Steve 'Flash' JuonThe 2000 release of Analog Brothers, was for all intents and purposes another one out of Kool Keith’s dozens of side groups with brand new pseudonyms. Adopting the name Keith Korg (combining his real first name with the name of famous manufacturer of synthesizers), he recruited friends like Marc Live (as Marc Moog) and Ice-T (as Ice Oscillator) to join him in his supergroup. The potential on paper was tremendous, but like many of Keith’s projects, it wound up fading into relative obscurity.
Ostensibly 2013’s “Slang Banging” is a solo project from Silver Synth a/k/a Black Silver, one of the original members of the Analog Brothers. The subtitle “Return to Analog” strongly implies that this is a sequel to the original project, and aside from Ice-T, all of the original members make a return here. The key member turns out to be Kiew Kurzweil, while DJ Junkaz Lou handles production as he often does on many of Keith’s Junkadelic projects. Junkaz provides a sane sound, much like KutMasta Kurt does on various Kool Keith classics, but Keith’s role in “Slang Banging” is minimal at best. Lou’s hard production is a welcome dose of boom bap in this sci-fi fantasy. Synth declares himself “Analog Brother numero uno” before turning the mic over to “Captain Korg” Keith on “Ziplocked”:
Keith: “Jump over the average face
Get it, tip it, flippin, mad ferocious
Psychosis, I’m now they oh-six
(Millenium music) all the way to Stanwith
Sign the plantiff, own the vocals…”
Synth: “Man I got a cavity from all these sweet rappers
Find me some white ass so I can blow her wig backwards
I had to get my mind right and her head game was tight
A break from knocking fledgling emcees out of sight
Still fornicating with verbiage…”
It’s a bit of a shame that Black Silver/Silver Synth shows Keith up so badly, but Silver’s verses on the song are tightly constructed and delivered with clear diction while Keith just rambles and mutters. Perhaps it IS appropriate that he’s “numero uno” then, or that by the time you’re done listening to “Slang Banging” he comes across as an underrated emcee who never really got a fair shot in the last 13 years. On the other hand according to his own biohe’s stayed busy as a “booking agent, entrepeneur (and) family man” and the background image shows him with a thick honey and fat wad of cash. He’s doing fine, and that’s true of this album too – it’s “fine.” Maybe tracks like “Serious (Slang Banging)” and “Danger Zone” won’t revolutionize the rap world, but they don’t hurt your ears either. I’d like to hear from Junkaz Lou & Silver more often.