CD Reviews

Keelay & Zaire | Ridin' High

MM (2009)

By CHRIS FARAONE | March 10, 2009

3.0 Stars

We're living in the era of producer projects. The past few years have yielded contemporary compilation classics from new track stars like Marco Polo and Statik Selektah, as well as from dudes like Pete Rock and Premier, who decided long ago that in rap music — unlike any other genre — even dudes behind the scenes can get away with appearing on album covers.

With their 16-cut debut, Bay Area boardsman Keelay and his Dayton-born sidekick Zaire slide onto the exalted end of hip-hop's sound spectrum — their tracks bounce lovelier than Joe Budden's girlfriend on that trampoline (consult YouTube), and they exhibit a flair that distinguishes their cross-continental steeze from that of any other beat team.

Click the autobiographical Tunji ear smacker "Addicts for Real," then peel through the delightfully reclined "Trapped" with Slo Mo and Supastition, and the sonic circus "I Used To Ride" with Fortilive and Saafir. Singles aside, the most revealing thing about Ridin' High is that — except for Rasco, Tash, Blu, and Planet Asia — the guests are pretty much unknown. Result: the majority of these cameo contenders bless us with the verses these joints warrant.

Related: Beef stakes, Boston Hip-Hop Unity Fest 2010, Skill ride, More

Beef stakes
In quality, record sales, and image, hip-hop has taken a savage beating in the past half-decade.
Boston Hip-Hop Unity Fest 2010
An optimist would say that, despite some serious disappointments, last year’s Third Annual Boston Hip-Hop Unity Fest demonstrated just how peaceful the Bean rap scene really is.
Skill ride
All it took was a Godzilla sample and a simple, forceful “Simon says get the fuck up” for Pharoahe Monch to leave his mark on hip-hop history.
Ivory and ebony
Hip-hop will never be post-racial. Pigment plays a major role at every level, and that's not always a bad thing.
Beats, rhymes, and Li(f)e
Cult-status indie wordsmith Sage Francis digs deep and blows the black mold off the diary on Li(f)e (Anti-), while enlisting an impressive roster of indie-rock songwriters.
Li(f)e story
Should nothing change over the next couple of months, July will mark one year since Providence’s Sage Francis — who comes to the Middle East this Wednesday — has written or recorded a single verse.
Legends of Bucktown
Despite his notorious blunt-scented halitosis, Sean Price feels terrific these days.
Sleep | Hesitation Wounds
On the subterranean-rap-hustle manifesto "Get It," from his new Hesitation Wounds, Portland (Oregon) MC Sleep rhymes, "I'll murder a set. . . . I'm kind of a big deal, you just ain't heard of me yet."
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.
Trife Diesel | Better Late Than Never
For anyone who best understands things in white suburban terms, hip-hop is similar to lacrosse.
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.
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Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, Music, More

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