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D.L. Chandler is a known hip hop critic who writes reviews for Okayplayer.com, and is also an artist himself, Mash Comp from the hip hop group Dumhi. He recently did a cool twitter based review of Ecstatic, Mos Def’s latest album, which I thought was an interesting use of 140 characters. I went through and reordered it based on the tracklisting. Check it out below and follow him on twitter. @DLC123.

01. Supermagic (Produced by Oh No)
Mos Def “The Estatic” Tweet Review – “Supermagic” – Oh No’s track is amazing & MD amicably matches the intensity. Just beats & rhymes. Dope.

02. Twilite Speedball (Produced by Chad Hugo & Mos Def)
Mos Def “The Estatic” Review – “Twilite Speedball” – Chad Hugo’s track goes in, but Mos Def isn’t bringing the goods lyrically. mas o menos.

03. Auditorium (featuring Slick Rick, Produced by Madlib)
Mos Def “The Estatic” Review – “Auditorium” – Perhaps the disc’s strongest track, bolstered highly by Slick Rick’s cameo. MD’s verse is dope

04. Wahid (Produced by Madlib)
Mos Def “The Estatic” Review – Wahid – Madlib’s track is dope per usual & MD’s vocal are high in the mix, supreme clarity. Subject tho? Eh.

05. Priority (Produced by Preservation)
Mos Def “The Estatic” Review – Priority – MD sounds comfortable here, song’s 2 short. Preservation’s track is enjoyable. Great song here.

06. Quiet Dog (Produced by Preservation)
Mos Def “The Estatic” Review -Quiet Dog Bites Hard – Preservation on the track again. MD slays this. Topically messy, sonically pleasing.

07. Life In Marvelous Times (Produced by Mr. Flash)
Mos Def The Ecstatic Review – Life In Marvelous Times – MD’s grimiest sounding performance yet. Attempts to sound epic, seems contrived. Meh

08. The Embassy (Produced by Mr. Flash & Mos Def)
Mos Def The Ecstatic Review – The Embassy – interesting if overlong intro. fantastic beat. MD rhymin’ to be rhymin’ but it SOUNDS DOPE.

09. No Hay Nada Mas (Produced by Preservation)
Mos Def The Ecstatic Review – No Hay Nada Mas – MD rapping in Spanish? The track is smooth and sparse enough but uninteresting song.

10. Pistola (Produced by Oh No)
Mos Def The Ecstatic Review – Pistola – perhaps the 2nd best song on the LP. Oh No’s beat helps. MD helps himself by spitting direct. Heat.

11. Pretty Dancer (Produced by Madlib)
Mos Def The Ecstatic Review – Pretty Dancer – A rare clunker from Madlib. MD does his best to make it happen but it nevr does. Needs 2 grow.

12. Workers Comp (Produced by Mr. Flash)
Mos Def The Ecstatic Review – Workers Comp – Mr. Flash is a problem. MD takes this song all over the place. Might need 2 sit with this one.

13. Revelations (Produced by Madlib)
Mos Def The Ecstatic Review – Revelations – ‘Lib’s beat is so INCREDIBLE. MD adds on w/ perhaps my fave verse from him on the LP. Greatness.

14. Roses (Georgia Anne Muldrow featuring Mos Def)
The Ecstatic Review – Roses – I prefer the original but beautiful song here. Georgia Anne Muldrow fans rejoice. Good pairing.

15. History (feat. Talib Kweli, Produced by J Dilla)
Mos Def The Ecstatic Review – History – Dilla’s beat is amazing & Kweli delivers a STRONG verse. The song is very good. 3rd best easily.

16. Casa Bey (Produced by Mos Def)
The Ecstatic Review – Casa Bey – didni’t like it @ first. grew to @ least tolerate it. dope video tho. weird song. fits the vibe tho

In all, The Ecstatic is one of the LP’s you have to really sit with and absorb. It’s prolly @ best as a headphone/long trip LP. It made me go back and appreciate “True Magic” I didn’t think that was possible. Better than New Danger tho (to me) Mos Def fans will like/love it but HEAR that he’s not giving full lyrical effort. He’s become reliant on style & voice. Sonically, the beats match Mos Def well. He’s never flat out wack. Singing has always put me off tho. Never loved that.

