various artists :: Illect Recordings: Mind the Rap Volume 3 :: Illect
as reviewed by Steve 'Flash' Juon
![[Mind the Rap Volume 3]](../coverart/illect-Mind3.jpg)
The music industry landscape has changed too much for anybody to be
"the new Rawkus" or "the next Fondle Em." The sheer amount of material that
you can download for free (legally or otherwise) means that no indie imprint
can release a slew of hot twelve inch singles and underground albums and
gain that reputation as a "must buy" each time out no matter how well
deserved. Rappers seem almost
resigned to this dilemma, knowing that even if they get the perfect
label as a partner who won't interfere with their music creatively, they're
still rowing upstream without a paddle trying to get people to buy it.
Despite the odds against success in becoming the "it label" of underground
rap in the post-iPod era, the Illect
imprint has still decided the effort
is its own reward. There's still something to be said for making a
commitment to finding the best up-and-coming artists, working with the best
producers, making the best music worth sharing with the masses. Illect
carefully cultivates this talent while acknowledging the realities of today's
digital landscape. Illect is
even letting fans choose which album they'll give away for free, and
while you're helping them select downloads, they've got a sampler
you don't have to wait for a vote to be tallied to enjoy.
Now I can't bullshit you - the Les McCann "Go on and Cry" sample has been
done to death in hip-hop - off of a R&B album that's as old as I am to boot.
Warren G flipped it. Crooked I flipped it. Lords of the Underground too.
Hell even French Montana used it for "Tap That" thanks to the production of
Harry Fraud. Even an overused loop can be dope though if the right emcee comes
along to bless it, and as far as I'm concerned K.I.N.E.T.I.K. is that dude.
The London emcee spits words of wisdom on "Zone Out" as he bemoans the fact
that "we used to pray before we ate, but now we take a picture first." Ah!
It's that damn technology again AMIRITE? Didn't stop him from
uploading a dope video of the song to YouTube though.
There's a wide variety of talent on "Mind the Rap Volume 3," an album that
would nearly max out the almost antiquated CD-R limit of 74 minutes.
Theory Hazit & Toni Shift's "Concealed Sorrow" cuts deep with the
chorus "I keep on faking, I keep on crying" and a tale of suicidal despair,
but the vocal pitch is what appeals to me the most - eerily reminiscent
of Quasimoto in a way I mean
as the highest compliment. The DJ Because scratching on Sivion's
"Everything Is Everything" makes the boom bap track a throwback to those
bygone Rawkus days. We haven't reviewed Japhia Life since 2000, but "Cloud" shows he hasn't lost a step.
"See I started rappin' in '94
Why you think I sound like I'm from the 90's fo'?
Back when you had to make sense, not just make cents
'Round the time the good Lord was knockin at my do'"
The line-up of some of these songs is straight up ridiculous for a free
album: Wildchild, Ozay Moore, Braille and Ohmega Watts ALL get down
on the Theory Hazit track "Modern Marvels." I actually feel remorse that
they gave this one away for free. One thing does eventually crop up over
time on "Mind the Rap Volume 3" that I feel obliged to mention there's a faint
but noticeable stream of Christianity that runs through Illect's music.
Anybody who noticed that the imprint is virtually a successor to Uprok
Records won't be surprised by that, but as with other releases
Illect doesn't go around slapping you upside the head with a Bible.
It's no surprise when you see some of Xian rap's bigger names like
KJ-52 contributing on tracks like "Scribbling Idiots" though, along with
emcees not traditionally associated with that subgenre like Copywrite -
he can be heard on Cas Metah & Wonder Brown's "Drowning Man."
At the end of the day Illect could probably never be the new Rawkus
with that undertone anyway, because no rapper on the label will ever
ask the girls to rub on they breast-eses. So be it. Dope is dope no
matter who you pray to (or even not at all) and for the low low cost
of NOTHING it's hard to get more value than you can find out
of "Mind the Rap Volume 3," which puts the headnod ahead of God
and lets subtlety rule the day.
Music Vibes: 7 of 10
Lyric Vibes: 7 of 10
TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10
Originally posted: September 16, 2014
source: www.RapReviews.com