CD Reviews

Brooklyn Academy | Bored Of Education

Gold Dust Media (2008)

By CHRIS FARAONE | October 8, 2008

3.0 Stars

The stakes are treacherous when a group wait 13 years to drop a debut album. Never mind that Block McCloud, Mr. Metaphor, and Pumpkinhead have snatched more collective battle belts and cut more incendiary singles than any other Lyricist Lounge–era crew; after sliding on and off the downtown scene for a decade without leaving fans a full-length to savor, Brooklyn Academy needed more than their trademark lingual feats and basic boom-bap foundations to stage a substantial comeback. But with help from long-time ally Jean Grae on four tracks, the trio deliver a thoughtfully scripted, show-don’t-tell quasi-theme album loosely focused on the topic they know best: Brooklyn. This isn’t all previously unreleased material; “Nothing You Can Do” — which receives a cocaine-circus remix treatment — first appeared on DJ Spinbad’s 2001 mixtape Underground Airplay, at a time when the gang were calling themselves the Skeme Team. But fresh moments such as “Black Out” with Grae show that Brooklyn Ac can reign relevant in any era. Need further proof? Sample the filthy organ loop and acrobatic tongue play on the Marco Polo–produced “The Growler.”

Rip Shop | The Authenticity
Rip Shop should be one of the first names you mention when recalling Boston’s early-2000s underground rap renaissance.
Various Artists | A Boston State Of Mind Volume 2
Every night, when I get home from reporting facts, I poison the Internet with innuendo on a Boston-based hip-hop blog called jumptheturnstyle.com.
Moe Pope + Headnodic
Megaphone is my favorite murder-free rap album since Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek’s Train of Thought.
Wu where?
To be among 100-plus heads who rhyme along when the song asks “Remember when we licked the cream out of Suzy Qs?” induces straight-up euphoria.
Label makers
To keep tabs on how Duck Down maintains its hardcore tradition despite also expanding with MTV-friendly acts like Kidz in the Hall, you need look no farther than Ruste Juxx and Marco Polo.
Review: Oak Lonetree, Lava + 2
Oak Lonetree hemorrhages more discs than Kool Keith — which, for those who don't know, is a bootyload.
Donwill | Don Cusack In High Fidelity
It's hardly extraordinary that Donwill should cry a disc inspired by the Nick Hornby book and subsequent John Cusack film.
The other river rave
When heads deserted the Chinatown-warehouse rave scene in the late '90s, the house loyalists from Soul Clap and Marz Entertainment were still cracking glow sticks.
All together now
Most Boston rappers who are talented enough to succeed beyond the Bean have been collaborating for a minute.
Fresh legends
Nine out of 10 rap legends prefer People Under the Stairs. (The holdout is a crackhead.) That's no joke — in my hundreds of interviews with dudes who brought the noise and funk before the big ship sunk ( circa 1997), California underground heroes Thes One and Double K have been as popular a subject as the exploitation of old-school luminaries.
Future classic
No problem — your crib was on the way to the racetrack anyway. We’ll be able to meet Erik at the Hot Dog Safari in 20 minutes if the traffic holds up.
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