This album should be required listening for all young aspiring rappers. In fact I think the Souljaboy's and the Young Joc's of the world should be forced to take remedial Hip Hop classes, with this album being the bread & butter of the course.

I've been a fan of Marco Polo's work for some time now. The Canadian producer has always in my eyes been one of Hip Hop's best kept secrets. The MC that he teamed up with for this project however, I hadn't heard much about until recently. His name is Torae, and he is a product of Brooklyn's Coney Island section. It's a name you may want to remember as I'm sure you'll be hearing it a lot more in the near future.

The production on the album is stellar. Marco is somewhere between Pete Rock and Dj Premier in terms of his sound and delivers straight Hip Hop. Not much experimentation or genre bending here, but there is absolutely no need for any of that on this record.

Not to be outdone by Marco's production, Torae steps up to the plate delivering verse after verse of well delivered, thought provoking lyrics. I'm ashamed of myself for not knowing who he was prior to this. He may very well now be one of my favorite MC's with lines like:

"You can't rely on the public/ at least niggas used to cop it THEN dub it."

Even the guest appearances shine. Lil Fame from MOP, Rock from Heltah Skeltah, Masta Ace, Saukrates, Sean Price and others all drop verses that make you remember what real Hip Hop should sound like.

In conclusion, this is the Hip Hop album that proves Hip Hop is not dead. It's the album that everybody that keeps longing for a departure from snap & crunk music needs to buy. After all, if we don't support artists that produce good music, then we will be "Buying the Range, but settling for the Isuzu".