Whatever your vision is of what Hip Hop is "suppose" to sound like, I doubt the
Victor Shade LP would not qualify. Pairing two north end representers together for an enitre project, one on beats and one on rhymes, proves to be a glorious affair in mic skills and booming drums. Get the kneck braces out!
At first thought Ra Scion and MTK don't seem to make much sense. One is a well known concscious Seattle emcee, the other a contract beat maker probably most well known for his placements with Jedi Mind Tricks and their extended crew. The combination proves to be perfect as Mack The Knife delivers some stellar beats to which Ra Scion proves to be the perfect emcee for, utilizing his ever varied flow to ride these beats home.
I saw one commenter state on
206Proof that Scion has always been too complicated for him and it is true his verbiage is far more complex than many emcees, some would argue that makes him better than most. It's definetly not a con.
The way you sound on the mic and over a beat are important as well and I think it's probably the flow that has kept Ra Scion ripping mics over the years. So smooth and precise. You will never not know what he said as long as you pay attention, words are not mumbled or slurred. They are announced to the world.
They open the project with the thumping "Pym Strut" featuring a great vocal sample stating "Tell Me" and with the hard guitar chords chopping along, I can't wait to hear this in the Admirals Club. On "Bodega Politics" we first hear Ra and he makes his purpose known, billing himself as a fighter of crime with the gift of rhymes.
The samples MTK employs throughout this record are stellar and bring a smile to my face regularly hearing beautiful sounds drop in, adding just that extra flourish to a beat. Gone is much of what you've come to expect from Ra Scion, but not so much in the sense of content but in the way he chooses his words.
The Victor Shade project will make some waves for the sheer fact that it isn't what else you are hearing right now. Seattle is inundated with some great Hip Hop at the moment and these two just stirred the pot heavily with a record full of boom bap production and storytelling lyrics that provide context for a greater conceptual theme for the whole project.
Come out Saturday night to celebrate the release of the project and party with us! You all know what Fatal does, if you do not -
COME! For those just hearing the name Luck One get ready to be hearing it even more, he is a young cat from Portland who recently relocated up this way and is preparing to unleash is full length on the public later this year. I also hear there are some out of towners in for a regular show who know how Members Only does and might just have to get down. Be there.
If you were somehow not in the building for their monumental performance at Neumo's a few years back, for shame! Digable Planets are back to give you another dose of that blowed out 90's golden age audible excellence Friday, August 21st.
