Soundbombing

The standout tracks are those involving perhaps the greatest but most short-lived hip hop collective ever, Company Flow. 'Lune TNS' and 'Fire In Which You Burn' (credited to the Indelible MCs) both find their way onto this mix, and once again remind listeners how much of a shame it is that they split so prematurely. Elsewhere RA The Rugged Man is his usual uncompromising self on 'Flipside' and 'Till My Heart Stops'.

In contrast to the rough and obdurate work of Company Flow and The Rugged Man, Rawkus stalwart Mos Def lends his silky flow to proceedings. His classic cut 'If You Can Huh' remains one of the strongest works in the Rawkus annals and is found towards the end of this mix. Fans of the most underrated man in hip hop will also enjoy his freestyle with Talib Kweli which links sides A and B.

Other impressive moments include the snapping drum and thumping subterranean bass line that backs ‘Empire Staters’ by B-One, Kool Keith’s familiarly obtuse rambling on ‘So Intelligent’ and the melodious whistling that accompanies L-Fudge’s ‘Show Me Your Gratitude’.

While the mixing for the most part is stylish and unobtrusive, the biggest criticism one can level at this mix is Evil D's insistence on shouting his name every couple of seconds. This reviewer realises that every DJ puts his name on some tracks during a mix; but Evil D pushes the listener's tolerance to the limit, by taking every opportunity to remind the listener that, "Evil D is on the mix" or that "Evil D is in the area." Trust me, it's more annoying than it sounds. However the quality of the tracks on offer is such that this minor fault does not detract too much from the music.

Overall this is a very worthy purchase for any fans of intelligent hip hop and a worthy reminder of how imperial Rawkus was until the lure of major label dollars became too strong to resist; but if you only ever buy one Soundbombing collection, make it the 2nd one.

On further listenings, I find myself skipping the Indelible MCs and Sir Menelik tracks (even though one includes Kool Keith) and Evil's Side A and Side B intros and putting up with his dumb shouts. It's not the ideal way to listen to a CD! Maybe 10 of the 17 tracks are good, enjoyable (listenable) Hip Hop cuts.

On a whole, the CD's worth a listen if you're fan of Rawkus, but don't expect the quality you've become accustomed to through CDs by the likes of Mos Def, Black Star or Reflection Eternal, or even the Scratch Perverts Rawkus CD from HHC a few months back.

There's too many tracks to go through individually so the best will have to be hauled up.

"Fire In Which You Burn" has one of the best verses on the album by J-Tredz of Company flow but the off-beat flow and jerky backing track won't be to every b-boys taste. "Arabian Nights" has a haunting ethereal track over which Double-S shows his skills adequately if not inspiringly but the flow fits the track. "Fortified Live" is a lyrical showpiece for Mos Def and Talib Kweli showing why they felt the need to do the BlackStar album and you'll be nodding your head for weeks whilst trying to recite the words. However, the albums high points have to be the solo Mos Def tracks produced by Hi-Tek and Shawn J Period. In the space of a couple of years Mos has become THE premiere concious lyricist and shows why on two of his earliest joints combining a beautiful track "If You Can Huh" with a lanquid flow that'll have you hanging onto every word that this philosopher says, even if you don't agree. All true hip hop heads should have this album and its superior successor Vol. II

Ah, the downsides, there's a few average tracks or stuff that people "won't get", myself included. Lune TNS ruins a prodution that should have warranted better lyrics and delivery - It's just a shoutout tune moreorless. As part of another tune it would and should have been have been amazing, "So intelligent" is just running off at the mouth showing off the full range of Kool Keith and Sir Menelik's big word fascination. But apart from these two, which aren't bad the album's dope. Buy it if you love hip-hop not Huff Crappy and his cohorts.