The latest installment of this legendary geographical partnership, The Piece Talks, comes from C.R.A.C. (Collect Respect Anna Check). Detroit emcee/beatmaker extraordinaire Ta’Raach and the precocious Blu, an L.A. emcee whose recent debut, Below The Heavens,made many “Best Hip Hop Albums of 2007” lists, find themselves crafting one of the most creative hip hop releases since 2004’s Madvilliany.
Not enough can be said of the chemistry between Blu and Ta’Raach. Not since a young Pete Rock and CL Smooth has a producer-emcee combo sounded so complimentary and superior both in their songwriting and their capabilities on the mic. Imagine for a second if Pete Rock had the same lyrical prowess as CL Smooth, or if Madlib kicked the same otherworldly rhymes as MF DOOM on Madvilliany — well, Blu and Ta’Raach bring the notion of “dope emcee meets dopest producer on the mic” to fruition on The Piece Talks. Moreover, Ta’Raach frequently manages to outshine the witty and deft Blu, further solidifying him as the best lyricist behind the MPC today.
Ta’Raach’s unique ability to strike the perfect balance between Detroit boom bap, Haight-Ashbury psychadelia and the dusty groove of Madlib makes The Piece Talks an instantly compelling and rich listen. Over a rock and roll guitar strum and big drums, the oddball “Buy Me Lunch” features Blu and Ta’Raach kicking some improvisational and freewheeling streams-of-consciousness with help from the peripheral third member of C.R.A.C., Noni Limar, on some joyous and playful vocals. The production on “Love Don’t” takes these rock sensibilities a bit further with some synthesizer coloring and a crafty use of a Beanie Sigel and M.O.P. sample layered on top of a hippie-type hand clap rhythm. Blu’s sing-song hook, which would be annoying were it not for the song’s capriciousness, further enhances the mood of the track. These songs and a host of others epitomize the Brooklyn-to-Berkley feel of this album which is executed to near perfection.
Which brings us to the lyricism… Noticeably absent in today’s hip hop landscape are the elements of pure, unadulterated lyrical craftsmanship and unique, creative hip hop songwriting. In a hip hop climate where swagger and lyricism have become mutually exclusive, Blu and Ta’Raach steer clear of the pitfalls of bad songwriting for the sake of lyrical perfection. Despite the duo spending a good bit of time pulling off some well-executed exercises in hip hop experimentalism, their ferocious and superior skills on the mic are quite unprecedented. “Respect” and “Pop dem Boys” are just a small sample of the duo’s multiple flows, cadences, witty wordplay and double entendre usage that twist the mind. “Mr. Big Fizz”, the album’s highlight, is 120% swagger but not in a trite way. Rather, the duo pops magnificent sh*t by slickly pulling off a lyrical pimp strut over some sparse, Dilla-like drums.
With all that said, the album is dreadfully short on length, too long on skits given its brevity and suffers from an astounding 9-minute taped phone conversation that precedes two must-hear bonus tracks! Despite these mildly frustrating gaffes in executive production, The Piece Talks is still the most creative hip hop effort of 2008 to date. Here’s to hoping Detroit and L.A. keep the honeymoon going.
