Radio Do Cannibal Review
BK-One has spent many years taking the back seat as Brother Ali’s DJ, but is still held in high regard by many for his amazing work with on of the most exciting rappers in hip-hop. In Radio Do Cannibal he teams up with beats maker Benzilla to create a Brazilian sounding album. And they take along a whole load of big names along for the ride too: Raekwon, Blueprint, Scarface, Haiku D’Etat, Black Thought and of course Brother Ali all make appearances.
The tone of the album is certainly lively and the beats and samples certainly give a rumba/salsa/Latin feel to the whole album. BK-One and Benzilla definitely have a great chemistry in bringing their vision to them front, and this probably most evident in Tema Do Cannibal: a heavy brass instrument, street drum mix which stands proudly in the middle of the album.
Another testament to the nature which the two DJs interact with one another is the pace and production order of the album. The album is essentially set into four distinct sections, each setting its own unique tempo and tone and all separated by diverse interludes all containing Portuguese: first part being a party/celebrating mix, the second being seedier and darker, the third is capture a more urban mood of Brazil, and the album ends with a righteous/rebellious attitude. Both DJs set the pace and manage to capture a broad landscape of Brazil.
Many of the guest rappers are certainly well chosen too; Raekwon, Haiku D’Etat and Brother Ali being the ones that stand out the most with some wonderful rhymes and poignant lyrics. Some of their messages capture many of the problems evident in Hip-Hop at the moment, some are more humorous, some are dark, heart-felt affairs and others are just displays of the rapper’s talent. The spectrum which the rappers engage is nothing short of impressive. Mega and Face It remind me of Hieroglyphics at their best; uplifting and charmingly confrontational. With the darker songs on the album I find myself taking a risk and comparing them to Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, songs such as American Nightmare and The True & Living still make me feel confident in this comparison.
Not all appearances, however are worthwhile; especially those of I Self Divine and Aby Wolf. With Aby Wolf’s appearance on Love Like That, we have this relaxed, easy-going song under-cut by her wails that simply over-power the entire song. I Self Divine on the other hand is out of his depth on the very complicated beat of Call to Arms, and I would have liked to seen this beat being assigned to much more talented rapper.
I must say though, this is a stellar DJ album, the work two guys obviously put into perfecting this album is very apparent.
Rating: 4.5/5
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