Mile-wide swarms of hip-hop alliances, affiliates and supergroups often result in the louder/pushier overshadowing the better. Through the clatter, though, the Boot Camp Clik umbrella has preserved a solid clump of mic monsters with retro-military flows untouched by the rest, under the radar but still near enough to the surface to allow accessibility.
This Brooklyn-seasoned block of talent — boasting such innards as Smif-N-Wessun, O.G.C., Buckshot of Black Moon and Sean Price (the latter two enjoying well-deserved 21st-century solo success) — now revamp the simplistic ’90s beauty of steadily hammering wily wordplay, knee-bobbin’ beats, party whistles and carefully looped brown sugar.
Of the three 9th Wonder-produced tracks, only one too closely rides his typical orchestral, sweeping rise-and-fall formula, while Large Professor effortlessly pumps out the best sample-laiden backdrop on the album. Marco Polo’s jumpy pulse is the least experimental, but a well-made, danceable beat can’t be argued with just because it lacks invention. Ill Mind, Pete Rock and others add to the all-star production lineup, slapping the on-guard MCs around a little for one hell of a showdown. “The arm bone connected to the hand bone/ Nigga, the hand bone connected to the damn chrome,” grunts monkey-man Price over echoing, dusty-high piano keys courtesy of Sic Beats.
It’s been too long since a hip-hop record fresh out the studio made this girl’s pace quicken like it did during the early days of discovery. Boot Camp Clik will take even the most jaded headphoner back to the days when beats and raps ruled the streets and the art was still raw, at the same time setting the flawlessly gritty standard of the future.
