Hip Hop you shouldn't miss

If you're into hip hop, there's a few albums you should make sure you hear.

Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives

Guillermo Scott Herren is probably best known under his moniker Prefuse 73, and this was his first album as such. Although many would consider One Word Extinguisher his finest work, and while that album is an hourlong glitch-hop opus, I find that for me it has neither the subtlety nor the staying power of his first. Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives is what I feel the best hip hop should be: understated and greater than the sum of its parts. It begins with the garbled voices of a number of underground hip hop radio station DJs giving shoutouts and bigups. Then, suddenly, the rug is pulled out from under your feet as Prefuse's signature ribbon of clips and slices unfurls before you. You become acutely aware that this is NOT another collection of instrumentals waiting to be spit upon or an uninspired mix tape from some DJ Shadow knockoff (RJD2, I'm looking at you). This is a unified, refined, singular realization of artistic vision. Beats and samples are vivisected and strung together gleefully like Christmas lights, though nothing about this album is wanton. There is a sensitive intelligence behind each decision and inclusion - listening to Prefuse's finer work elicits the feeling of each track having been pre-approved by a genius (I feel similarly listening to Aphex Twin, an obvious source of inspiration for Herren). What surprises me about this album, what keeps me coming back, what keeps its tracks creeping under my skin is the gentleness of his presentation. Where hip hop is hard, Vocal Studies is soft. Where you expect his cuts to be sharp, they are smooth. The tracks hit, but never do they feel domineering or demanding, two common afflictions of the genre. This album could be considered a contradiction embodied, but I would have to disagree.



MC Solaar - Prose Combat

MC Solaar IS French hip hop. He is France's answer to Bob Marley. He is one of the only rappers I would unreservedly call a poet. It's a shame that most of you reading this will not be able to understand his lyrics, for they are special. This album has more than its fair share of inspiration - it has the condensed feel of a greatest hits record. Floating on the exultant beats provided by Jimmy Jay, Solaar spans the spectrum of emotions in his witticisms and philosophical observations. Jay's tracks are a spectacular jazz and soul retrospective, and the album's backing vocalists and Laurent Vernerey's bass contributions join them seamlessly. Through its horns, slick drum breaks, pulsing grooves and bizarre samples, Prose Combat is as refreshingly new as it is classically old. This album exemplifies the genre during the creative rush of the mid 90's, and is not to be missed by any fan of hip hop.



Q-Tip - The Renaissance

After a decade of relative obscurity, Kamaal Fareed emerged with this, his album of rebirth. Good thing, too - many of you probably had forgotten all about this man, this half of A Tribe Called Quest (ok, let's be fair - 80%). If ever there were a rapper possessed of a gilded tongue, it is Q-Tip. The Renaissance is many things, but what struck me about this album was its maturity. Every moment of every track is older, wiser, more dense with intention than we're used to, especially from New York's good-time fun-loving charmer. The sound is so very him, but so very modern, and so very compelling. Everything is tasteful; each groove is spoonfed to you, lest you tire too quickly. Q-Tip covers a lot of ground in his lyrics and provides a journey through the process of becoming a 40 year-old rapper. He gives credit where credit is due, and sometimes demands his own. Bassist Antuan Barrett provides some of the bounciest, most compelling lines I've heard to date, and a quick list of important album credits includes Raphael Saadiq, Amanda Diva and D'Angelo. My suggestion to you would be to listen the hell out of The Renaissance. Pardon my french.