just got this shit in the mail right now and banging that shit on high volumes at the MO', i've had it on my ipod prior to this but the musical experience is ALWAYS enhanced once you got your own official copy to bump with full artwork and all that good shit.
if you haven't checked this one out yet you're doing yourself a big fucking infavour cuz this is nothing short of amazing for us boom-bap heads. it stands together with "Tha Blaqprint" and "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Niggas Pt. II" as the finest and rawest of 2009, a feat. in a year full of good releases. this is actually Freestyle Professor's debut album although they've been around in the shadows of DITC and the BX since 1994 when they released the underground classic "Down With The FP's", produced by Showbiz and Ahmed. Since then not too much have been heard besides a few guestspots until 2006 when they launched their own record label and started releasing a whole bunch of unreleased dope shit from the '90s.
the lyrics and beats on "Gryme Tyme" is a perfect marriage, the two MC's bounces off eachother with preciseness whether they just spitting ill freestyles or doing heartfelt concept joints like 'Valley Of Death', 'Lords Prayer' and 'Think About It' amongst others. guests are kept to a minimum and only within the family (Don Q, Akbar, Stanley Grimes and even Lord Finesse) which is a plus in my book.
production-wise the shit is equally strong, Branesparker is the main producer and he supplies hardcore breaks with muddy samples straight off some dusty vinyl. His sound is very close to the DITC squad, which shows when he manages to hold his own with his beats against their contributions (they all contribute a beat each; Show, Finesse, Diamond and Buckwild). Other guest beats comes from Minnesota (who supplies a real dope joint) and J-Supiria.
i could go on forever breaking down this joint track-by-track but what's the point, all I wanna say is that you should definitely pick this up as soon as possible. especially if you're a fan of the grimey '90s east coast boom bap and especially D.I.T.C. projects like Show & AG's "Goodfellas" and Big L's "Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous". the Freestyle Professors, who released the album independely, need your support too so order this shit at
www.freestyleprofessors.com and support that real hip-hop!!
9.25/10
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