Pros: Good Production, Phenomenal lyrics. Perfect Tracklist of UGHH Stars.
Cons: 2 Hiccups
The Bottom Line: Get this. If you are a fan of Underground Hip-Hop this is for you. Even if you are in 50 mania you still will like and appreciate this.
MajaFiggaz's Full Review: We Came From Beyond, Volume 2 [PA]
Mike Nardone's Beyond radio show has always been in front of hip-hop's revolutions. Whether championing Cypress Hill before the stoners discovered them or helping break the Freestyle Fellowship out of South-Central. Not to mention helping to put Jurassic 5 on. Nardone was recently hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the most influential allies of up-and-coming hip-hop on the West Coast." Nardone’s new We Came From Beyond Vol. 2 disc follows up on his 2001 compilation as a snapshot of the mercurial hip-hop underground, and this time he scores over a dozen exclusives from artists like the Visionaries, Medaphor and Aesop Rock. Of the fellow Angelenos on Beyond 2, the one conspicuously missing is Madlib, unquestionably the most prolific L.A. hip-hop artist of the last few years. This summer/fall alone, Madlib will be everywhere, producing albums with Detroit’s Jay Dee who raps with Madlib together called Jaylib. and New York’s MF Doom (Mad Villain), but right now he has Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note. With 16 more trax from the cutting edge of hip hop and beyond, We Came From Beyond Volume 2 is the definitive underground hip-hop compilation for 2003!
1. Devastating MCs (Esoteric, Celph, & Apathy) - $$$$ - This Celph Titled ptoduced track. This song is pretty hot as all three rappers here rip it over this tough beat. Great to start it off.
2. Golden Age (Planet Asia & Kutmasta Kurt) - $$$$$ - This song opens up with a quick hitting flurry of beats and rhymes the mesh together perfectly making this one of the best Planet Asia song's I've heard in ages. Planet Asia spits some f!ckin flame here and his flow is seamless on this track. Kutmasta Kurt absolutely got ugly on the beat and this is also one of his best. Sh!t when you first turn it on you probably think this is something DJ Premier produced. "Knowledge and Self, Poverty, Perfection and Wealth/Needs and Wants, the ways of describing myself".
3. What The F!ck (Oh No) - $$$$$ - This beat is absolutely ridiculous. I mean Oh No really laced it up with this one. Lyrically Oh No goes ballistic on this mothaf!cka. He spits crazy sh!t, in the form of some hilarious metafores. He talks about a whole lot of marijuana use but no biggie. The beat and his lyrics meshed togther is just pefect. The chorus on this track is also tight as it keeps within the overall flow of the track, and after a while you will probably not even realize that there is a chorus. Even though at the end he talks the ladies and fella to move with it as if it's a club song, I can't see it as being that but, it most definitely is a banger.
"I am so serious. Raw Dog lyricist/
Spread like the flesh virus, for those hearin this/
I'll smack ya face and crack it like it was mad of a China acrillic/
Still it was scripted, tha ox villans(?) smokin weed out of aluminum pipes/
Mechanical lung, with the gift and the flight, Half animal, half atomical type/
A spit like my brain is a livid brittanical encyclopedia, I been hittin the paper ready to write/"
4. Chump Change (J-Zone) - $$$$ - This is J-Zone's smack at freeloaders from his latest album "Sick of Bein Rich". This starts out with a cartoony type of beat. A familiar tune gets added to the beat during the chorus but I just can't pin point what it is. He starts sayin don't ask him to borrow sh!t because he mad broke. He explains that when it comes to clothes he got the same sh!t from 96'. He broke up with his girl on christmas because he don't spend money on chickens. He also talks about aint nuthin in his fridge, but his stomach get full when he come to your house. F!ck payin for a hair cut, thats why he rock an afro. He also so broke that on thanksgiving he be eating turkey-flavored Bugles. Oh yeah and if this song review looks familiar its the exact same from my Sick of Bein Rich review. The score however is high because on this album, this song is a great change of pace, where on Sick of Bein Rich, every song was a humorous one and this paled in comparison.
5. M.P.C. (Visionaries) - $$$$ - The beat by Dj Rhettmatic here is tight. Each of the Visionaries spit above average verses on this track. When the chorus comes around you will be boppin' the sh!t outta your head as this track spils along fluidly at a pretty tight and consistant pace.
6. School's In (J-Live) - $$$$$($) - The song Schools In was on the "Apokalipse" album. I know this song's remix was also on J-Live's "The Best Part" This song showcases J-Live spittin some fire over a really sick beat. He spits a generic battle rap here, but it's mad hot none-the-less. This song is like a huge hybrid of life, and hip-hop in the form of school. The second verse on this song is one my all-time favorite verse.
