Roads? Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads...

Strange Journey Volume 2 (SJV2) has the same stylistic qualities as #1, but is much more specific, and much more introspective. By ‘specific’, I mean each song fulfills its genre much more so than equivalent songs on #1. Let me back up and explain what I mean by ‘genre’.

There are three genres in Hip-Hop; collages, stories and essays. Most work are collages. Tracks with no goal (other than to sound good), but are just an odd arrangement of brags, boasts, shout-outs, put-downs and gibberish, fall into this category. Most rap, in fact, falls into this category. Good examples are the mixtape song 'Anthem' and as mentioned before, anything put out by Jus Allah.

The 2nd genre, stories, are just that; a frequently chronological retelling of events, possessing both a protagonist and a plot. Great examples include ‘The Harbor is Yours’ off “None Shall Pass” by Aesop Rock and ‘Like Today’ by Atmosphere.

An essay has a point (a thesis, even). That point is usually basic- the language of hip-hop is intrinsically emotional, and the lyrical elements unsuited to the specificity required for an ordinary ontological argument. That said, topics both mundane and sublime are attempted, from ‘drugs are bad’ to ‘drugs are good’ to ‘While 9/11 was a tragedy, the reaction to it by the media, government and military-industrial complex is nothing short of disgusting’.

Note- These are my definitions. Outside the context of this blog, no one will care or recognize these terms. Fair warning to those who also frequent allhiphop.com’s forums.

SJV2’s collages are more bangin’, its essays more pointed, its stories more developed.

Ordinarily, I’d quote snatches of song to prove my point, but, trying to put brackets around the awesome parts of the most well-crafted examples is a lot like trying to find the part of The Odyssey that makes it an epic- a herculean task. So I’ll link to them, and provide some commentary, trusting that you’ll blare good jams through your workplace to follow along with what I’m saying.

‘The WWKYA Tour’ is a damn good story (collection of stories, actually) around the plot of some kid mouthing off to the band and the band utterly destroying him (because girls only mouth off to De La Soul, apparently). The story is so cohesive that the digressions add a richness to the story instead of distractions, like how Tonedeff (I think it’s Tonedeff) orders a drink at the beginning of his flow and picks it up at the end, after going through a wrestling match with an offender. Or how in the same flow, he points out the irony of the image he held of the offender, and the one he found on facebook.

‘To Be for Real’ contrasts the emotional appeal of success with it’s often not-so-hidden underbelly. The imagery of conjuring ‘debts from assets’ really appealed to the accountant in me, not going to lie. So too does the closing couplet of the song (not as an accountant... you know what I mean).

‘Tear Tracks’ fully embraces its genre, making a point about the tragedy of a battered woman. I feel it leaves out a necessary element of scorn for women who keep going back to an abusive spouse, and I also didn’t like the fact that there’s no conclusion, just ‘oh, she’s still getting beat’ by the songs end. The fact that the thesis is elucidated clearly enough to critique suggests it deserves some hefty props, though.

The rest of the album isn’t really a step behind these songs- these are just the ones that touched me, that I felt I could critique meaningfully. On the whole, Volume 2 is more introspective than Volume 1, but I’d halt and look both ways before calling one better than the other.

I haven’t mentioned the production work yet: It’s solid. I don’t have enough space to elucidate more on its stylistic influence, but it neither overshadows the performers nor underwhelms the listener.

On a scale of one to eleventy-billion, I give this album a high-five ('cuz bros like high-fives), a big bag of props (see above) and a tearful goodbye, because it's going to be another couple of months until I review a cd I've liked this much. Next week I'll be tackling Scarface's 'The World is Yours'; so if you've ever accidentally confused Al Pacino and this guy, show up and find out how not to ever again.

I'm Sorry, You Call Yourself What?

Okay, this being my first exposure to CunninLynguist, a 3-man troupe from Lexington, Kentucky, a number of introductions ran through my mind;

‘CunninLynguist has created the type of album that just makes you feel good…’
‘CunninLynguist’s new album sounds like miracles, looks like gold, and smells like fat chicks when I’ve had too much to drink…’
‘CunninLynguist forewent it’s usual fare of beating around the bush and really decided to drill this album for all it’s worth…’
'This album has changed me; I now realize half my exes left me for guy’s who were more regularly down for some CunninLynguist…’

But the truth is that Strange Journeys: Volume 1 is so well-written, so incredible in it’s breadth and depth, that it really doesn’t need me to try to be funny. In a very real way, this album is what hip-hop is meant to be. I haven’t been this impressed since Ricardo showed up late to the party sporting stylized gashes in his face and tried to jump off a balcony, claiming red-wings gave him balls. Actually, it’s excactly like that, but completely different, and better.

So first I want to gush about how CunningLynguists incorporate a wide series of literary elements without too-heavy a reliance on any particular one. Not only can these guys throw down end rhyme (typical) and internal rhyme (getting more typical), but they’re able to make honest use of extended metaphor and poetic imagry. The best talent they have is wit and humor though. Brief snatches don’t do the work justice, but:

“I was a pimp, bitch, mixed with modern day romeo
But now my pimp look more like polio”

Out of 'Hypnotized' or

“When I fall in the front door and land in the backyard
Physics don't apply
Midgets in the sky
Skipping 'round my head, singin', 'Negro, you so high'"

On 'Never Come Down'.

The CunningLynguist crew also demonstrates the deceptively incredible skill at just telling a straight story. Seriously, the art of storytelling has been almost completely lost due to MTV's ability to make you forget you were actually listening to a song for some reason by simply flashing a shitload of girlflesh at you while some dude dances worse than a white-boy at prom with a stack of monopoly money in one hand and what passes for his ego in the other. 'The Distance' and 'Dance For Me' both feature a straight story of decline, told with a full plot, including denouement. While lesser acts can’t stay on the same subject for more than a couplet, CunninLynguist not only serve up material fit for Saturday cartoons, but it rhymes. How cool is that?

Cunninglynguist bring every talented indy-rapper ever, from the guys I’ve been digging since I was old enough to put shovel to dirt while jamming out The Box on an early-nineties stereo in my back yard (Slug, from Atmosphere) to the guys I was handed a sampler for free at a show two years ago and actually decided to buy their shit from iTunes (Grieves), and a bunch of artists my faux-friends have completely failed to inform me of (E-famm). Part of that’s because this album is a mixtape though, so it would be inappropriate to assume CunninLynguist outsources this much of their production on the regular. The point though is that they’re doing work with other artists of excellent taste. The cooperation makes great work legendary.

CunningLynguists think deep thoughts too. 'Die For You' is the closest thing to advocating chastity in a rap song I’ve ever heard. 'Don’t Leave' juxtaposes the hardships of being on tour with the family left behind. Even their political perspectives deserve credit; instead of going for the cheap ‘it’s whitey’s fault my community looks like that clip of Basrah they showed on the news’, they talk about the 2nd amendment and being left out of Obama’s economic stimulus. Sure they talk about drugs and corrupt pigs too, but the more I research it, the more I find myself being critical of officers of the law as well.

Most importantly though, these guys bring it. The first couple of songs on the track are heavy-hitters, songs that really get you pumped up to go out and move shit. There are party songs, work that’s fun to listen to because you can tell the artist really enjoyed writing the piece. And both of these genres are done without self-consciousness or hesitation.

So basically, these guys do everything. And they do everything so seamlessly even the most critical of reviewers can’t doubt their mastery of the craft. On my one to five scale I’m giving this one Aspergers, because it literally made most of its competition look mildly retarded- good enough to function in society, but the type of act you let win at checkers because if they lose they’ll throw a tantrum and shit the rug.