This intriguing project is the collaboration of two one-time Connecticut-based MCs/Producers, Deto-22 (Dee-toe twenty-two) of the group named Phenetiks, and Sketch Tha Cataclysm, the now-Minneapolis-resident and solo MC and producer probably best known for his highly-regarded album Party Music for Pissed Off People. Both Deto and Sketch polished off perfectly symmetrical performances on the effort, each lacing up a pair of instrumentals, rhyming over two of each other’s beats and then covering one of each other’s previous tracks: A total of 10, for those keeping count at home.
The album opens with an incredible piece of instrumentation done by Sketch in “Theme for a Dope Urban Drama” that’s both catchy and non-introduction-y. It could easily stand on its own as a compelling piece of music in any instrumental album, and serves as a nice welcoming invitation to an album that continues the well-crafted back-track legacy. “This Much Hip-Hop”, the album’s single release is the second track on the album, also produced by Sketch and this time with word provided by Deto. This track seemed a strange choice for a single as it’s sort of hard to get into, especially on a one-pass and Sketch made it clear that it was intended to be that way—”if you dig this track, you will certainly dig the rest as it only gets better,” is the premise.
“This Much Hip-Hop” isn’t a bad track, it’s just different in a way that makes it a little bit difficult to grasp. The instrumental is all over the place with a lot of Led Zepplin sort of wailing and the occasional beat box blasted over a minimalist drum pattern with heavy reverb. The lyrical landscape is laid out well with Deto’s baritone delivery and no competing bass line to speak of, but it’s certainly easy to get lost in the ‘shroom trip taking place in the background.
Deto lays a funky party beat with the occasional air horn on the next piece, ”The Sound” while Sketch describes a competitive dance-off between DJ’s and builds tension with low and slow storytelling, only to switch to a stutter-step flow bridge into a Rastafarian-accented chorus. The song alludes to one of Sketch’s biggest appeals: his ability to change his rhyming style on a whim and create depth between multiple personas behind the mic. The track ends and butts up to Deto’s first instrumental, which is nice, but serves as only a mediocre and melodramatic transition of sorts between the lively track beforehand and the next piece, “Son of Bob Ross”.
This ode to the infamous ‘fro-rocking tree-painter is a nod toward persistent creativity with a nice high-horn laced beat from Sketch. One of the highest points of the album, everything comes together nicely with the chorus, “I’ll be writing till the pen dries, I’ll be shining till the sun sets, I’ll be spitting till the mic drops,” making the message clear and concise. The track is backed by another high-point, Deto’s cover of Sketch’s “Rebel Music” is an excellent rendition of the track originally from Sketch’s earlier mentioned Party Music for Pissed Off People. The second half of the track sees a new airy beat and Deto rattles off a verse quite reminiscent of Inspectah Deck’s oft-quoted opening bars from “Triumph”.
“Honestly, my policy’s / to bomb emcees that consciously / constantly, leave progress de-lete conscience when they bottom feed / Sonically they’re mockeries / job is beatin’ honesty / out of these beats and breaks, rape our property”.
The last four tracks consist of commentary on the nature of accents, an original piece by Sketch, Sketch covering a track from Deto’s The Sandbox Set, and a closing instrumental by Deto. All joints are on-point, with Sketch’s lyrical abilities again shining through on his two last opportunities on the mic. The closing instrumental ends the album on a more somber note.
Closing notes on the album, there are certainly a lot of high-notes and note-worthy instances in this effort, both Deto and Sketch display their prowess both on rhymes and boards, and the two Ant Farm Affiliates members collaborate nicely. One of the only drawbacks to this EP is that there seems to be a lack of cohesion from start to finish. It’s an excellent display of their work—although it starts off a little slow, it certainly finishes well—but the album’s ability to pull together all of the different elements into one solid effort is slightly lacking. Mostly in part to the different elements that are incorporated (original pieces, covers and instrumentals) and the tone of each piece, the overall feeling of the album is that of a disjointed collection of pieces pulled from various outside sources.
If that was their intention, then they have certainly succeeded in compiling such an album, however if they were more interested in creating something that flows smoothly from one piece to the next, the fell a little short in some instances. Fortunately, their talent supersedes the gripe and sonically the album is still an appealing concoction of beats and words cleverly incorporating each artist’s range of talents.
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