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DIPSET ALBUM REVIEW: MORE THAN MUSIC VOLUME 2

” Welcome to Dipset, I hope everyone is comfortable out there [cause] we do this for the people….“ – Duke Da God – “Sometimes”.

In the world of rap there is nothing more powerful than the synergy a crew creates. There’s been crews in rap from Day 1 from the Native Tongue (featuring Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers) to the Juice crew (featuring MC Shan, Marley Marl, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Craig G, Tragedy…) but Death Row (Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, D.O.C., Dogg Pound, Nate Dogg, Rage, RBX..) took things to a whole new level and patented the true meaning to album synergy where each member of the crew was consistently featured on THE CHRONIC album in 1992. On that album it represented the first time a rap crew consistently rhymed together almost on every song. That chemistry would continue on Snoop Dogg's debut, then the MURDA WAS THE CASE soundtrack, then the Dogg Pound’s debut album and countless underground tracks that took the rap world by storm. There were always rap crews but rarely would albums come out that featured almost every member of the crew on every song. So thank Dr. Dre for that legacy. Ever since other rap crews have adopted this crew assault mentality with the Wu Tang Clan probably exploiting that tactic the most with mind-boggling success. Carrying on that tradition in 2007 is the crew they call Dipset who represent kind of a 2007 Wu Tang Clan in that the there’s way too many members to mention and each member is a solo artist in their own right and you’re guaranteed to hear most of the crew rap on each other’s solo or crew album efforts to form a synergy that’s unparallel in today’s rap world. Thanks to Duke Da God who officially serves as Dipset’s A&R man we get another crew album featuring every member of Dipset on the album officially titled DUKE DA GOD PRESENTS DIPSET: MORE THAN MUSIC, VOLUME 2. VOLUME 1 was a classic in that it brought the magnificent gangsta lyrics of Hell Rell to the national stage and featured a classic 40 Cal song that was the first time I started noticing his genius. Of course it all started with “King Joffe Jo” aka Cam’Ron aka Killa Cam who established himself as a consistent high volume selling artist before pushing his childhood friends Juelz Santana and Jim Jones to successful heights while simultaneously teaming with Duke Da God to start unleashing a non-stop mixtape assault on the rap underground with mixtapes featuring the entire Dipset crew. It’s these underground album crew tapes that first exposed me to the whole Dipset movement as one day my manz Jack from NY handed me the Dipset Volume 5 mixtape. That mixtape was the introduction of JR Writer who absolutely ripped it and it let me know that Dipset was more than the radio friendly Cam’Ron and Juelz Santana. Before that underground tape I had written Cam’ron and Juelz off for dead. But lo and behold their crew started to grow and super lyricists JR, 40 Cal and Hell Rell would emerge and then all of a sudden a monster rap movement was formed. Not since Wu Tang has a crew been so deep lyrically and musically.

The interesting thing is that unlike Wu Tang the DIPSET crew features multiple artists who are actually radio friendly and have mass appeal while ALSO maintaining a whole army of underground lyricists. With Wu Tang you really only had Method Man that could draw in the ladies and the fellaz. With Dipset you got Cam’Ron and Juelz Santana that can flip the radio friendly style. Of course this style is Benz0’s least favorite but it has its merits in that perhaps one day the more non-commercial acts of Dipset will be able to get some daylight as the slave radio population starts to take time to notice that Dipset is more than just Cam’Ron and Juelz Santana. Prophetically the rugged Jim Jones has now caught fire and is BALLIN! out of control. So I’m not too mad that whenever a Dipset crew album comes out they always feature a lot of radio friendly songs. On this album the expected radio friendly or softer songs appear prominently. Cam’Ron’s "Suga Duga" is the most egregious of these. It’s not too commercial but let’s just say I won’t be keeping this song on repeat but the ladies and R&B thugs will be pizzzing in their pants when they hear this song. Then you have Juelz leading off the song “Dipset City” which is even softer than “Suga Duga” and sadly also features the hardcore trio of JR Writer, 40 Cal and Hell Rell and heck even Jim Jones. See that’s the sad bi-product when the crew gets together on a crew album is that Cam’Ron will force the more hardcore acts to always rhyme on the softest of beats. Another case in point is “The Corner” featuring the hardcore trio again with a singing chorus I can do without and you also have 40 Cal’s reserved “Getting By” that is his attempt at positivity but the song doesn’t do it for me like his more hardcore efforts. You even got Hell Rell talking about the ladies on “Feeling Myself” that isn’t corny but that’s not Hell Rell’s strongest attribute. Blame L.L Cool J and 50 Cent for making the public feel it’s OK for an artist who gets his notoriety by acting hard to sing soft songs about the ladies. Really it’s one of LL Cool J’s main legacies to rap and it’s one I didn’t mind as a kid but one in which I despise as a grown adult who now cries Jack Daniels out his pores and not the salty tears these R&B thugs be crying out for their ladies.

