Montezuma's Revenge (2009)
Album Scan
By Josh B.
In a recent interview they asked the members of the Souls why their new album to be put out in nearly a decade was titled Montezuma's Revenge? They answered the question twice. The first one is that they teamed up with producer Prince Paul and rented a house on Montezuma Street in San Fran where they lived and worked until they had the new album. Their second answer was "When you listen to it, you will shit yourself..."
After being MIA since the year 2000 save a few solo albums and guest verses not to mention the excellent Heiro collective album Full Circle, the Souls of Mischief have crafted their greatest album yet. This is not to be taken lightly. I am a very big fan of their first record 1993's 93 till Infinity but even that album was a little uneven. Their current album from front to back, line for line, theme for theme, and crazy ass sample for sample is a new classic.
On the production side of things Prince Paul is crafted the perfect sonic beds for the Souls to perform their signature jaw gymnastics. Because he went solo on the production end of things it really makes for a cohesive album that can be listened to as a whole. This is definitely a rarity in Hip Hop today when most albums are pieced out to different producers and people are ore worried about radio singles and ring tones. Now some people might argue with me about the one producer thing, with their argument being that with one producer all the songs end up sounding the same. All I can say to that is “What the fuck, that they are a shitty producer.” Prince Paul is a legend and is not resting on his laurels. Variety is the name of this album concerning Paul’s productions. From the hard hitting guitar saturated opened "Won!", to the chilled Sunday BBQ vibe of "Home Game" each track fits its subject matter. Another thing that I think helped the album were the short skits in between some tracks, which I am sure was Paul’s idea to help loosen them up and make a fun album a la De La Soul. The Morgan Freeman skit was pretty damn funny. I also wanted to hear the rest of Tajai’s verse from that skit too because it along with the beat was pretty hot.
Now Production will only take you so far and the lyrics have to kill it too. “Well they do.” (Forrest Gump voice) The foursome are hungrier than ever and spit their fast as shit multi syllabic stanzas at a rate that can not even be touched by damn near any MC out right now. There is nobody on the east coast right now that can match these guys verse for verse (Sorry Meth and Red). Each song is a gem but the best of the group are: Woni -where they literally remind you what they fuck you were missing from them. Tour Stories –This dark yet laid-back track about life on the road with instantly make your head nod. "Fourmation" –Souls bring back their tag team finish each others sentences flow that are all focused on the use of the word four. Poets –Might make you arch an eyebrow the first time but it is a perfect marriage of the souls flows and thematic one-upping with Prince Paul’s beats. "Home Game" –The modern successor of "93 Till".
Even the cover art of the album done by a beat of an artist Steven Lopez looks like a renaissance of the golden era without looking dated in the least.
Now if you will excuse me, I need a clean pair of shorts.
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