy over flowing the drought
(It's no doubt), {no doubt}, (it's no doubt), {no doubt}
(It's no doubt), {no doubt}, (it's no doubt), {no doubt}

We believe in maximum effect
(And absolutely) every single facet of the gem
(Including) {but} (not limited to the)
{Pursuit of truth} (which has been) {unduly}
(Smoothed over) {made soothing} (to those)
Who have been doing the polluting in fact
{We wrote some raps}
(Now I have here in my chest an outline)
{A list}, (a platform), {manifesto}, (a mandate
From intro) {to outro}, it's absolutely rock solid
From the {bottom to the top} and the (top to the bottom)
{Here's a outlook}, and how it reads, (number one, Lateef)
{We don't believe in other people thieving the ideas
That our cerebrums cultivate and create, but if you're stealing them}
(Now that's a calculated mistake)
{A combination infinite involving digitized code.. you can't break, point two:}
(We believe in unconditional control
Not under supervision of another operator) {so}
(What that means is our beliefs our boundaries shall all be balanced properly
Without restriction, limitation or revoke, Point three: )
{We don't believe in you controlling we} (That's point three)
{I'm not obligated to listen to shit that you're telling me
That's the type of thing that could lead to a felony, I don't give a fuck
You yellin' at me at the top of your lungs, you do it
Otherwise it isn't gonna get done}, I hold the reins to my tongue
{And decide when to close and open the door}, the point four:
(Point four, you been warned, so before we move on
Just from point four on, just so you don't distort
The order make us go back and forth, once more
Let's repeat what we've recorded thus far, now point one: )
{We don't believe in other people thieving the ideas
That our cerebrums cultivate and create, make no mistake, point two:}
(We believe in unconditional control of our beliefs and our opinions
Our souls, our growth, and our dominions, point three: )
{We don't believe in you controlling we
I'm not obligated to do or say or listen to a god damn thing, a point four}
(Point four), {point four}, (point four),
{point four}, (point four), {point four}, (now point four):

We believe in all of the above just for the reasons given
Up, livin' it up, livin' not.. givin' up - setting
Government and loving it, so we self-sufficient
Not trippin' off of that subliminal stuff
We not submitting coming with it rough and tough
We gonna suppliment your knowledge with.. a substance
We not gonna let an opportunity get left out
We not.. gonna let some indecision stop what we about
We not.. gonna show no mercy over flowing the drought
(It's no doubt), {no doubt}, (it's no doubt), {no doubt}
(It's no doubt), {no doubt}, (it's no doubt), {no doubt}
(It's no doubt), {no doubt}, 'it's no doubt and we out

The version on Herbaliser is a bit longer but I like the background to this previous one more then the one on Herbaliser's track. But if you liked that and want to check out the original here it is by someone who added the lyrics to the video:

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I really do wish points 5 through 8 were in the other version but oh well.

There's one other track that I really want to emphasize and that is "Quannum World." It's the track that if you see a group live and everyone shows up they'll all do together. This one features just about everyone you can think of, I uploaded the song and he put the last word "Crew at the start of the next track so it'll feel like it's ubruptly ending but it's awesome on the album.


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There's one track on here which isn't my favorite but it has probably my favorite moment of The Gift of Gab and it's one I try and get everyone I know to listen to. The track is called "Top Qualified and it features everyone from Blackalicious, to Lateef to Lyrics Born and it also adds in a trio called Haiku Detat which is Aceyalone, Mikah 9 and Abstract Rude. The whole song is decent and I do think people should listen to it but the part which I specifically want people to listen to is at 4:16 on the track so if you only want to listen to that part that's fine too.

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Finally (I know 4 tracks on this one already), but this one is one of Latryx's most famous songs and it has a great version on this one. This version that I'm linking is the original. But this is the first album I'm doing that features it. The song is called "Lady Don't Tek No"

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This is by far and away my favorite thing LB has done, he took everything I wanted and mixed it together. Fantastic album.

4 out of 4 stars.

[Thirdmango]

Blackalicious -- The Craft (2005)

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This is one of my favorite albums from all of the Quannum Crew. This album just has so many really good songs, fast beats, complex ryhtmns and amazing raps. It even has some guest moments from other rappers and one guest moment from the Funk Master himself George Clinton.
The whole album has 14 tracks and 7 of those tracks are in my top most played tracks. The tracks I'll start with run into each other really well. The first is called My Pen & Pad and it's just 2 minutes of Gab doing a really impressive rap and then it flows right into the fun and funky "Side to Side" which follows a story of Gab, Lateef and Pigeon John dancing with a trio of weird girls in a club.