2nd Verse:
"Ya see somewhere in-between the old school and the new school/
A master of the next school came to teach the now school/
Cause Business class was steady playin' old trick on new fools/
So everybody rocks jewels, but can't nobody drop jewels/
One track minded, blinded, thinking only pops cool/
Supply and demand rules, replaced my A&R rules/
A scholar of the next school, wo wasn't tryin to hear that/
So principals and teachers abroad began to fear that/
'If this guy makes an impact on the students that we play/
They'll end up havin' way too much control over thier grades/
See grades will equal status for power so just like college/
You're so caught up in letter grades, you skip the F'in' knowledge/
See that's how music power shows you listenin of the maker/
And they's why music makin shows you listnin of the faker/
So when the listener, graduates to be an artist/
You still enslaved by the principles becase they're heartless/
First they make you imitate another man's skill/
Now you use your power for another man's will/
Move the crowd's mental when they tell you sit still/
Move the crowds pockets instead to get the bread/
Yeah that's what the students gather from what the principal said/
They make you think the world bleeds green instead of red/
But class is in session now so all that stuffs dead/
I'm comin through with knowledge and wisdom to fill your head."
7. Government Cheese (Lifesavas) - $$$3/4 - This is a pretty serious song about life in general and poverty. This has a pretty gritty, beat which fits this song about poverty, pretty perfectly. They speak on this, asking "Welfare, Is it really fair?". They talk about the use of food stamps. They also tell rapper not to lose there soul on trying to go, and thinkin about whose going platinum.
8. Afro Joint (Black Love Crew) - $$$$ - This joint is about life on the street. Dr. Oop really gets off on this song. This chorus has them relieving strees by simply pickin out ya afro! This song has a type of quirky funk feel to it. Nice.
9. Miss by a Mile (Aesop Rock, Eydea & Slug) - $$$$ - This Blockhead produced beat is pretty nice and slow for this weed smokin' track. All 3 of these guys spit tight on this humorous track. Aesop Rock shines however stealing the show with show laid back flows. Nice track all in all.
10. The Justice (Wildchild) - $$2/3 - Ugh. Oh No laid down a banger for his own track, but he gives Wildchild a sh!tty beat which ruins this song. It's all cluttered up and sounds like a cutting room reject from Secondary Protocol. In a matter of fact you wouldn't thought it was a Madlib produced Secondary Protocol track, rather than Oh No. To top it off Wildchild spits some fire here, but it is f!cked my this jumbled up beat. Well Wildchild doesn't disappoint as I already said. He gives an introspective verse about Earth and Hell and then he just goes ugly on this. He also shouts out many other rappers, alot of them featured on this album such as the Visionaries, Slum Village, and Jurassic-5...Ugly beat. Good job Wildchild...Oh No. This beat? OH NO!
11. Why is the Sky Blue (Vast Aire) - $$$$1/4 - This beat is pretty mediocre not bad, not too great. However, Vast Aire soars far above mediocracy on this track. In his first verse he gives some introspective raps. In the second, he raps about himself as a youngster and how he used to like wrestling and karate, as he states that Ric Flair was his favorite wrestler. In his last verse he gives a generic battle rap. This joint is tight and the beat is the only thing preventing a perfect score.
"I heard Justice was blind, when Uncle Sam f!cked her/
I heard she came when he whispered he loved her/
Young and Nieve she thought nothing of it/
And respecting her, He thought nothing of it/
I just want to get my point across like Jesus/
So I look to the sky like Hey Zeus/
You got answers, Cause I got questions/
Fold my arms peep the clouds and recieve lessons/..."
12. Chollo Dad (People Under The Stairs) - $$$$ - Thes One drops a tight beat for PUTS on this one. They rap a harrowing tale of a chick named Chollo. Thes One goes first then Double K follows up. This is a very humorous song. Chollo's pops is a ole' vato from the hood, and he pretty much makes sure aint no one gonna f!ck his lil girl.
13. Not The One (Aloe Blacc) - $$ - The beat here is the only thing worth noting, as Aloe Blacc ruins it with a botched memo on mackin' with this garbage.
14. Picture This (Apani B) - $$$$$($) - F-I-R-E. Now I am not really a fan of females rappin because like Lil Kim most of the chick aint got sh!t to say, except tha d!cks comin out they mouth. However Apani B spits some introspective sh!t here. Apani B rips this muthaf!cka with some angry rhymes. In her second verse she gives advice to the females out there. "A Life simalar to your own/When your free, but ya not really free/To act, say, think as you please/If I was you I wouldn't walk the streets/Keep ya eyes on the peeps that pass/Watch n!ggas who be watchin ya @ss/Ya'll better run if you see the police/Cause there's a chance that ya might get beat/Get shot, or stomped out wit feet/Meet death or another worst fate/Take your pick sodomy or get raped...".
15. Ain't What You Thought (Medaphoar) - $$$$$ - This beat is mad gritty. This track is just straight up raw. Medaphor rips this sh!t up. He spits straight introspective rhymes here. He raps about streets life for the most part. The beat and Medaphor together is a combination of perfection here, and it shows with this banger.
16. Matter of Time (Maroons) - $$$$ - This beat is abused by synthesizers. This song is pretty much about life. They also talk about the world tryin to change hip-hop but it just aint happenin.
Yo if you haven't figured out by now, this album is sick. You should cop this is you are a fan of hip-hop period esp if you are interested in underground hip-hop. Besides a couple of bad tracks this thing is full of positives. Great production for the most part and every rapper here(Save Aloe Blacc) rips the song they are on to shreds with above average lyrics everywhere. If you are a hound for great lyrics this is for you.
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