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REVIEW:
Overall Rating:
 
Lyrics:
Beats:
Written By: ShArP ShOoTeR
After some time in the rap
wilderness Darkim Be Allah and AllahWise are back with an
album packed with minimal production and lyrical gems. The
album is an Internet only release, with only 1000 copies
pressed making this a must for collectors. The album begins
with the excellent scratch-fest, which is “The Anthem”.
Darkim kicks off the record dropping gems like “I drugs
niggas like PCP, still I’m calm and I’m humble when ya meets
me”. The tightly crafted soundscape, courtesy of Shakim,
is a true shining point. Next comes the drastically minimal
“Next of Kin” produced by Darkim himself along with
Strokin’. With nothing but a piano loop to go by,
AllahWise holds the track down with lines like “I ain’t
to blame for all them stickin’ dope all up in their vein,
sweatin’ like pourin’ rain, damn they look all the same”.
Next is the tremendous “Strokin’”
on which AllahWise holds it down. However, the true
shining point is the excellent production. “Don’t Stop”
is better lyrically with AllahWise spewing his emotions over a
laid back loop. The hook is one of the most memorable going “Shit
don’t stop, till the casket drop, blast shots, money in the
socks, hit the stash box” and taking fans back in a
strictly Wu-Tang-ish way. “Block Famous” is short but
street with perfect production and Darkim spitting “Phones
tapped, don’t call, only fam remain loyal”. “Time to
Eat” is nice, but not as memorable as some of the tracks
it preceded with AllahWise holding it down but not really
shining like earlier. “The Reunion” is less memorable
than some other tracks, but still goes hard with Darkim
rhyming “Rhyme fame, slayin’ emcees with the mind game,
baddest motherfucker in my time frame”. “The Reunion”
and “Time to Eat” both see a low-key return of
Allahwise, with him only rapping on one other track on the
rest of the album. “Phone Call” is an excellent concept
track with great production courtesy of Shakim once again.
Once again Darkim spits excellent lines like “Catch calls
from the precinct, feds in the state pen, who’s callin’ up
sayin’ nathin‘?”. “Unbreakable Code” is another
focused track by Darkim with lines like “We’ll leave your
wounds hot, shot from an angle in, innocent niggas becoming
tangled in, barely hangin’ an commissions changing in”. “Where
Does That Leave Me” is the final appearance of AllahWise.
The production sounds much more professional than on some
other tracks and the chorus on this song is second to none.
Finally the bonus “Life & Music” is a nice effort that
sounds extremely Wu-Tang like but doesn’t hold up against the
other tracks.
All in all this album is a
tremendous effort which should bring Darkim more coverage in
the future and lights the path for one of Wu-Tang’s quietest
bees to bring himself to the forefront. This isn’t the peak;
we’re still at base camp.
Overall - 4 out of 5.
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