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The other track I want is my favorite track from the album, it's a pulse pounding song called "Egosonic War Drums." It's a song which is really good to work out to.

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This album is basically what I wanted Nia to be. Nia is great but it's sometimes a little too laid back. This album flows really well from song to song, and it also shows a maturity that being around for ten years of rapping can do for you. The funky level is really high but it does get laid back in the parts where it needs to. If you want to get a Blackalicious album this is the one to pick up.

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Pigeon John -- and the Summertime Pool Party (2006)

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Finally Pigeon John really comes through. His third album is his best, it really flows all the way through and even when he brings in skits they are really short and they have their own tracks so you can skip them pretty easily and even so each one still has some music to segway well through to the next song. The title of this album is also fantastic because it feels like a summertime pool party through out. He does his best raps when his beats are more upbeat and this is a common occurrence on this album. The three songs I'm going to link are all faster upbeat songs. The first has an interesting hook to it with the high voice but his best raps come from this song. It's called "Weight of the World."

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The next one I'll link is somewhat of a comedy song. It's called "I Lost My Job Again."

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Finally is my favorite on the album, it's high energy and when I saw him live his energy for this particular song was really good. The song is called "Higher?!"

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I understand it's basically just moving the notes up one by one but it feels like a non-stop crescendo and I love that. As I said earlier this is Pigeon John's best album. He has come out with one more album but as of yet I don't own that one. I have a lot of praise for this album but there are two tracks in the middle that I tend to just skip over. They're alright tracks but nothing special, plus adding in the skits is what makes this an almost perfect album. Without those I'd give it full points.

Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Lateef & Z-Trip -- Ahead Of The Curve (2007)

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Lateef is consistently my favorite rapper of the crew and finally he puts out something that is mostly just him. He decided to do a mix tape with DJ Z-Trip who is one of my top five favorite DJs and the two of them deal out an absolutely epic mix tape. Like many mix tapes near the end it just goes into songs he's done on other albums which is fine, but there are some interesting additions like a redo of the song Latyrx where it's just Lateef's side of the rap. It also has a lot of really good guest stars like the usuals from Quannum but it also has Chali 2na and Soup of Jurassic 5 and even a bunch I've never heard of that I'm going to look into when I have a chance. After an album like this I really want Lateef and Z-Trip to keep doing things together because they fit together really well. This one is hard for me to think of essential tracks to listen to since I started listening to this a couple weeks ago and 12 of the 15 tracks are currently in my rotation. The reason why two of those aren't is because I'm used to them from past albums. So I'm going to start with the first track which is a great collaboration with a lot of great acts, it's an exciting start to a track and an interesting one since it uses the beat from Last Trumpet but they use that beat to get a bunch of cool snippets from a bunch of people. "Watch Out."

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I love when Chali 2na calls himself the Verbal Herman. You know I think I'm just going to do the first three tracks all in a row because they're the best. So that one led into the second track "Mass Hysteria" featuring Chali 2na.

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The third track really showcases Z-Trip's DJ style. I've always been fascinated with record scratching, also it was good to hear Soup from J5, he hasn't done much since J5 broke up. And that final rap by Lateef on this track is killer.

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Oh man this album just gets me excited. It's how a mix tape should be done. Fantastic stuff.

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

General Elektriks -- Good City For Dreamers (2009)

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The second outing by General Elektriks is a lot more experimental. If you saw the last post I did on this guy the stuff on this album is a lot like the non-rap song I posted. The best parts of the album are stuck in the middle of the album, but the entire album has a really good movement to it and it segways between songs really well. There are no collaborations on this one however so if you don't like his sound beyond collaborations it's probably a no go for you this time around. Overall this album is a better album then the first one but my favorite songs are still on the first album. But I'll put my two favorite tracks up the first being track 6 Little Lady:

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The second track is track 7 Engine Kickin' In, the thing I really like about this song is how the chorus becomes super experimental in a song which is for the most part just normal sounding.

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If you liked both of these tracks you should check out the rest of the album because it all has a similar sound. The uploaded from which I got those two tracks has the whole album uploaded if you want to listen before you buy.

