Up Above Records has another heat rock on their hands with their latest release. The Visionaries' We Are The Ones (We've Been Waiting For) is the fourth CD from the massive LA crew and it packs a hell of a punch. This CD is really tight, no doubt about it. You will walk away from listening to it with a new favorite song, as almost all of the tracks are rewind-worthy.
This is real hip-hop music, with the core ethics of the boom bap firmly in place. How could it not be, with such underground household names like 2Mex, KeyKool, DJ Rhettmatic, Dannu, Lord Zen and LMNO lacing the project? That really is all you need to proceed. Speaking of "All We Need", the video to the lead single is making its rounds on YouTube. It shows the crew hard at work on the road, kicking wicked rhymes in the back of the van.
It's only a matter of time before that J Dilla-produced "All Right" is a video, too. Hopefully the video will move me more than the track did. (That's right, I said it.) I can hear the back packers talking sh!t about me right now, but I have to be honest, it's not the hottest J Dilla track I've ever heard. It does have a certain grace to it, very fitting with everything considered. But it's one of those beats that has to grow on you. Not like my personal favorite song off the album, the Madlib-produced posse jam, "Need To Learn". Featuring appearances by Brother J (X-Clan), RBX (DPG), Rakka Iriscience (Dialated People), Sadat X (Brand Nubian), and YZ, "Need To Learn" is one of the hardest tracks from the crew, period.
"The Moreye/Reprise" is another nice song, with 2Mex Looking Daggers partner Ikey Owens and Mas Yamagata. "Crop Circles" will light up dance floor ciphers, and J Rocc's "Do Gooders feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow" is equally as nice. We Are The Ones (We've Been Waiting For) is fifteen cuts full of pure hip-hop. Features bangers by Kozmonautz (KeyKool and DJ Rhettmatic), DJ Khalil, Kev Brown, J Rocc of Beat Junkies, the late great Jay Dee aka J Dilla, Madlib, James Alsander, and Polyhedron. The music is positive, hard hitting and on point. With beats by some of hip-hop's elite, this one is on its way to classic status. I know what they have been waiting for, but I'm not sure about you. Go cop that!
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