In a year that has resulted in a heap of subpar recordings, it is a great day when I come across something that can hold up to the muck. "Dramacydle" by Thump is one of them, and I probably would have missed it had I not taken a proper listen to this.

Thump has been around since the early 1990's, and proudly states in the CD booklet that 2Pac had faith in knowing that he had something special. I think these days, anything connected with 2Pac might be considered some hidden prophecy, and in Thump's case it isn't anything like that. But what Thump does have is an education in the old school, and the skills to back them up, almost a rarity these days.

He proudly proclaims he's the hottest underground rapper around, and one might think Thump is all attitude and nothing else, but that's untrue. As he states in "Hip-Hop I Need You" (which deserves to be released as a single and given some serious video airtime), it's a lot more deeper than that. In "Rob The Industry", Thump rips through the core of the moneymaking machine, while in the first verse of "Why We Die" he targets the White House in a fashion that might not appeal to some political parties, with references to being permanently locked in the ghetto with "no chance at all" of making it on the outside.

What I particularly liked the most about this album was the energy in each lyric, line, verse, and song, and the closest person I would compare his flow to would be Treach of Naughty By Nature. Thump is not about sing-songy choruses though, just well thought out lyrics that will not only keep your head nodding, but to move in the affirmative as if to say "this is damn good".

Music Vibes: 7.5 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 6.5 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10

Originally posted: September 21, 2004
source: www.RapReviews.com