#John legend sidetalk full#

Their clarity is their one redeeming feature with the lyrics solid but predictable. As a contrast, such a style works well, but here, as the focus, it is found lacking. The problem is that the vocals fail to excite, being the usual monotone rap used as a foil for traditional jazz-funk vocals with bands of that ilk.

There's some nice grooves and beats on here - a bit lacking in that vital spark in places, but enough to get you smiling and nodding your head. The music capitalizes nicely on its jazz-funk base to take in gentle forays into reggae ('The Ropes'), swingbeat (UK hit 'Spiritual Love'), 90's soul ('Just a Matter of Time'), Latin percussion ('The Consequence'), utilizes acoustic guitar on the title-track and even rock-guitar and P.E. One listen to the album and it's easy to see why their mix of live instrumentation and samples owes more to the laid-back jazz-funk shuffle of UK bands like Galliano and the James Taylot Quartet than to hardcore US-rap exponents such as Public Enemy. 'Urban Species are a London rap outfit on the UK acid-jazz label Talking Loud. Yes, the sounds are of a champion, but the rhymes are more like the Los Angeles Clippers. Thus, conceptually this dream project would have been even dreamier if they had enlisted the talents of Mos Def, Black Thought, or Pharoahe Monch. The sounds of Bollywood (Bolly’hood?) weave their way in and out of the title track and 'Survival Test.' No one wants to hear an album mostly filled with half-baked boasts and largely forgettable tales of female seduction. Madlib is arguably the better emcee of the two, but not by much, as he’s just had more time to practice honing his mic skill with his numerous alter egos like the helium-voiced Quasimoto who appears on 'Re act.' Beats-wise, the album is borderline first-rate as Madlib and Dilla appear to be digging heavily in the Classical Indian music crates for inspiration. While Jay Dee (Dilla) rhetorically raps 'and who says producers ain’t s’posed to rap?' on 'The Mission,' he doesn’t exactly do a great job disproving this theory on 'Heavy' or 'Mcnasty Filth' alongside his more talented Motown protégés Frank and Dank.

On the Madlib-laced 'The Official,' the distorted bass lines and grimy drums are sure to make the jiggy, jaded, and conscious bob their head unremittingly.

#John legend sidetalk full#

So what happens when two of rap’s most renegade producers flip rhymes over each other’s beats for a full album? For starters, you get a whole heap of possibilities as to where hip hop can go sonically. Most rap producers and their Roland keyboard mama’s wish they could ply their verbal wares on the mic, while their emcee counterparts often jones to twiddle a knob or two (or 24). 'EMC is a movement and Hip Hop should get ready for something really special', says Stricklin. With the combination Stricklin's personality, the cleverness of Punchline and the word play and work ethic of Wordsworth, and the leadership of the Music Man himself Masta Ace, EMC is ready make some noise in the music industry.

And while the album proves to be a showcase of lyrical talents, the tracks themselves guarantee to bang with production by The Are, Ayatollah, Nicolay, Koolade, Quincy Tones, Frequency, and J. With more than 20 tracks and appearances by Sean Price, Little Brother, Ladybug Mecca (of Digable Planets), and Money Harm (of Product G & B), The Show is going to satisfy even the most Rap-hungry fan. 'It's not just about the music with us, we are pretty much like brothers.' EMC started a feeding frenzy in 2007 with the release of the 12' single 'E.M.C.' and now they are ready to finally drop their full-length album The Show. 'The group idea was a natural progression of the relationships we all made from being on the road together', says Ace. All three rhymesayers caught the ear of Masta Ace before touring together and all three were featured on his two most recent albums. The Milwaukee born and raised Stricklin garnered attention in the late 90's while he was signed to Tommy Boy Records and Punch and Words were integral in the success of the groundbreaking MTV program 'The Lyricist Lounge Show' and have released EP's both as a group and as solo artists. After having extensively toured together in 2001, the four became extremely close and both they and their fans recognized their chemistry. EMC is a brand new super group consisting of the Midwest's phenom Stricklin, the widely respected Lyricist Lounge duo Punchline & Wordsworth, and the Brooklyn-bred, battle-tested Juice Crew member Masta Ace. The Hip Hop world has long been looking for a breath of fresh air and four legendary emcees are about to step up together, as EMC.