Last Updated on Thursday, 16 February 2006 09:07 Thursday, 16 February 2006 09:07

News Stories - U-God

Overall Rating: 4/5
Written By: ShArP ShOoTeR

After some time in the rap wilderness Darkim Be Allah and AllahWise are back with an album packed with minimal production and lyrical gems. The album is an Internet only release, with only 1000 copies pressed making this a must for collectors. The album begins with the excellent scratch-fest, which is “The Anthem”. Darkim kicks off the record dropping gems like “I drugs niggas like PCP, still I’m calm and I’m humble when ya meets me”. The tightly crafted soundscape, courtesy of Shakim, is a true shining point. Next comes the drastically minimal “Next of Kin” produced by Darkim himself along with Strokin’. With nothing but a piano loop to go by, AllahWise holds the track down with lines like “I ain’t to blame for all them stickin’ dope all up in their vein, sweatin’ like pourin’ rain, damn they look all the same”.

Next is the tremendous “Strokin’” on which AllahWise holds it down. However, the true shining point is the excellent production. “Don’t Stop” is better lyrically with AllahWise spewing his emotions over a laid back loop. The hook is one of the most memorable going “Shit don’t stop, till the casket drop, blast shots, money in the socks, hit the stash box” and taking fans back in a strictly Wu-Tang-ish way. “Block Famous” is short but street with perfect production and Darkim spitting “Phones tapped, don’t call, only fam remain loyal”. “Time to Eat” is nice, but not as memorable as some of the tracks it preceded with AllahWise holding it down but not really shining like earlier. “The Reunion” is less memorable than some other tracks, but still goes hard with Darkim rhyming “Rhyme fame, slayin’ emcees with the mind game, baddest motherfucker in my time frame”. “The Reunion” and “Time to Eat” both see a low-key return of Allahwise, with him only rapping on one other track on the rest of the album. “Phone Call” is an excellent concept track with great production courtesy of Shakim once again. Once again Darkim spits excellent lines like “Catch calls from the precinct, feds in the state pen, who’s callin’ up sayin’ nathin‘?”. “Unbreakable Code” is another focused track by Darkim with lines like “We’ll leave your wounds hot, shot from an angle in, innocent niggas becoming tangled in, barely hangin’ an commissions changing in”. “Where Does That Leave Me” is the final appearance of AllahWise. The production sounds much more professional than on some other tracks and the chorus on this song is second to none. Finally the bonus “Life & Music” is a nice effort that sounds extremely Wu-Tang like but doesn’t hold up against the other tracks.

All in all this album is a tremendous effort which should bring Darkim more coverage in the future and lights the path for one of Wu-Tang’s quietest bees to bring himself to the forefront. This isn’t the peak; we’re still at base camp.

Overall - 4 out of 5.