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- S O U P - ▓█ ▀█▄ ▀█▄
▀▄ █▓ █▓▓
┌───────────────────────────────────────────▄▀ ▄█▀───────────────────┐
│ s o u p p r o u d l y p r e s e n t s │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
│ it-low income housing
│
│ artist ........ it
│ title ......... low income housing
│ release date .. 2004
│ label ......... domination recordings
│ cat. no ....... dom001
│ url ........... www.dominationrec.com
│
│ rip date ...... 12-03-2004
│ genre ......... rap
│ quality ....... VBRkbps / 44.1Hz
│ time .......... 52:07 min
│ size .......... 63,2 MB
│ source ........ cdda
│
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────[ S O U P ]─┐
│ release info │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│ │
│ I.T. is Infinito and Thaione, two vets from Chicago's South │
│ Side. Both were part of the now defunct Nacrobats and have been │
│ involved in a great number of projects, especially Infinito, who │
│ will run down a long list of releases and aliases when asked │
│ about his track record. Their collaborative effort "Low Income │
│ Housing" is the official debut of Domination Recordings, the new │
│ venture of DJ Fisher, formerly of Day By Day Entertainment, │
│ which did a good job providing us with quality indie hip-hop: │
│ Count Bass D, LightHeaded, Prophetix, Chops, Cadence, and more. │
│ │
│ The most apparent quality of "Low Income Housing" is the beats. │
│ Thaione Davis composes organic Chi-Town hip-hop in the tradition │
│ of the Molemen. His tracks may seem simple, but in hip-hop, as │
│ anywhere, the simplest things are often the hardest to achieve. │
│ From his tracks, you can tell Thaione is a man with a musical │
│ vision. They're all more or less sparse and smooth, not │
│ particularly spectacular, but every detail betrays the beatsmith │
│ who can spend hours until his shit sounds right. In his case, │
│ that means unique beats with character, defined not so much by │
│ their ingredients but by how they interact together, to the │
│ point where you can't be sure if you're listening to │
│ sample-based hip-hop or not. Musicianship like this is in fact │
│ very rare, where music can transcend the narrow confines of │
│ genres, instruments and references. │
│ │
│ On "Acknowledge the After," a harmonica glides over │
│ strategically placed drums and a spacey bass/organ hybrid. │
│ "Green Card" hooks you with hints of JB grunts and breakbeats │
│ before reeling you in with organic, headnod-inducing guitar │
│ strumming, "Some Wise Water" is a collage of old rhythm and │
│ blues records, while "Casual Libertation" and "Low Income │
│ Housing" reverbrate with a soft thump. "MK Ultra" and "My Life │
│ Creation #63" add soulful bits to that thump, reminiscent of a │
│ J. Rawls or Hi-Tek creation. "You Are Not It" loops bluesy │
│ guitar licks that echo confidently over a bouncing beat, while │
│ "Bubblegum Artist" reflects the song's theme with angrily │
│ pounding drums and a disgruntled bassline. │
│ │
│ Thaione kicks the occasional verse or hook, but vocally this is │
│ mostly Infinito's time to shine - or not. The self-described │
│ Regular Black Dude manages to keep his eye on the bigger picture │
│ and focus on certain details, but seems unable to translate his │
│ concerns into comprehensive songs. At times, his self-absorbed │
│ anti-industry stance even reminds you of Kool Keith. His voice │
│ is similar to Planet Asia, a young, engaging tone, but his │
│ timing is not particulary precise, his rhyme schemes not really │
│ intricate, his rhetoric not refined. Yet unlike many of his │
│ peers, he has an agenda that goes beyond his own personal │
│ welfare. It might well be that in our radio-formatted day and │
│ age, Infinito works in ways too mysterious for the average │
│ listener to grasp. Some of the song titles here seem to have │
│ little to no relation to the lyrical content. "1884 Berlin │
│ Conference," referring to the conference where European │
│ colonists divided the African continent amongst themselves, │
│ doesn't contain the faintest historic detail. "Low Income │
│ Housing" tells you nothing about low income housing. "Equal │
│ Opportunity Employment" is an instrumental. "Samuel L. Jackson │
│ VS. Dolomite," a duet with Thaione, gets its title from the │
│ Dolomite and Samuel L. Jackson snippets it uses in the break. │
│ │
│ Eventually, though, you realize that Infinito (who is also a │
