Rhyme Village :: Carcass in the Desert :: Western Manor
as reviewed Steve 'Flash' Juon
Straight outta Lancaster! Crazy motherfucker named
Cleen. From the
gang called Rhyme Village, seen? Even though he's from a
city where he feels hip-hop isn't taken seriously, Lancaster
is one of the 30 biggest cities in Cali, which given the
population makes it one of the 150 biggest in the U.S.
It's not surprising that under such highly urbanized
circumstances he'd find a crew of like-minded emcees, band
together for a common cause, and put out an album together.
They are China White, Joe Sharp, Whut IAM, Sa'eed and Just
Kauz respectively. Cleen did a promotional video for the
album talking about life in Lancaster, including some of
the surprising restrictions on freedom of speech there.
Individual credits are hard to find on "Carcass in the
Desert," but if their promotional videos
are any indication, it seems that Whut IAM is a DJ/emcee
while China White is a producer/emcee. We already know that
Cleen can rap
as that's been well established in previous reviews, and
his distinctive nasal tone can be easily picked out on
most tracks. Authentic b-boy sentiments can be found on
tracks like "Revenge of the Synth":
"You all about the culture? I'm sure
Most rappers never even windmilled before
Still found time to practice, breakin out rappin
Every time I'm in the spot I get that party crackin"
You could get the wrong idea that they're a pistol packing
posse from song titles like "Duck Hunt" and "Beautiful Day
to Die," but the only thing they strive to kill is competition
on the mic. The songs with the best production, like the old
school throwback "RV Radio," and the smokers anthem "Hella
High" can help them achieve those goals. My personal favorite
is "Mind Frame," which starts out with Cleen talking about
people who are anything but, getting messed up to cope with
the world. Weaker songs like "Up Early in the Morning" drag
the album down - given the Ice Cube reference I expected
far more. The everybody-all-in "Can't Stop Us" could have
been a great statement for the group, but at 6 minutes
long the overly simplistic instrumental repeats a little
too long. The biggest drawback here is that Cleen doesn't
seem to exercise the quality control he does on his solo albums, and since he's the
best rapper among them it seems like everybody else in
this RV is just along for the ride.
Music Vibes: 5 of 10
Lyric Vibes: 5 of 10TOTAL Vibes: 5 of 10
![[Carcass in the Desert]](../coverart/rv-Carcass.jpg)
Straight outta Lancaster! Crazy motherfucker named
Cleen. From the
gang called Rhyme Village, seen? Even though he's from a
city where he feels hip-hop isn't taken seriously, Lancaster
is one of the 30 biggest cities in Cali, which given the
population makes it one of the 150 biggest in the U.S.
It's not surprising that under such highly urbanized
circumstances he'd find a crew of like-minded emcees, band
together for a common cause, and put out an album together.
They are China White, Joe Sharp, Whut IAM, Sa'eed and Just
Kauz respectively. Cleen did a promotional video for the
album talking about life in Lancaster, including some of
the surprising restrictions on freedom of speech there.