Very few DJs are as seasoned, as good and as complete as DJ Revolution. See, while some DJs have been in the game for a very long time, they aren’t necessarily good scratchers or mixers. Others attempt to produce tracks, but fail miserably and others who attempt to drop non-mixtape albums seem lost if they aren’t yelling all over the track. DJ Rev succeeds in being one of the best at his craft in just about every sector of the DJ. One common compliment Rev will get from his listeners is that he gives a purpose to the DJ. A purpose that has lost it’s meaning since the early days where the MC’s would turn back to the DJ as if they were running the show. On King of the Decks Rev does run the show and he, for the most part, handles the impressive list of features accordingly while dropping ridiculous displays of scratching and dope production.
The album starts of amazingly strong with back to back to back features including Sean Price, Tash, KRS-One, Guilty Simpson and Royce. Everything is on point whether it is the top notch, addictive production from Rev or the hungry and honourable rhymes of either artist. The KRS-One track, “The DJ,” is a certain standout and Royce continues showing why he’s arguably the hottest MC on the microphone at the moment.
The production is laced with hard hitting drums and without question, some of the dopest chorus cuts one might ever hear. Premier claims that “no one cuts like him,” a statement that Rev loops and cuts on a track; it is insane. The DJ takes the driver seat on the entire album and this spotlight is evident on the scratched choruses and lyricism toward Rev. This is a fresh take on the early 90’s style of hip hop, an era Rev was very much present for, and he delivers throwback after throwback with modern touches of gold on each one.
Rev does what he can, but the bottom half of the album slowly drags on. The best MC performances are displayed early on in the album and by the time you get to “Willie Lynch,” the caliber of MC’s is minimal. The production is sadly dragged down with it and for an album that is 24 tracks long (granted, with some skits), the repetition and bore sinks in much too comfortably.
The album suffers from its greatest strength, a strong start. The bar was set very high early on, but very little replay value is found past track 13 or 24. With that said, Rev still provides some of the best production of the year over a needed refreshing sound to take things back to the wheels of steel.
Overall Score: 72.5/100
Standout Tracks:
“The DJ”
“Do My Thing”
“Funky Piano”
{ 1 trackback }
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Need to check this one out.
“the dj” contains the same sample as swizz beatz “where the cash at”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jTWvpLRAPU
i think swizz’ beat is better, although he used his boring 100-times used “ima hustla”-snare.
but i like those songs above
but swizzy ruined his song, because HE rapped. “the dj” has KRS on it. so, this ones better all in all.