IT - Low Income Housing
IT - Low Income Housing - Review by Nin Chan (Retro-Hop)
http://www.dominationrec.com/ - $$(1/2)
While it appears destined to remain overlooked in favor of more glamorous locales
like New Orleans, Atlanta and Houston, Memphis, Tennessee remains one of the richest, most fertile areas in the Dirty South for rap talent. Home to juggernauts Eightball & MJG and the seminal horror-core institution Hypnotize Mindz, Memphis continues to spawn scores of young upstarts who tirelessly preserve their state’s rich musical pedigree (Yo Gotti being a favorite of mine). Yet, talent from the Big Easy have always tended to emulate the same Memphis template of bleak, bass-heavy gangsta rap, largely replicating the revolutionary blueprint established by the earliest Three Six Mafia recordings. It comes as a pleasant surprise, then, that this album, recorded in the sludgy swamps of Memphis, doesn’t reek of the bayou like much Tennessee rap, being a rootsy affair that is slathered in the same sticky soul as People Under The Stairs and the Justus League.
Perhaps I’m the wrong person to approach with a record like this, but I can’t help but feel like this particular sound has been done to death. Native Tongues revivalism has been flogged to death lately, with Foreign Exchange, the Procussions and the Soundproviders all treading similar ground as of late. In all honesty, it doesn’t appear that Infinito & Thaione are offering something that exceeds the grasp of more accomplished contemporaries like Lone Catalysts and the Molemen. That’s not to say that Thaione isn’t a gifted beatmaker- the understated synths and elegant harmonica of “Acknowledge After” are breathtaking, “Some Wise Water” crackles with the analog static of old soul and jazz records, the echoing guitar plucks of “You Are Not” make for compelling results when allied to a thumping bass drum. It’s all just been done before, and done better by guys like Soul Supreme and J. Rawls.
It doesn’t really help, then, that Infinito has neither the charisma nor the technical competence to elevate the tired musical content beyond mediocrity. Bizarrely, he shows flashes of brilliance, showing a willingness to delve into stream-of-consciousness Illogic/I Self Divine type structures on “Samuel L Jackson vs Dolomite,” but too often he sounds bland and unimaginative. His flow on “Acknowledge The After” is haphazard and sloppy, sounding disjointed and awkward atop the beat. Elsewhere, he sounds far too elementary to do justice to his ambitious socially conscious, hold-no-punches approach- “You think everything’s fair- ’cause you’re not black”. One of the primary vexations I have with Infinito is the fact that he has all the randomness of Slug or I Self Divine, without the poetic profundity. His subject matter embarks on various meandering tangents, often within the same verse, but his hyperactive imagination is bound and gagged by his limited lexicon and often unimaginative flow structures.
As a music reviewer, I feel like my purpose is to inform you, with absolute earnest, whether something is deserving of your sweaty dollar bills. While there are certainly facets of this record that would titillate all those who worship at the altar of the Molemen and Reflection Eternal, there is nothing here that really justifies a second spin from a jaded bastard like myself, particularly since there are either a) better traditionally minded outfits I can dedicate my time to or b) there are much more progressive records I could be listening to (Insight, the new Mos Def, etc.). While well-intentioned, there isn’t enough on offer here to justify a purchase. I’ll be checking for Thaione in the future, though.
