Shockadoom

Album review

Recorded in 1998 after a four-year hiatus precipitated by Self Jupiter's incarceration, Shockadoom is the Freestyle Fellowship reunion album that so many anticipated but unfortunately didn't get the chance to hear until its release by Whig Music in 2002. Fortunately the album's standout track, a blistering display of lyrical dexterity titled "Can You Find the Level of Difficulty in This" was released as a single by Celestial Records in 1999. Both the original version of the song, produced by OD, and its drum-n-bass remix, produced by DJ Hive, emphatically marked the return of four of the West's most influential new-school rhymers as a cohesive unit. Mikah 9, Aceyalone, P.E.A.C.E., and Self Jupiter each present themselves at the top of their game throughout Shockadoom, with vocal styles that make it a point to capture both the present and the future by reviving past African-American musical traditions. On "We Will Never" each Fellowship emcee patterns his verse after a syncopated saxophone riff that repeats in the background throughout the song. By trading improvised licks based upon a common motif, the group illustrates the oft-overlooked commonalties between bebop and hip-hop. In many ways the Fellowship repertoire puts a modern spin on the work of jazz vocalese pioneer Eddie Jefferson, who during his lifetime made it his trademark to put recorded instrumental solos to words. The practice works wonders within the rap idiom as songs such as "Desperate" and "On the Run" feature the Fellowship throwing their voices to and fro with as much dynamic conviction as Charlie Parker or Jimi Hendrix. With OD's jazzy production setting tones of tribal inspiration, Freestyle Fellowship creatively transforms his sparse loops into ritualistic affairs. As it conjures the spirits of respected ancestors at the same time that it encompasses contemporary culture, Shockadoom is nothing short of music to meditate upon.

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