My last words on The Ecstatic – less than triumphant return for Mos Def. Brilliant moments, flashes of lyrical ability. Lots of meandering.

The homie Chopsteak posted a review of Southbound’s latest project, Seasons Change. Go check it out the review along with some track from Seasond Change now at ChopSteakMusic.com!

Phranchyze – Customs

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In case you missed it, the homie Chopsteak reviewed Phranchyze’s latest release, go over to ChopsteakMusic.com and check out the review.

	Benny Blue The Meaux Project S/R, 2009 Rated 3 out of 5

Listen to MC Eiht – Thuggin’ It Up Meaux Remix

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Benny Blue -  The Meaux Project Side A
Benny Blue -  The Meaux Project Side B

This double-length album is a collection of remixes from Pittsburgh, PA producer, Benny Blue. He is with the Steel Town Sounds crew, a collective of Pittsburgh producers.  For this effort, he has taken a collection of diverse hip hop and R&B tracks and remixed them using a distinctive jazz, funk, and R&B-sampling sound.  Overall, the tracks are mostly breezy and understated, with a few having a higher energy.  In some cases, they fit the tracks perfectly.  In others, though, they lack enough punch to match the vocals.

After a brief intro, the album gradually eases into a stutter-stepping version of Detroit MC Royce Da 5’9″‘s Hip Hop.  With just piano chops and drums, the track is very sparse and light.  It works decently, but leaves the listener wishing there was a bit more to grab onto.  This seems to set the trend for the early part of the set.  Kanye’s We Major is still piano driven and jazzy, but has a bit more meat to it.  Again, though, something feels like it is missing.  He finally hits his stride two tracks later, on a funky reprise of California hardcore rapper, MC Eiht’s Thuggin’ Out.  Here, the understated nature of his production becomes an asset, lending a smoothed-out west coast vibe to the track’s tough rapping.  On the following track, however, the haunting track for Busta Rhymes’ club banger Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See.  That sets the pattern for the rest of the first disc.  He does however, do a first rate job on Slum Village’s Selfish, lending the track a cool Robin Thicke vibe that would sound at home on a lazy Sunday afternoon drive.  The second disc picks the energy up just a bit though.

After a long intro with some interesting found movie audio and an awkward remix of Rich Boy’s Throw Some D’s, side C gets into the best few tracks of the whole set.  Mos Def’s Summertime is another lazy groove, but with a fuller, soulful sound.  Like the Slum Village track, it is perfect for Mos’ raps.  Diddy, Loon, and Usher’s I Need A Girl gets a light, funky treatment, and  Pussy Cat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger’s Supervillain is a really nice Latin disco bounce for the roller rink.  Method Man & Busta’s What’s Happening is the one of the higher-energy tracks on the set, with a spare funky bassline and syncopated drums.  After this, the album again recedes into slightly too light territory.  Masta Ace’s INC Ride and AZ’s Doe Or Die are decent, but not terribly memorable.

This double album has it’s share of high points.  Where it fails, however, it errs on the side of too sparse and light.  Still, the best tracks definitely make it worth a spin.

Chop Steak is an Austin, TX hip hop and R&B producer.  He also has his own blog.

	Heltah Skeltah “D.I.R.T. Duck Down/Koch, 2008 Rated 3.5 out of 5

Heltah Skeltah – Ruck n Roll (produced by Stu Bangas)

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By Choppa

The choice to appear on the cover of a hardcore rap album wearing a mask and a cape, like an extra from some R. Kelly video gone awry, isn’t one many artists would make, but then again, normal isn’t a standard that Heltah Skeltah can really be held to. That the Brooklyn duo would have a “much anticipated” release in 2008, a full decade since their last album is nothing short of amazing. This is due to the cape-clad Sean Price, who resurrected himself in the form of “the brokest rapper you know” on his out-of-nowhere solo debut, 2005′s Monkey Barz.  With that album, and its followup, 2007′s Jesus Price Superstar, Price, a.k.a. Ruck, set the stage for this reunion.

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