Killarmy Presents 9th Prince
The Prince of New York
Babygrande Records
Theoretically speaking (or not so theoretically), the concept of time consists of various moments. Walking your dog, making dinner, your first kiss, wetting the bed...all in the realm of our "time." Nostalgia acts as a catalyst to trigger one of these moments, most likely in memory. Seeing a dog reminds you of when you walked your own, a candle scent reminds you of the aroma during your first kiss, getting drunk and wetting the bed reminds you of...well, being sober and wetting the bed. All of these are triggers for nostalgia. A symbolic form of time travel, if you will. You don't have to necessarily experience a moment yourself to have something be nostalgic. And this is the case with Killarmy's 9th Prince and his newest release, Prince of New York. Let me explain.
I certainly never grew up in New York City during the early '90s, specifically in the projects. I never went through the come-up or struggle of urban youth life. However, 9th Prince's latest effort puts me there. Not from personal experience, not from my moment, but from Prince's moment. His moments in New York are projected in Prince of New York, the album acting as the nostalgic trigger. Following? Early 90s New York was home to some of the greats...Gangstarr, Nas, Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang, and not only does 9th Prince recognize and tribute this, but he has created an album that sounds like it was sold as a tape deck from the back of Tony's car in the projects, and at the same time sensible to buy on iTunes. And I mean that in the most glorified way possible. The lyrical style is very similar to RZA's, which is no surprise being that 9th Prince is his little brother and Killarmy is a Wu-Tang affiliate. But, nonetheless, Prince of New York separates itself from anything else and stands on its own as an amazing street-smart album from the Prince's kingdom.
A lot of this is heard in the various production talent. Monster drops a hard, orchestral bomb on "Sniper Challengers" with movie track samples that turn the tune into a powerful blast of energy, which 9th Prince matches equally well on his vocals. "Aiyo, Staten Islanders/rhyme challengers/carry silencers/I spit like the snipers/right through the shot/Martin Luther King off the banister/lyrical dillinger/Came to battle cats, the contender." There is only more where that came from. It looks hectic typed out, but 9th Prince brings these bars together like peanut butter and jelly. William Cooper brings a soulful, dark, and soothing beat on "Bottom Line," with female vocals to back the beat, chanting "We're runnin' out of time/this is bottomline." "Ain't Promised Tomorrow" brings a harder hip-hop approach with production by Gooch, where "Like Like" has Beretta 9 jam a jazzier, piano-driven beat. I could go on for days about the diversity in production for Prince of New York, but it is something you must hear for yourself. Blues, jazz, rock, samples, etc. and more, all containing itself within the hard-drive street stompin' hip-hop of New York.
This album is special in a lot of ways. Killarmy sticks to their hardcore roots of 5 Percenter philosophy and New York City backgrounds. They make no negotiations with how they present their music, and this is why Prince of New York should be cherished. It's a contemporary hip-hop goldmine of raw, untouched, New York hip-hop; nostalgic as well as progressive in its own right. 9th Prince does a great job of stepping into the spotlight and man-handling the mic. With production reminiscent of Prince's big bro RZA, lyrics that are like a battering ram of urban culture, and a true display in the essence of hip-hop, 9th Prince's newest release holds back on no front. If hip-hop is really dead, as some say, it's because The Prince of New York killed it.
No comments:
Post a Comment