King Britt
Adventures in Lo-Fi
BBE/Rapster
Sometimes I sicken myself, sounding like a damned broken record with some artists: my perpetual love for Bill Laswell; the fact that I will forever dog Jermaine Dupri’s mediocre ass. Now, I would love to dog out King Britt every once in awhile just to break myself out of the thrall. But I can’t. Britt’s just one brilliant brother. Whether he’s being a bug in the Digable Planet hive, laying down Afro Tech soul with Oba Funke, or dropping some freaky-ass house as Scuba, the man always brings it better than the vast majority of producers out there. I just have to give credit where credit’s due.
So, now that Britt’s going back to his Philly roots (where he grew up around Jazzy Jeff and DJ Cash Money), he’s decided to drop a brilliant hip-hop album. Adventures in Lo-Fi is guaranteed to blow several hip-hop head craniums. With a cavalcade of some of the best the underground has to offer (including Bahamadia, Chipmunk-sounding Quasimoto, Cherrywine, Dice Raw, Capitol A and Grand Agent), this disc presents one fantastic song after another. Lo-Fi flows with hip-hop and R & B, with that jazzy, breakbeat ocean in which the immortal Tribe swam for all those years. This is a late-night groove that offers up more than the Aztecs did to their gods. Britt does not dumb down his articulate sound for the hip-pop crowd. No, this disc is pure artistry from one of the best artists this young millennium has to offer.
Once again, I have to give it up to BBE. With projects such as this, Will.i.am, Marley Marl, Pete Rock, Jazzy Jeff and DJ Spinna, they are rapidly becoming one of the best hip-hop labels outside of late ’80s Def Jam.
BBE: http://www.bbemusic.com/ • Rapster: http://www.rapsterrecords.com/
