Upon first listen, the tracks laid down by this Richmond, VA six piece sound like straight up, solid, hard hitting hip hop. Delve a little deeper, and wha- are those live drums? They are. And they lay the grooves that the rest of the group sinks into, taking the music in funk and jazz driven directions that work perfectly for the two lyrically ambitious MC's. Balancing out the traditional hip hop side of things, the songs are peppered with slick cuts on the turntable, adding a sometimes gritty juxtaposition to the smooth bass lines and the more mellow guitar riffs. It's a group effort, and through the 11 tracks, you can see how comfortable the collective is in challenging themselves with content, both lyrically and musically. "Rule of Thumb" starts off with an unassuming acoustic progression, and eventually builds into a tight groove that matches the intensity of the lyrics. "Fallen" is a great song to end the album with, riding a tight funk rock feel with cuts all over it, keeping the MC's working until it segues into a loose breakdown at the end. It's tough to pull of great live band hip hop, but these guys make it happen.
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