DJ Revolution - King of the Decks: Album Review
DJ Revolution, King of the Decks (Duck Down, 2008)
DJ Revolution is probably best known for his work on the Wake Up Show, a popular hip-hop radio program, hosted by that guy Sway, from MTV. I know he's also put out a couple of these compilation-style albums.
He's streaming all of this new one right now on his MySpace:
INTRO
An intro. Jazzy Jeff, the guy who used to DJ for Will Smith, lets us know what it takes to be king of the decks. Which I'm pretty sure is not actually an official title.
KING OF THE DECKS
Revolution clearly has a penchant for those DJ Premier-style choruses that consist of scratched up vocal samples from various rap songs. There must be millions of them on here. This must have taken forever to put together. What a nerd.
THE DJ
The one with KRS-One, Revolution's label mate over at Duck Down, which I know is also home to hipster rappers Kids in the Hall. What gives? Is Duck Down the new Koch? At any rate, this is the best KRS-One in a minute, even if it does sound like he's just pulling this shit out of his ass.
DO YOUR THING
Guilty Simpson and Royce the 5'9 team up to discuss how cold it is in the D, over what sounds like a sample from the soundtrack of a '70s-era blaxploitation film. No American Gangster.
LA D.J.
Revolution shouts out a bunch of LA DJs (I'm assuming).
FUNKY PIANO
At the beginning of this one, someone shouts out, "Drop that West Coast shit!" I was expecting P Funk samples, and all I got was the same shit as every other track on this. I guess the MCs featured are from there though. Ever wondered what Crooked I sounds like? I'm still wondering.
THE BIG TOP
The classic song about how rap sucks now by a bunch of dudes no one ever heard of. I'm getting a warm, fuzzy Rawkus Records flashback. No Kids in the Hall.
START THE REVOLUTION
You had to know there was gonna be a track with the Bootcamp Clik on this. I wish it was more Bootcamp-sounding, but what are you gonna do?
SCRATCH NERDS
Some nerds get together to talk about their favorite obscure scratches and what have you. Some guy is mocked for being into shitty mixtape DJs. Hopefully, this will kick off some kind of DJ beef.
INVADERS FROM THE PLANET SCRATCH
Two scratch-oriented tracks in a row? You're trying my patience, Revolution.
EY
Was Revolution trying to go for a Latin feel with this beat? If so, you can hardly tell. It'd make sense though, since this features Joell Ortiz and Termanology. Joell Ortiz does most of the heavy lifting, then Term shows up at the end and does that dumbass whisper flow thing he does.
CASUALTIES OF TOUR
Crap, it's Dilated Peoples!
DAMAGE
Aging New York badasses Blaq Poet and Bumpy Knuckles team up to rip this, perhaps the most Primo-esque track on this. The Bumpy Knuckles verse makes you wish he was more prolific in his old age.
WILLIE LYNCH
Fifth-rate dead prez, with a couple of MCs even I've never heard of. Even more humorless than you'd imagine, given its title.
THE BIGGEST UP
A clip of DJ Premier questioning whether or not DJ Revolution is a cheater.
BLOW DA SPOT
Surprise, the Strong Arm Steady feature is as boring as watching paint dry. I know, shocking.
SCHOOL
This one's got kind of a Kool G Rap "Truly Yours" feel, albeit a bit more organic-souding. Planet Asia, the Rakim of Fail, takes it as an opportunity to put on a clinic. Bonus!
SPIT RIDICULOUS
From the sublime... to the ridonkulous.
PROS & CONS
They couldn't have had both of the guys from Dilated Peoples on the same track? This album's 24 tracks long! At the very least, they could have just ditched the one with Iriscience, or whatever his name is.
CALLING HAUL
I missed what this was supposed to be, and I'm not rewinding.
MAN OR MACHINE
However, I will fast forward.
THE SET UP
Crap, it's Sway! How in the fuck did this guy ever find work as an announcer?
THE RE-MATCH
Like, the DJ equivalent of a dis record. Perhaps the nerdiest thing ever committed to tape in the history of hip-hop. As NoMamesBuey would say, Revolution ethered himself by even putting this together.
RAIDED R
Some more scratchin', in case you hadn't gotten enough of it yet. FWIW this might be the most impressive on this to date.
COMMENTS: Not that this is saying a whole lot, but this is easily one of the year's most listenable rap albums. If the quality of the guest rappers was consistently high enough, I'd be ready to crown this one of the best of its type, right up there Pete Rock's Soul Survivor. But, alas, side two gets a bit too Dilated Peoples-y, or should I say, Strong Arm Steady-ish, for all but the most committed nerd rap fans.
BEST TRACKS: "The DJ" "Damage" "School"
BONUS VIDEO:
