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Album Details

• Artist: Various Artists
• Album: Definitive Jux Presents 3
• Label: Definitive Jux
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-07-19

Rjd2, El-P, Aesop Rock...all hip hop names that you have come to respect in the industry. Yup, the underground is hopping and at the fore-front we have labels like Definitive Jux forging the path for all others to follow. Instead of looking back at some of their classics, the label decides to let us in on what they have up their sleeves for the coming year. Phase 2 opens up the album with a bit of a spoken word ditty that gives us a bit of a hip hop history. Then the album kicks in with one of the label's big stars, Aesop Rock and an exclusive track "All In All". He takes a bit of getting used to but once you warm up, he is hot. Later on in the mix we get treated to a remix of his "No Jumper Cables", done by DJ Pawl. The mix adds a little to it but if you have Bazooka Truth, you probably don't need this exclusive mix. One of the label's rookies is Hanger 18, a group who's debut album is due out this year. We hear "Take No Chances" and "Beatslope" both on the upcoming Multi-Platinum Debut Album. They have a bit of a dark style but that's nothing new for the Def Jux label. Of course, what would a Def Jux comp be without label-head El-P? He checks in with "WMR" and "Oxycontin Part 2", a couple of great tracks. Another newcomer is Despot with a track called "Homesickness". It's one of the low points of the album. One of the better contributions is the exclusive "You're Dead To Me" from El-P's buddy, Murs. As usual, this is a pretty solid compilation and the first few pressings contain a DVD with a few of their videos.

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