SPIT: 90 Minutes of Hip Hop

Got hold of this gem here the other day. This album came out in october last year but totally passed me by for some reason. Put together by Dreddy Kruger this is a showcase in good music. A basketcase of beats and rhymes. This is brilliant stuff.

Dreddy Kruger, formerly associated with United Kingdom and Royal Fam, runs the label Think Differently Music. Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture is a truly remarkable release, taking us back to the golden days of The Wu while presenting some of the most anticipated up and coming indie artists. Concept albums do often have a tendency of crapness about them. Not this one.

Whoever put Ras Kass and GZA together on tracks deserves a medal. The album starts off with their heavy trumpet and guitar based Lyrical Swords. An instant favourite with a great mix of GZA's intellect and Rass's humour.

The second track is Slow Blues. A slow, blues-based track with a whole army of good rappers on it. Vast Aire from Cannibal Ox and Atoms Family, Wu-Tang affiliate Timbo King, RZA's cousin Prodigal Sunn from the Sunz Of Man, and the ridiculously talented (and hot) Byata - a Russian rapper/actress/singer.

Still Grimey is the next track, and once again it's an ensamble of artists. U-God, Prodigal Sunn, C-Rayz Walz and Sean Price make this song a somewhat melancholic affair in true Wu Tang fashion.

The idea of mixing Wu Tang's finest with the indie-scene's most wanted is in hindsight a completely logical and rational hit. But super-groups and concept stuff rarely work out as good as this cd right here. Where GZA and Muggs failed on their Grandmasters album, that's where this album hits it right on the head. It manages to capture the late nineties edge of the Wu while pushing the boundaries a bit further, making something we haven't heard before but always hoped would come.

The RZA & MF Doom track Biochemical Equation is a classic, and so is the Aesop Rock and Del track Preservation. A thumping piano and orchestra based track with rhymes as good as they get. Jim Jarmusch's surreal spoken word between the tracks add a little something too.

I'm usually not a massive fan of "different" stuff. I like my hip-hop straight. Beats & rhymes. So whenever I hear of a "concept album" I instantly think it'll be crap. Too "different". This album doesn't do that. Although this music may be "different" to most commercial rap on the shelves today, it's not too "different". It doesn't sound like something that tries to be "different", more like something that was meant to be.

Hopefully this album sells well enough so that Dreddy Kruger can do another compilation of hits. And while they're at it maybe RZA can finish off his World According to RZA series he started on a few years back. I'm looking forward to the Africa or Asia edition.