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Album Details

• Artist: 7l & Esoteric
• Album: A New Dope
• Label: babygrande
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: christopherdrew on 2006-09-09

Normally, I'm not a fan of recycled beats. Most artists who mine their musical past as heavily as 7L does on 'A New Dope' tend to reveal that they didn't have much inspiration to begin with, and sample-heavy breakbeats often reek of simple novelty and little ingenuity. "A New Dope', however, dispels any fear of tedium; the parts on their own might be distinctively dated, but fused together, 7L has created a soundscape that maintains a firm stance in modern hip-hop while eliciting a reminiscence of past genre-straddlers such as Meat Beat Manifesto or Consolidated. Being paired with an MC as skilled as Esoteric only enhances the sound; Eso's rhymes are intelligent and relevant (check out the disc's bookends,'Get Dumb' and 'Play Dumb', for a scathing portrayal of popular culture: "Billie Holiday he's the best/that cool band Beck is touring out west..."), his flow is catchy and confident, as he manages to go from the self-flagellation in 'Eso Ain't Shit' to true swagger in 'Take Note' (Stand out track for me: 'Perfect Person' which manages to mix the Twin Peaks theme with a simple backbeat, creating one of the finest hip-hop tracks to come out this year.). While most groups are content to posture while hiding under weak sub-genres ('Krunk', anyone? Oh, sorry, are we listening to 'Hyphy' now?), 7L & Esoteric have crafted an album that continually looks forward while acknowledging what came before them.

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