| Now here’s a release that’s took me by surprise – and it’s been a while since that happened. Blue Sky, Black Death (BSBD) are a production duo from San Francisco who deliver their first LP on Mush and in the process manage to prove that instrumental hip hop is far from a forgotten art. While BSBD member Kingston has been producing for MCs such as Virtuoso and Jus’ Allah, his teaming up with Young God has brought forward a unique and refreshing production ethic, which they’ve in turn applied to this first full length. Digging deep and coming back with productions that steer clear from trodden paths they decided to break the norms a little more and drop a double album: one CD full of instrumentals and the other filled with vocal collaborations. Putting the production work first, disc 1 offers up 12 instrumentals which alone would make this a must buy album – from brooding and dark compositions to mellower offerings and jazzy influences, the duo show an affinity for bringing out the best from their samples, marrying those with live instrumentation and putting down tracks which are more than just loops stacked together or throw away instrumentals. ‘Days Are Years’ with its haunting vocal and grinding guitar riffs, ‘Not Here’ with its jazz drums and majestic strings or ‘Rap Creature Land’ with its banging drums, vocal samples and electronic sounds all showcase different moods and styles that blend together naturally. From beginning to end you’ll find yourself sucked into their music and carried through without thinking about it – the music feels natural and soon enough you’ll find yourself pressing play again. It’s been a while since instrumental hip hop has hit me like that. On disc 2 they bring an impressive list of MCs over 10 tracks and flip the script on their productions, giving the beats more space for the MCs to breathe on while still adhering to the same ethic that made the first disc so attractive. Jus’ Allah, Wise Intelligent and Sabac Red all come through heavily on ‘Engage My Words’ a statement of intent that carries through from the instrumental side. Over an atmospheric, building instrumental the MCs trade rhymes furiously. ‘Street Legends’ is an updated throwback to Hieroglyphics days with its stuttering beat over which A Plus and Pep Love show they still got it. Guru also drops by alongside Chief Kamanchi, and elsewhere you’ll find Mike Ladd & Rob Sonic, Holocaust with a haunting tale of supernatural occurrences, Mikah-9 from Freestyle Fellowship showing off his impressive delivery and AWOL One with his trademark slow, drawling delivery over a beat which wouldn’t sound out of place coming out of Daddy Kev’s speakers. Overall disc 2 is another strong showcase for the BSBD duo, who manage to bring the best out of the featurings. The production and vocals work well together and bring some nice variety to the instrumental work of the duo. BSBD are definitely a duo to keep an eye on and an ear out for – if you need something new and fresh in your life you may have just found it. - UK Hip-Hop |
2XLP/Out Of Print