Sunday, August 9, 2009

Too Many Rappers






The first single of their upcoming record Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1 finds the Beastie Boys on firm Beastie ground. As far as hip hop traditionalism goes, it's not quite the return of the boom bap. The production is murky and heavy, making the mood of the tune slightly paranoid. The drums busily hack away at the beat while a distorted stream of bass, guitar, and sometimes turntables encircle the voices. Much like Erykah Badu's most recent record, the Beasties and Nas manage to sound simultaneously old school and futuristic.

"Too many rappers and there's still not enough MCs," Nas raps during the hook. MCA expounds on the wackness of said rappers in one of his verses: "Too many rappers to shake a stick at/I oughta charge a tax for every weak rap." No weak raps in this bunch. The mutual admiration society these veteran MCs belong to lash out at - what else - sucka RAPPERS and tell them who's boss.



[We wish MCA a swift recovery from his surgery due to a cancerous lymph node in his parotid gland.]