This album (aptly titled "The Album") is odd right from the outset. On the first track, Lyrics Born and Lateef are both rapping at the same time to the same beat, growing in intensity and syllables until it reaches a sort of poetic climax. It's almost impossible to listen to either of them until you realize that they are panned hard right and left, and if you adjust the balance on your stereo you can listen to one or the other. Obviously that's not what they really wanted you to do though, because you are only listening to half your stereo at that point. Luckily after that verse ends they don't try the same trick again. These guys come from the same camp as Blackalicious, and have a similar sound and subject matter, but I like both their flows better than the Gift of Gab's because his, while technically amazing, are so scientifically precise as to be almost boring. Lyrics Born has quite a bit of soul and can actually sing pretty well too; Lateef is more of an emcee's emcee with a very freestyle-oriented flow. There's a fair bit of freestyling on this album ("The Album"), and in general it has kind of a pieced-together, not too cohesive feel to it. I'm also not a huge fan of the production, but the lyrics are clearly the star of the show. The individual tracks contain, at times, some pretty wowing showmanship. Good to have in your shuffle.
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