3.5 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Gift of Gab -- 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up (2004)

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When Lateef and Lyrics Born both went solo after Latyrx they both had pretty good runs. Gift of Gab here tries his hand at going solo without DJ Chief XCel and it shows that Gab is a horrible DJ. The only thing that works on this album is his raps and even then there aren't that many great raps. As a for instance check out this track called "To Know You." It showcases that Gift of Gab is still a good rapper but not good at making beats.

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There are just two songs which I like which is weird because I feel like I should like anything Gab does, but this album just isn't good. The two songs which I do like though are first, Evolution.

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And second, "Stardust."

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The album has a really strange cover of Puttin on the Ritz that feels very out of place. I'm so disappointed by this album. I'm scared to pick up any of Gab's other solo stuff after this album.

Rating: 1 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Honeycut -- The Day I Turned To Glass (2006)

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Honeycut is a mix of some San Franciscio guys and Herve Salters, the man behind General Elektriks. So this band is Salter's second main project the big difference is adding in a drummer and a singer. You can tell there are aspects to Salters that are all over this album. A lot like GE's stuff, it is a mix of funk and rock. When I first heard it I felt like it was as if they had gotten a rap DJ to be a part of the band and put down Rap Beats that were instead of put into a rapper, infused into a rock band. The first track of the album really has this rap feel right when it starts and so you think because it's Quannum that you're going to get another rapper and then it changes into a rock band. This song is the title track, "The Day I Turned To Glass."

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This was actually the first album I bought solely off of knowing that it was made by Quannum Projects. I didn't know anything about it so I was completely surprised but it soon became one of my favorite albums back in 2008. It's still been in a decent amount of rotation since then. The song which really blew me away and is probably my favorite track on the album is called "Silky."

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What blows me away about this song is the use of abrupt silence. I absolutely love the feeling it gives. The strange subtle record scratch is also really soothing. But then it really gets me when they add the strings into the song. It was hard to figure out what the last song would be for this album, but I finally decided on "Shadows." It has a good mix of experimental sounds and it has a good focus on the lead singers voice which I really like.

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This is one of my favorite albums Quannum Projects have come out with and it's my favorite non-rap album they've done. Unfortunately I had thought for a couple years that they must have broken up because I hadn't heard anything from them for a long time, but only while doing this project did I find out they've finally come out with a second album this year, six years after their first.

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Lifesavas -- Gutterfly (2007)

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Now this is an interesting one. The first time I heard this album I didn't like it. So for the most part except for one song I never listened to it. But after doing this project I picked up Lifesavas' first album and absolutely loved it. So I was excited to try this album out again to see how it fared now that I liked the band and at first it was not looking favorable. The first four songs aren't very good but then the fifth song is the one I already really love and it's called "Shine Language." This is the best song on the album.

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But after that song the album does pick up quite a bit. I found myself liking a majority of the songs past this point. So it really was just a bad beginning. The album doesn't compare in greatness compared to the first album they've done which is too bad. The second best song is a song called "A Serpent's Love." It says it features a group called Jimmy Slimwater's New Orleans Funeral. I can't find this group outside of this song, but one of the guys on the track that comes in around 1:45 sounds like one of the guys from Digable Planets. (According to the youtube video I found the guy says it's Butterfly of the Digable Planets.)

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This album is cool, it has a darkness to it that the first album didn't have and for their third album I'd like to see them maybe bridge the two.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Lyrics Born -- Variety Show Volume 2 (2006)

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I was expecting a lot after the first Variety Show. This album does have some amazing tracks which I can't find anywhere else, but, unlike the first volume it's not mixed as well and there are some tracks which I don't really get. This might be the start of Lyrics Born's insanity which I'll get into more when the next album comes up. It's about half really good and about half that I never listen to. Some of the ones I don't listen to are just shortened versions of songs I already know really well which is to be expected. But some of them just aren't exciting in the slightest. Plus the mixer is some guy named DJ Inky who haven't heard of before or since. He doesn't do a very good job to say the least. But as for the cool tracks. There's two songs which are played back to back in the middle of the album called "The Get Down" and "On The Scene." I've uploaded them together as one track.

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The other track which is really cool is a remix of a Jay-Z song. This song is called Kiss Me I'm Famous.