│ painter) is something of an expressionist - his need to express │
│ himself is stronger than the pressure to conform to any one │
│ format. He virtually raps what he feels like. Early on, he │
│ invites us: "In a unemotional world, go and feel my pain." That │
│ doesn't mean that only his personal strife matters to him, on │
│ the contrary, he has a clear vision of how the world should be, │
│ and how it shouldn't be. If he often refers to rap, it's because │
│ that's one of the things he cares about and has first-hand │
│ experience of, but indeed rap serves as a surrogate here to │
│ illustrate how black people continually have to fight for │
│ theirs. "Why do everything we do some others get a share?" │
│ Infinito asks, arguing: "You think everything's fair - cause you │
│ not black." │
│ │
│ Keeping it explicitly "un-jiggy," Infinito knows it's an uphill │
│ battle, realizing: "When you love yourself it's a problem where │
│ I'm from / You can't just be runnin' around saying: black people │
│ unite." But that won't prevent him from trying a few songs │
│ later: "And I say: black people unite / and I say: black people │
│ must fight." Notice that this is a condensed statement made in │
│ this review, Infinito himself tends to be all over the place │
│ with this lyrics. Still, there's always a chance that he drops a │
│ pair of straight lines, like in "1884 Berlin Conference": │
│ │
│ "You not the illest to me, you just like all the rest │
│ Old school rules makes my hip-hop the best │
│ [...] │
│ Outside the lines, I'm politically incorrect │
│ made you upset, huh, but still get respect │
│ [...] │
│ Nobody has to like me, I'm secure of myself │
│ the perfect display of one knowin' his own self" │
│ │
│ Despite its familiar subject matter, this album lacks │
│ traditional hip-hop quotables, those hot 16 kids are eager to │
│ quote. Unless you're going for the shorest of soundsbites, such │
│ as the dead-on "that's not hip-hop, that's just men playing │
│ roles." The main problem here is that any rapper who rhymes, "we │
│ fight with intelligence, you gotta get guns," raises some │
│ expectations. Infinito doesn't meet these expectations a hundred │
│ percent, as he is thought-provoking only in the broadest sense. │
│ But that's also what makes him refreshing, even moreso as he │
│ doesn't succumb to the frustration of the struggling indie │
│ rapper. │
│ │
│ Rather than a master lyricist, Infinito establishes himself as │
│ an independent mind: "It's not easy for you to comprehend what │
│ I'm saying / Going the easy way out, you need to stop obeying / │
│ In a uneducated world of ignorant and dumb / cold-blooded people │
│ walk through the world numb." And if you think it through, you │
│ can see why the track where I.T. relate tales of rappers │
│ pursuing pipe dreams is called "Green Card," why "MK Ultra" is │
│ named after the CIA's '50s mind-control experiments MK-ULTRA, or │
│ that "My Life Creation #63" chronicles a certain chapter in │
│ Infinito's life, "when hip-hop wasn't pop and the mainstream │
│ world didn't care about us / we had a break and a few turntables │
│ / a couple cans of paint and some broken slang language." │
│ │
│ But clearly the most intriguing - and also best - track is "Some │
│ Wise Water," because for once Infinito is able to focus on a │
│ concept, without losing his special touch: │
│ │
│ "She loves me, she loves me not │
│ Huh, but this not another song on hip-hop │
│ See, when I first met her, it was a long time ago │
│ She's the element water, natural to the soul │
│ Even at an older age we would still turn the page │
│ Strawberry Letter 23, I never knew she was for me │
│ Emotional and relaxed yet animated, sensitive │
│ If I had a moment, mine's was her's to give │
│ So intrigued by her intelligence, she listens to me │
│ My perfect combination, ain't another for me │
│ This lady could have those kids I'm afraid to bring │
│ She could even have that song that I can't sing │
│ That moon in my life that makes the sun complete │
│ The anything-you-need-you-can-get-from-me │
│ When I open up, she can even have my trust │
│ because it's not another day, no more livin' in lust │
│ The day I don't stress is when you open up my eyes │
│ A reason to exist and bring meaning to life │
│ She don't even have to tell me, I can read it in her mind" │
│ │
│ Not long after Thaione advises competition to "switch up yo │
│ style, get a different type of rhythm," you realize that I.T. │
