Album Details

• Artist: Musab
• Album: The Slicks Box
• Label: Hiero Imperium
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: hstisgod on 2007-06-23

Media

It's been some years since the drama of the Nas vs. Jay-Z battle diss tracks.  It's been even longer since West Coast vs. East Coast Rap, but it seems Musab strapped with his new backers Hieroglyphics is bringing back something from the old school, burning bridges from old crew  The Slicks Box is his first LP release since his last RSE album Respect The Life. Truth be told, the results of his lyrical punches are going to seriously overshadow the tempo and energy of this disc.

Lead track Night Of Mirage, has real lyrical direction, paying hommage to those he'll later on take out at the knees.  "But it's hard to be a minority, but it was a white man that came and recorded me.  Let my voice be heard and open up the door for me.  Now it hits, I'm a part of Hip Hop seniority".  My assumption here is, the white man he is referring to is legendary underground Hip Hop producer Ant (Atmosphere)

Throughout the disc, Sab pulls no punches about people in his past. Particularly on a remix of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. The closing track, Kool Aid (Ghetto Juice) -remember Plant sings "Cooley" sounds an awful amount like Koolaid-, starts with a ripping and raw flow, Sab starts the second verse. Most east coast cats, they all sound the same/ and most west coast cats are all trying to bang/A couple groups is tight, but most of 'em is lame. Look at the rap game, man it done changed/ Seems like everybody got dissems (think he flowed past this word) in they brain/ And somewhere down the line they forgot to entertain. I'm ashamed, every single one of us is to blame. There's a lot more to rap about, then guns and cocaine".

This my friends, is where Musab decides to permanently sever his ties with the RSE crew. "And now we got the latest thing called Emo-Rap, which another words is simply, white people rap. The media turned it all around, all concerned now with the music, when they were trying to burn it down, cause they couldn't find a song that they could relate wit. A good white rapper come along, now he's the greatest. Everything that's done, been done before"?. Nuff said...

Ay-Ay Southside Accent has continous crime fighter like beat and teeters on that fine line of Rap and Hip Hop like few beats can. Though the lyricism is mid-grade at times. "I got an operation, I am not a haven. I get paid for making the proper statement"?. The chorus has a hall echo with mutiple recordings laid upon one another, feeling like some G-Unit work. Most distinct is the wah-wah effect on the bass line.

Baang is another track with a pop rock hook being wrecked! This time, Sab throws down on Toto's Hold The Line.  Terrific tempo, and a nicely treaded lyrical path, makes this a surprisingly perfect track for hip hop to mix up.  I aint even in the NBA! has a beatline very familiar to those used by another group of hip hop legends, the Beastie Boys.  As cheesey as the chorus is, Sab controls this tempo like a god, and this is absolutely one of the better tracks on the cd.

Hat and Shoes has a (excuse the pun) slick ass distortion-less guitar home, then samples of bass and flute come in soft and subtle, while Sab shows a different lyrical sound.  The song focuses on his skills with the ladies, and quite honestly, the whole attempt seems very familiar.  -See Shoes off Seven's Travels-  He makes it real obvious when sings, "And I'm cutting through the Atmosphere, like there's a motherf*cking mack(?) in here".

I don't want to give the wrong impression here...other than the repeated attempts at making sure you know Musab is aka Minnesota Slicks, this record is top notch.  It serves nice like The Chronic did in the 90's. The production is killer, but the message is far from where Musab found his start.  All his childhood aside, Sabby has taken a different groove, and slapped it into the face of the very crew that gave him his 'hip hop seniority'.   I'm going to give this album 4.5 stars, just shy of that full five...

User Reviews and Comments

Review:

on 2007-07-28 SunglassesAtNight Said:

A+, I meant to rate it a 10, the preview songs on his Myspace page are the hottest tracks this summer!
Rating: 7/10

Review:

on 2007-07-28 SunglassesAtNight Said:

Slick's Box is the summer album of 2007
Rating: 7/10

Review:

on 2007-07-06 hstisgod Said:

Want everyone to know I came at this cat, and he came back truthful and peaceful... I'm proud of this story coming up...
Rating: 10/10