Ever since they dropped the classic "Cold Vein," underground hip-hop heads have been clamoring for another Cannibal Ox record. The dystopian paranoid rusted-robot vibe that producer El-P cooked up paired perfectly with the cadenced, abstract poetics of the group’s two MCs. And while one of those MCs, Vast Aire, wowed with his battle-rap punchlines and clever rhymes, the other, Vordul Mega, killed with quiet. His understated verses were chock full of allegorical imagery and exhibited a special knack for finding just the right twist on a familiar turn of phrase. Mega’s first solo effort, " Revolution of Yung Havoks," was a continuation of his dense dystopian poetry but was hampered a bit by a few too many plodding beats. His latest is, strictly speaking, a mix of old and new, with tracks that were recorded both before and after Can Ox’s debut as well as the "Yung Havoks" disc, and it’s pretty clear: The first verse has several bars straight from Cold Vein’s title track. But where "Havoks" tended to drag a little, "Megagraphitti" has a soulful jolt in its lockstep bounce, a sort of " Cold Vein" lite: a lonely piano quickly morphs into a disjointed guitar loop – courtesy of Zach One, one of several underground producers that provide most of the music – for the opener “Stay Conscious,” and Zach brings the piano back for the title track. Wu-Tang producer Bronze Nazareth drops some ominous strings on “Trigganomics,” and the two tracks ...
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Ever since they dropped the classic "Cold Vein," underground hip-hop heads have been clamoring for another Cannibal Ox record. The dystopian paranoid rusted-robot vibe that producer El-P cooked up paired perfectly with the cadenced, abstract poetics of the group’s two MCs. And while one of those MCs, Vast Aire, wowed with his battle-rap punchlines and clever rhymes, the other, Vordul Mega, killed with quiet. His understated verses were chock full of allegorical imagery and exhibited a special knack for finding just the right twist on a familiar turn of phrase. Mega’s first solo effort, " Revolution of Yung Havoks," was a continuation of his dense dystopian poetry but was hampered a bit by a few too many plodding beats. His latest is, strictly speaking, a mix of old and new, with tracks that were recorded both before and after Can Ox’s debut as well as the "Yung Havoks" disc, and it’s pretty clear: The first verse has several bars straight from Cold Vein’s title track. But where "Havoks" tended to drag a little, "Megagraphitti" has a soulful jolt in its lockstep bounce, a sort of " Cold Vein" lite: a lonely piano quickly morphs into a disjointed guitar loop – courtesy of Zach One, one of several underground producers that provide most of the music – for the opener “Stay Conscious,” and Zach brings the piano back for the title track. Wu-Tang producer Bronze Nazareth drops some ominous strings on “Trigganomics,” and the two tracks ...