│ themselves don't need that type of advice because they already │
│ got a different type of rhythm. And it's their very own, too. │
│ Together they teamed up for a refined jam session, Thaione │
│ supplying original quality beats, Infinito complimenting them │
│ with his lively performance. --rapreviews.com │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────[ S O U P ]─┤
│ track list │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│ │
│ 01 get down people 01:25 │
│ 02 acknowledge the after 04:05 │
│ 03 green card (feat. thaione davis) 03:35 │
│ 04 casual liberation 02:41 │
│ 05 mk ultra 04:04 │
│ 06 some wise water 03:02 │
│ 07 you are not it 02:39 │
│ 08 samuel l. jackson vs. dolomite (feat. thaione davis) 04:12 │
│ 09 marcellous dublace 00:57 │
│ 10 my life creation #63 (blues of black music) 03:59 │
│ 11 bubblegum artist 04:31 │
│ (feat. cosmo galactus and mr. skurge) │
│ 12 low income housing 03:53 │
│ 13 1884 berlin conference 04:59 │
│ (feat. fat nice of 84 and thaione davis) │
│ 14 3:30 am on a monday 02:48 │
│ 15 equal opportunity employment 02:15 │
│ 16 untitled 03:02 │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────[ S O U P ]─┤
│ EAC logfile │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│ │
│ EAC extraction logfile from 3. December 2004, 14:29 for CD │
│ IT / Low Income Housing │
│ │
│ Used drive : Memorex DVD+/-RW True8Xn Adapter: 1 ID: 1 │
│ Read mode : Secure with C2, accurate stream, disable cache │
│ Combined read/write offset correction : 0 │
│ Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No │
│ │
│ Used output format : Internal WAV Routines │
│ 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo │
│ │
│ Other options : │
│ Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes │
│ Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No │
│ Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000 │
│ │
│ │
│ Track 1 │
│ Filename 01-Track01.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC 1A62BD7D │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 2 │
│ Filename 02-Track02.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC 2B74AA84 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 3 │
│ Filename 03-Track03.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 99.9 % │
│ Copy CRC 21356AB8 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 4 │
│ Filename 04-Track04.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC E2EE0185 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 5 │
│ Filename 05-Track05.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC 3338D096 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 6 │
│ Filename 06-Track06.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 99.8 % │
│ Copy CRC 482E39F3 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 7 │
│ Filename 07-Track07.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC 7BF5F912 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 8 │
│ Filename 08-Track08.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC 06BEE9B1 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 9 │
│ Filename 09-Track09.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC 45C2F4A9 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 10 │
│ Filename 10-Track10.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC C285193E │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 11 │
│ Filename 11-Track11.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 99.9 % │
│ Copy CRC 81D208C3 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 12 │
│ Filename 12-Track12.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC 224659ED │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 13 │
│ Filename 13-Track13.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC 29FAFCF6 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 14 │
│ Filename 14-Track14.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 99.8 % │
│ Copy CRC D2102896 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 15 │
│ Filename 15-Track15.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC 28FC1865 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ Track 16 │
│ Filename 16-Track16.wav │
│ │
│ Peak level 96.6 % │
│ Track quality 100.0 % │
│ Copy CRC 32D4C952 │
│ Copy OK │
│ │
│ No errors occured │
│ │
│ │
│ End of status report │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────[ S O U P ]─┤
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