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April 20th, 2006 by jezuschryzt (Permalink)
Label: Mean Street Year: 2001 Add Comments |
In an age when audiences have deep-set expectations of all hip-hop albums to be produced and polished to perfection, Timetable is a breath of fresh air. Composed of 23 tracks at an average of one and a half minutes each, Mikah creates an eclectic mix of freestyles, random thoughts, and acapellas.
Some may be turned away by albums without a clear-cut direction yet listening to Mikah 9 purveys the same feeling that Mozart’s parents must have felt when their son used to doodle on his piano. It’s not always easy to listen to, nor is it well defined, but a myriad of flash-in-the-pan moments of brilliance are ample reward for listeners trying something new.
It’s clear that Mikah is struggling between his love of jazz and positivity and the ego-pressing, seemingly harder, street edge. On tracks such as “Ultra Bap”, he releases a menacing gangster alter-ego to the tune of, “Zap\Zoink\Zoom\Pow\Kaboom\Crash\I’ll wax that black ass”. Yet, he never loses any of the lyrical flair that has made him such a legend of the hip-hop scene. However, this is an experimental album, and Mikah leaves no stone unturned. From half-scatting, half-humming “Free Energy” to a deliciously jazzy “Danger” (the original version of which appeared on Freestyle Fellowship’s Innercity Griots) – we see clearly that this is a man unafraid to break boundaries, conventions, and expectations; a true representation of the hip hop rebel.
Timetable showcases just how far the boundaries of hip-hop can be pushed. It’s not perfect – many people will complain of the grainy beats and general lack of a standout must-hear “message” – but for those that can see past minor imperfections, this is perhaps the perfect soundtrack for forcibly breaking the mould.
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