I'm thinking they could have either left this one on the shelf or trimmed it by half -- there's some straight filler here and a few songs that might be cool the first time but feel more like novelties than anything (Turnt Garveyite -- I hope Murs and GAM work together again soon, though).

The number of tracks that stand on their own is ... on the smaller side.

Or maybe it just needs some resequencing -- or maybe some of these tracks just don't go well together.

BUT

Oddisee's No Trouble is *great* and both verses are top-notch, probably marking a few of my favorite verses so far this year. That second verse especially has a couple lines that just hit right.

The other Oddisee tracks and the Open Mike Eagle, Skyzoo, and Marlowe tracks are great, too. And I like Iron Steel Samurai (Quelle Chris/Alchemist) but it does feel a bit out of place here. (Again, sequencing.)

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~