I’ve been bumping this album nonstop for the past week. It’s called “Population Control” and it’s the fourth album from hip-hop DJ Statik Selektah aka Showoff.
Unlike other high-profile producers (cough Timbaland cough), Statik doesn’t try to rap. Instead he leaves that to a crew of mostly young up-and-comers (with notable exceptions Talib Kweli, Sean Price and Bun B). So you get young whippersnappers spittin’ over beats that sound like they came out of the circa-1997 NYC underground. How could us old-heads not dig that?
It’s impossible not like “Sam Jack.” I’ve been singing the hook in my head for about a week straight.
Here’s Joell Ortiz (one of my absolute favorite MCs over the past few years) talking about growing up in the hood. I love soulful shit like this.
Here’s the extremely cute Nitty Scott spittin’ bars. Some great dreamy samples in there too.
Statik goes all Jamrock on us.
I don’t even like smoking, but this track…
This beat makes me want to run through a brick wall.
