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September 24, 2008
Termanology - Politics as Usual: Album Review
Termanology, Politics as Usual (Nature Sounds, 2008)
Termanology is a young latino kid out of Massachusetts who must have pictures of DJ Premier engaged in some sort of bizarre sex act. Not only does he have three Primo tracks on this, his debut album, but two of them don't even appear to be from Primo's budget line.
IT'S TIME
This beat by Easy Mo Bee (really?) sounds like it could very well have been left over from the Ready to Die sessions. Termanology doesn't bother rapping over it though. He just kinda whispers his name. I swear, Termanology must say his name more than any rapper since MC Hammer.
WATCH HOW IT GO DOWN
If you notice, DJ Premier has been rather prolific as of late. He kinda disappeared for a while a few years ago, once it became clear that he was never gonna have a new idea again evar. That Christina Aguilera money must be running out. Anyhoo, this is some of the best shit I've heard from him in a minute. I'd compare it to Royce the 5'9's "Boom," except not quite as good. It's got similar strings though.
RESPECT MY WALK
I should point, though it's gonna become clear as this review continues, that this album has the most ridonkulous production lineup of any rap album evar. It's like the new Illmatic. It's even damn near all of the dudes that worked on Illmatic, except LES and Q-Tip.
HOOD SHIT
As an MC I doubt anyone's gonna accuse Termanology of being the new Nas. He's got a voice like a 15 year-old kid, even though I'm assuming he's at least in his 20s. It's not a dealbreaker though. He has a tendency to do this whisper thing with his voice, which I find amusing at times. And as you can probably gather at times, his subject matter tends to dip into cliche rather often.
FLOAT
Producer Nottz, who's clearly out of his league here, flips that one Floaters record (don't pretend as if you know more than one Floaters record) for the chorus to this one. It's kinda cool the first time you hear it, just because it's motherfucking "Float On," but otherwise this isn't anything particularly special.
PLEASE DON'T GO
The requisite song for the bitches. I'm sure he's figuring maybe a few black chicks will cop his shit, because he's got that good hair that we all covet. But was this really necessary?
HOW WE ROCK
The one where Term and Bun B rap over a Primo beat. You might have heard it already on one of those mix shows that play late at night on weekends for dudes that don't go out on a lot of dates. This beat is the kind of beat that's led Primo to doing several joints on a Termanology album in the first place. (Though the scratched chorus is typically stellar.) And don't even get me started about the Bun B verses, where he rhymes several bars in a row that all end with the same word.
DRUGS, CRIME & GORILLAZ
The third and, thankfully, final track here by Nottz. The chorus consists of audio of some old crackhead talking about how we've got drugs, crime and gorillas. (Seriously, that's what it is.) Guest rappers Sheek Larouche and Freeway acquit themselves well, though you wish they could have rocked over pretty much any beat on this besides this one.
IN THE STREETS
Why is it that Hi-Tek, a guy who's production style is so Dilla-soft, produces so many tracks that are obviously meant to be hard street records? I mean, besides the fact that he's probably still eating off of that first G-Unit album. A waste of a Lil' Fame guest appearance. He does beats, right? Hmm...
SO AMAZING
Another Primo joint that's surprisingly dope. (Wow, does it feel weird to type that.) It's just as Primo by numbers as that joint with Bun B, but it's got more of a minimalist edge. He really chopped the shit out of whatever it is he sampled here.
SORRY I LIED TO YOU
The one where Termanology gets a bit emo. Large Professor's production reminds me of his work on Stillmatic and that one solo album he put out several years back, in that, if that's all you ever heard of him, you'd wonder why he's considered such a legend. He might consider working with more samples.
WE KILLIN' OURSELVES
As you might have guessed by the title, this is the one where Termanology gets all preachy. The production by Pete Rock would have been nails, had they figured out something to do with the chorus.
THE CHOSEN
And what's this, a beat Prodigy that sounds left over from Hell on Earth? Damn. It's too bad they couldn't have gotten Prodigy to spit some bars over this. He's usually not at a loss for words. And he does contribute guest raps to "Hood Shit," which was produced by his boy Alchemist.
COMMENTS: I'm not sure whether to declare this album way better than it has any right to be, or kind of a disappointment. On the one hand, it's impressive that Termanology has put together such a listenable album, given that I find him to be a rather marginal talent. But on the other hand, this album could have been so much more. I mean, just look at the production lineup.
BEST TRACKS: "Watch How It Go Down" "Respect My Walk" "Hood Shit"
BONUS VIDEO: "Watch How It Go Down"
Posted by Bol at 12:01 PM | Permalink
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