Hey but guess what? The Dipset movement would be dead by now if it wasn’t for their penchant for rhyming over the best beats in hiphop. Enter “Street Pharmacist”, “Anniversary”, “Sometimes” and “Get That Money”. Ironically the latter two songs feature the only girl in the group, Jha Jha, who surprisingly is even kind of nice to look at too (If you buy the album from Target you get the Dipset DVD that has some shots of her doing her thing). “Street Pharmacist” features Hell Rell and Duke Da God artist A-Mafia (who looks like a 50-Cent clone body wise and face-wise when he’s sporting the shades and cap). Check this link and peep the video at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy5NMPAQT2g (It’s a 3 for 1 video clip and this song is the last one featured). “Anniversary” is just sick sick sick as new talent Max B and Mel Matrix team with Jim Jones (BALLIN!!!) to form another classic Dipset hardcore track featuring a beat that is sick sick sick sick sick. J.R. Writer simply rips it on “Get That Money” as we’re accustomed to but newcomer Katt Williams surprises the hell out of me as he actually contributes a credible verse. Watching the DVD you figured he was really just a comedian. 40 Cal and Jha Jha team up nicely on “Sometimes” that features probably the best beat on the album that makes me lose control every time I hear it and features a chorus patented by the classic rap duo of Nice & Smooth. Speaking of 40 Cal he rips it on the intro which is almost as good as the intro to MORE THAN MUSIC VOLUME 1.

But the hits don’t stop. The hardcore trio of Hell Rell, 40 Cal and J.R. Writer team up on “Gladiators” and “The Gun Shop” and represents what makes Dipset so special. Not many crews can pair up a trio of hardcore artists that can each absolutely rip it in their own right. For good measure J.R. Writer and Hell Rell give us some parting warning shots in “It’s Over Pt. II” where once again A-Mafia also shows his worth. Out of left field though comes “Show & Tell” featuring Tom Gist and A-Mafia that ends up being a diamond in the rough that pushes the album into must have status. Peep one of the choruses: “That’s the block and I know it well, At school I brought my glock in for Show and Tell, That’s neglect and I know it well, At School took my tech in for show and tell…”. So the crazy thing is that the whole Dipset Crew has kind of just begun as these newer artists start contributing to the Dipset Hit Factory. Soon Bezel, Max B, A-Mafia plus tons more will add their legacy to Dipset while in 2007 JR Writer, 40 Cal and Hell Rell will each make their own push for national fame in subsequent releases of solo albums this year. And of course we’ll get more Cam’Ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana offerings giving Dipset that commercial edge that will make the mindless masses unknowingly breathe in slow doses of the more hardcore acts to eventually push Dipset to newer heights. For now the Dipset haters will have to pull the covers over their heads and go to sleep as the Dipset Movement moves on over commercial radio waves and through the grimy dirty underground. This album showcases the full versatility of Dipset and has enough to satisfy your hunger till the slew of summer block busters start spewing out from the record shelves end of this month. I recommend picking the album up at Target cause you get the Bonus DVD too. If you buy it at Best Buy you do get a bonus Hell Rell CD as well but the DVD is hilarious. DVD is only about 15 to 20 minutes but you get to see all the Dipset members. These days not sure why more artists don’t offer extra bonus items in their CDs as these days the public needs more and more reasons to spend cash on a CD they can get off the internet for free.

Benz0
Contact Benz0: BenzWritings@Hotmail.com