Album Review – Vast Aire

Vast Aire

“OX 2010: A Street Odyssey”

(Man Bites Dog / Fat Beats)

Cult status can be a strange burden to bear. Just ask NYC’s Vast Aire who, after gaining critical acclaim as one half of Def Jux duo Cannibal Ox at the turn of the millennium, has spent the last decade juggling fan expectations with a desire to explore his own creative path.

Returning with his third solo album, the Jamaica, Queens lyricist delivers another collection of unpredictable beats and rhymes that are simultaneously rooted in underground boom-bap and golden-age mic skills whilst still managing to break away from the norm.

Taking inspiration from Stanley Kubrick’s similarly titled epic 1968 sci-fi movie, “OX 2010: A Space Odysssey” is a concept album of sorts with the intergalactic theme appearing to be more of a metaphor for the individual creative space Aire occupies in the Hip-Hop universe rather than an excuse to rely on gimmicks such as laser sound effects and rhymes about little green men.

The album starts in high-gear, with producer Kount Fif supplying Vast with a selection of back-to-back bangers. The previously-released single “Nomad” is a dense barrage of harsh cuts, chopped orchestration and hard drums that celebrates the NYC resident’s desire to “rhyme outside the mould” as wack emcees get “squashed like a garlic clove”.  The rolling pianos of “Almighty Jose” find Vast being joined by longtime ally Karniege to “get a little retarted like midgets with cerebral palsy”, whilst “The Man Of Steel” is a gleeful example of Aire’s typically random worldplay, as he draws on everything from blaxploitation flicks to computer game consoles in his efforts to defeat his verbal competition.

Producer Fif really outdoes himself on the brilliant “I Don’t Care” which features Wu-Tang affiliate Cappadonna. Over blaring horns and rumbling bass the pair revel in their shared old-school Rotten Apple rap attitude, with Cap proving how formidable his Shaolin sword can still be when matched with the right production.

Speaking of which, Vast Aire unfortunately falls into his own sonic black hole on a couple of cuts, with the space-age bounce of “2090” and the cluttered “Merry Go Round” not standing up well against the remainder of the album.

The Thanos-produced “Horoscope” matches 80s-style synths with leftfield love raps (“Isn’t life great? She fell for me after hearing my mixtape”) whilst “Thor’s Hammer” is an all-out lyrical invasion with Raekwon and Vast’s former rhyming partner Vordul Mega delivering cryptic lines over an effectively stark musical backdrop.

The unlikely combination of Detroit’s straight-talking Guilty Simpson and Vast Aire’s spontaneous flow actually results in one of the album’s best cuts in the form of the Ayatollah-produced “The Verdict”. I for one would definitely not be mad if the pair decided to join forces for an album or EP.

Closing the album out is the previously heard “Battle Of The Planets” which finds Vast aiming his proton rhymes at “emo thugs with pink t-shirts on” along with his former label Def Jux and fellow NY rapper Cage – a strange way to end the project considering this track was all over the internet in 2009.

Vast Aire has always been an emcee who has divided listeners – you either like him or you don’t. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed his often strange yet always entertaining verbal displays, and whilst “OX 2010” isn’t likely to change the opinion of any of his critics, at this point in his career Aire is probably past caring.

“A Space Odyssey” may not represent everyone’s ideal of the future of the funk, but it is the sound of an accomplished artist confidently blowing a few craters of his own into the surface of Planet Rock.

Ryan Proctor

Live Review – Murs

Venue: The Jazz Cafe, London  Date: 13 April 2011

Murs is a born performer. That much was evident mere seconds after the West Coast emcee had casually sauntered down the stairs onto the Jazz Cafe stage, placed his backpack down and launched into his opening cut complete with star-jumps and animated head-nodding, turning what had been a fairly subdued crowd into a sea of waving arms and cheers of approval.

Having missed opening act Stig Of The Dump due to traffic issues, this particular writer arrived at the venue just after 9pm to find a mixed crowd of fans chatting amongst themselves as the sound of  Beat Junkie J. Rocc’s new instrumental album “Some Cold Rock Stuf” found its way from the speakers.

The atmosphere in the venue was hardly electric, with things picking up only slightly when Murs’ deejay Foundation took to the stage and dropped some Dilla, with the Living Legends lyricist appearing soon after and thankfully dispelling any doubts that the crowd were simply their to pass the time rather than fully appreciate the talents of one of the most entertaining artists to come from the underground West Coast rap scene.

Although Murs has a fairly hefty back catalogue behind him, with almost twenty years worth of releases to his name including albums on Def Jux and Rhymesayers, it was clear early on the majority of those in attendance were interested primarily in seeing the LA wordsmith perform material from his four collaboration albums with North Carolina super-producer 9th Wonder.

Tracks such as the humorous “Bad Man” and the Curtis Mayfield-sampling      “H-U-S-T-L-E” were met with much appreciation as 9th’s crisp beats boomed across the venue and Murs dropped his lyrics with the type of pinpoint precision that can only come from an artist who has spent countless hours on stages across the world perfecting his live act. “It’s cool to be in front of a crowd I can actually converse with in English,” said Murs at one point, hinting at the amount of time he’s spent in recent weeks trekking across Europe.

Breezing through his recent remake of Common’s 1994 classic “I Used To Love H.E.R.”, Murs then showed his more diverse musical tastes, performing both a short cover of a Tech N9ne track that became his anthem after touring with the cult rapper in 2009 and also a cut recorded with Italian dance duo Crookers, which seemed to perplex as many members of the audience as it entertained, prompting Murs to laugh out-loud whilst thanking the crowd for “letting us bug out with y’all.”

Proving that the  down-to-earth, everyman personality heard in his music is definitely no act, Murs displayed a genuine connection with his fans, engaging in banter with those in the front row, flirting with female audience members and recounting tales of broken relationships and tour stories with the candour and timing of a stand-up comedian.

With a clear knack for expressing both the joy and pain of the ongoing battle of the sexes, Murs dropped an almost back-to-back selection of his female-orientated rhymes, including “Silly Girl”, the poignant “Break-Up (The OJ Song)” and the self-explanatory “Dirty Girl”, originally recorded with Atmosphere’s Slug on the duo’s 2005 Felt album “A Tribute To Lisa Bonet”.

Bouncing around the stage like a Hip-Hop Peter Tosh, with dreads flying in all directions, Murs was clearly ready to end the performance earlier than his deejay. After the rapper thanked everyone for coming out and supporting, Foundation seemed adamant about ensuring Murs performed for just a little longer, leading to an amusing exchange between the pair – “You dick! What if I can’t remember the words to that?” exclaimed Murs when Foundation pointed to a track title on his Serato set-up that obviously wasn’t a usual addition to their set.

Part intimate performance, part exuberant showmanship, Murs’ Jazz Cafe gig included all of the elements that make much of his music so enjoyable – raw honesty, witty wordplay, personal reflection, genuine humour and an ability to tap into the ups and downs of the daily grind that are shared by us all.

An underground rapper who is serious about his art but who doesn’t take himself too seriously – now, that’s not something you get to see everyday.

Ryan Proctor

New Joint – Hangar 18

Hangar 18 – “Highly Anticipated” ( Def Jux / 2008 )

Dr Bombay – Del Tha Funkee Homosapien

Drop Magazine speaks to Ice Cube’s cousin about his debut 1991 album “I Wish My Brother George Was Here”, artistic depression, Kanye West, and his forthcoming project on Def Jux, “The 11th Hour”.

Part One

Part Two