producers: various.

compilation includes: megabusive, smash adams, rase, reyzhon d, triangulum, el uno, dick jones, others.

With everyone from Blaze to your moms and 'Big Willie Label #4' jock riding the westcoast underground nowadays, it's time to show 'em all the middle finger. While it's dope that acts are getting the well deserved shine, we agree with Bill Baren (CEO of NuGruv Alliance) when he says: "Whenever you see acts going to majors, it's a sign that the movement is either about to mutate or die out. If history repeats itself, as it always does, I see this as the death of this movement as we know it" (Blaze, June/July 2000, p.72). Then again, this is even deeper under the surface than what is currently blowing up. This is some honest homegrown hip hop, that's sub-underground, done on analog 4 tracks, nevertheless banging, done by full time artists, and it's their bread and butter, but still these cats really do it for the love.

Open up shop with "Mood Music", Rase and Gas One team up for an intro like instrumental of menacing piano's and slicing scratches. The piano continues on the Rase produced "Flashlight", that has Reyzhon attack the mic. A culmination of punchlines 'open the door for the misguided', that will then be seriously set straight. Even flipping things and dropping some social commentary, the FTA beatsmiths Dick Jones and Rase team up on the next cut "Fuck The Radio", with the live bass and scratches of Sidous Idiom. Atmospheric like a late evening car ride near the coast, this track is allaying us into it's grasp, before the scratches pick hair outta our skull. Curiously enough, Smash Adams decides to scream and gasp over the interlude that is "Artilary", using "Pasttime Paradise", at the end even chopping it up. "Freak Transmission" is continuing the insanity introduced by the track before, with Megabusive, Macro Axe and El Uno lyrically stomping the mic over this bubbly Megabusive beat. Either this is to be followed by some serious psychological session, or we just continue on with "Furious Turntable Army", as done by Gass One and his brother Pete. The intensity on this turntablism cut is dope, with heavy scratching, a lot of dd-chigga-d-chiggasss.

For all those that like their beats in the far left field of the spectrum, "Some People" produced by Triangulum and with lyrical contribution by himself as well as U.C., this is talking about 'fucking trees' and 'nocturnal pimps' and if that, spit within the same bars, sounds tempting to you, then this is where it's at. "Triangulum Freestyle" unfortunately is getting lost somewhere behind the sound quality, as the beat is dope, and with the voice alteration, this has some alien parasite type feel. Dick Jones gets a phone call "Interlude", before he offers his summer beat, only referred to as "Instramental" here. This is almost too sane for the rest of the tape, but the butterflies and pink pants are only a disguise for another mutated monster to step forward, carrying a rock in it's pawn.

What takes us to the b-side, opened by "Stranger", with a beat by Rase and lyrics by the female Neila. This is not yet the promised monster, or better, still the caterpillar and not the moth yet. However, it shows a lotta teeth, and we're not talking about a smile here.

Showing his notch for emotional music, "Samurai Jesus" produced by Dick Jones, is another very dope instrumental cut, completed with a Prince sample, as well as some movie voice samples. The atmospheric strings carry this like spread wings through a cloudless sky. Or something like that. The next interlude "I'm Sick" also belongs to Dick, before he provides the beat to Luke Sick, to kick "Stuble". Like an unforgiving sin, this is chased through hollow caves, bats constantly ripping small pieces off our skin. Then Rase is blessing us with two freestyles, one being "Dumb Ass Freestyle" and "Dumb Ass Freestyle 2". The beats are somewhere unfinished and instantly broken, strange structures of patchwork effects, while Rase is showing and proving. Giving away this coasts origin, Joe Dubbs' "What Got Us Here" is carried by the same funk as the first Del album, or some long lost Digital Underground cut. Dope to get our groove on, still a canyon size break to the rest of this tape. But not allowing this style to be the last impression we have, Megabusive is giving Pilot Rase and Smash Adams a beat on "A Bunch Of Shit" for them to provide us with rhymes, that will have us search for a mirror image, cause we want any confirmation, that another face looks equally puzzled as we are, as it goes on for many minutes.

Aight. This is not to be taken lighthearted. It will burn an hole in your unsuspecting innocence. Prepare slowly for being treated to a trip. A trip of something not described. This is dope, but it's fair to say, it's not for everyone.