Hip-Hop Tip
Mr Lif - Mo MegaReleasedatum: 9 juni 2006
On its surface 'Mo' Mega' appears to be more of the same renegade rap on which Definitive Jux has built its reputation. All the Jukie generals are lined up behind a battery of El-P's thunderous howitzers, barking commands, but this time something is different. In the past a Lif/El-P collusion meant mayhem and doomsday, but 'Mo' Mega' is, once the smoke clears, a personal, and, in its own neurotic way, ultimately optimistic album. Where Lif really succeeds here is in taking things personally. The pronouns are now "I" and "my," and his problems with the government are now the missed moments with his lady because he has to make a check. He's articulating the prospect of having a family when you're getting older and can barely provide for yourself, and the daily frustration of feeling like your country has failed you. None of these are musical or artistic epiphanies, but it's Lif's realization that his problems are commonplace that makes 'Mo' Mega' more interesting than his other stuff. El-P continues paring down his signature maelstroms to focused goth-funk. The guitars now riff, the keyboards stab. His drums pummel harder given more space, and odd little bits of nostalgia surface from the rubble with a sampled piano roll or horn blast. And when El-P gives up the controls, things even threaten to get fun (shhh). Edan contributes another seamless fast rap rumbler on the absurd 'Murs Iz My Manager', Lif himself flips a dancehall riddim on 'Washitup!', and Nick Toth channels Boston progenitor Ed O.G with his plinks and strums on 'For You', Lif's letter to his future seed. Not to be left out of the good times, El-P uses the musique concrete of enthusiastic sex for percussion on 'Long Distance'. It's almost like Def Jux is lightening up, and 'Mo' Mega' is the new mission statement. If that's the case, it's about time.
Hip-Hop Tip Archief
