Wu Tang Clan ain’t nothing to fuck with

Boot Camp Click ain’t nothin to Wu Tang

this review was originally published here

Sean Price – Jesus Price Supastar

In 2005 Sean Price was “the brokest rapper you know,” but now in 2007 with Jesus Price Supastar, Sean P is trying to break out of that mold, and by the sound of his new joint, that shouldn’t be a problem. With the opening hook-jab-uppercut combo of “Intro (Jesus Price),” “Like You,” and “P-Body,” Sean Price starts out stomping over perfectly complementing beats with deadpan humor, like in the intro “Que pasa homes, welcome to mi casa homes/ te disparo en tu cara homes.” Sean has an uncanny ability to deliver the goofiest lines while never losing his Brownsville gulliness.

Part of Supastar’s success lies in the production, Mr. Price relies heavily on the Justus League sound (Khrysis and 9th Wonder collectively produce 7 of 16 tracks) and like-minded producers. The downsides of the album, however, are also due most of the time to the production. Whenever Sean P strays from the new-age boom bap sound, like in “Church” and “King Kong,” his Mcing doesn’t quite stand out as much. Sean isn’t without his flaws either, maybe it was a mistake to try to have such a long LP, but after a few tracks Sean’s style of set-up punchlines and free-word association can get a little repetitive. The album still has enough gems tho, to satisfy any BCC fan and maybe convert a few new ones. “Da God” has Sean and Sadat X trading blazing verses over a bass heavy beat and Buckshot adding the icing on the cake with a perfectly contrasting chorus. Sean still flips the same subjects as in Monkey Barz, although they are updated a bit. “Mess You Made” has Sean revisiting his ‘I ain’t shit’ themes, “the drugs I sold got fucked up, God/ now its, Carharrt suits, construction jobs.”

In a Hip Hop scene filled with artists who get, or let themselves, manipulated into embarassing caricatures of one-dimensional
toughness, Sean Price knows how to coexists in the same genre as the mainstream, but without having to sound compromised or anything less than honest. Basically, Sean does Sean, and fuck anything else, just like he says in the intro to the 9th wonder produced – “Violent,” ‘this beat is just so cool, you know how you want to just relax and say some old cool shit?….but that’s not me, SEAN P!’ Although there may be some excess fat on the meal, Sean Price still serves up some marvelous shit, word to Raekwon.

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