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Of the 22 tracks on this album only 6 of the tracks get any rotation in my collection. Of course the whole album is just little snippets as the longest song is the one I linked to "On The Scene" which comes in at 2:53. That does make sense in a mixtape style but you might expect one or two to maybe get a big showcase. Basically this felt like he needed to throw something together. Not the best but certainly as we'll see coming up, not the worst either.

Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Lyrics Born -- Everywhere at Once (2008)

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I mentioned in the last Lyrics Born mixtape that LB goes a little insane, well here it is, the album where he makes some weird decisions. Here's the thing, LB has always been quite experimental and I loved that about him, some of his best songs are fantastic lyricism mixed with crazy DJing abilities. He was able to throw together some amazing backgrounds for his songs. But on this album he traded all of that in for a drum machine and weird synths. He says on the album he's going for a funkier style and I read an interview around this time where he said he wanted to use live instruments more, and I suppose that would have made sense if he actually brought in a band to play with him, but no, he has a drum machine and low grade synths and it lowers the whole quality of the album. The two best songs on the album do come at the beginning so it feels like he might actually pull it off and then it starts to nosedive. So here are the first two tracks, the first is almost like a signifier of things to come with lyrics talking about change and experimentation. The song is called "Don't Change."

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I'd include lyrics but I can't find any online. The second song has guest stars Chali 2na and LB's now wife Joyo Valarde and it's called "Hott 2 Deff."

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I mentioned that the album goes down hill and I'll play the song where it goes really strange. It has a fine beat to it and some of his rapping actually has a cool sound but the lyrics are weird and the stereotypical Japanese chorus is really weird. Up to this point he had made such cool decisions and here it's like he's still got his cool brain but he's making such strange mistakes. The song is called "Do U Buy It."

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The album does start off strong but then the rest of it just nose dives into a weird place, there are glimmers of awesome in the album but for the most part it's just weird. There is a cool song near the end called Whispers which is about a friend who had died, and the content of it is a very nice send off to one of his best friends. But that's like 3 songs which are good out of 18 songs and I just don't understand what he's trying to go for. Maybe he's getting old.

Rating: 1.5 out of 4 stars

[Thirdmango]

Lyrics Born -- As U Were (2010)

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/thirdmango/Quannum/LB_As_U_Were.jpg

This is the second album of Lyrics Born's new direction. I was really hoping he would have realized he went insane but he didn't. At least this album is a bit funkier and it seems he did use some real instruments which I was hoping he would if he decided to go down this avenue. So it is a better album then Everywhere at Once but it's still not to the caliber of early Lyrics Born. What is the most baffling about this album though is he seemed to spell all of the songs on this album by texting. The album title is As U Were and there are songs like "I Wanna B W/U," "Pillz," Kontrol Phreak," "Lies X 3," and (What Happened 2 Our) Love Affair?" So as for the good there are some really good funky tracks on this album. The best one is one called "Pushed Aside/Pulled Apart," it guest stars Lateef. After the last album which only had Chali 2na it's good to see Lateef back on an LB album.

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The track "Something Better" is up next and it features "Francis and The Lights." From the sounds of it this Francis might be a pretty good artist to check out.

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This album is better then Everything at Once, and again it has moments of brilliance but it's still not great compared to his earlier stuff. Luckily his next album will be the second Latyrx album so hopefully with the help of Lateef he'll go back to having some really cool backgrounds as well. This album does have some live instruments which is better then all of the synths so that's nice.

Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

[sevenarts]

Great thread. I haven't kept up on the later stuff at all, but I really loved a lot of the early stuff. That Latyrx album is amazing, especially that title track, which is unlike pretty much anything else in rap, really experimental and incendiary. I also like the first 2 Blackalicious albums a lot, and the Quannum compilation has some fun stuff (like "I Changed My Mind"!!!)

Are you familiar with the SoleSides compilation? SoleSides was basically what these guys called their label/collective prior to renaming it Quannum, and there's a great 2-CD compilation that rounds up a whole bunch of tracks from that era. Some of it overlaps with the Latyrx disc and other albums from them, but there are lots of cool freestyles and single tracks and other semi-exclusive stuff as well.

[Thirdmango]

Yeah, I'll be doing that one probably on my next go round. I added a discography into the first thread so you can see I've got a lot of albums left to go. But I am getting that one for Christmas.

[D_Davis]

Good write-ups. I haven't heard a single one of these artists, so I'll check some out.

Gimme a top 5 of what you've posted thus far.