Deeply embedded in hip-hop is a sense of rebellion that has fought to keep the culture that developed at neighborhood party jams and street-corner ciphers from big-record label boardrooms that have made a commodity of the music, and used the term “hip-hop” as a marketing scheme and catchphrase.
With the emergence of independent distributors and record labels that help foster an underground following that has inspired original work free from commercially-driven motives, the rebellious attitude is manifested in the work of artists who have taken the grass-roots approach to music. Sometimes benefiting from more artistic freedom and the lack of an overbearing marketing department, more and more hip-hop artists follow the road less traveled to keep from sacrificing artistic integrity.
However, being off the lease of the wealthier, bigger labels means that artists often have to fend for themselves when it comes to production support, and do not have as much guidance as they need. Weaker beats and below-average production more often than not dim the light on a project, and the autonomy often granted with total artistic freedom is too much for some hip-hop artists.
After three Jazzmatazz albums and an impressive catalogue as the rhyming half of the Gangstarr duo, Guru, a Brooklyn-home, Boston-grown MC, took the pseudonym of Baldhead Slick for his latest solo effort, a 19-track, guest-appearance-heavy effort on the independent Ill Kid/Landspeed Records.
Employing producers other than DJ Premier on all but one track, and leaving behind the smooth jazz and soul influences of Jazzmatazz, Streetsoul, Baldhead Slick & the Click finds Guru working with a laundry list of hardcore street artists (Teflon, H. Stax, Smitty) that have been absent on previous Gangstarr and Jazzmatazz work.
With the freedom always desired by the man who has been a slave to the financial and promotional problems of such record labels as Chrysalis and Wild Pitch, Guru takes advantage of his clout in the underground hip-hop community and uses the limited Ill Kid/Landspeed resources to create a somewhat unfocused album that differs from some of his well-constructed, introspective work of the past.
With filler tracks and sub-par 16-bar performances from unknown artists saturating the album, the artistic freedom seems to run so rampant that that nearly 40-year-old rapper fails to develop a consistency that is expected on any work with his stamp on it.
For example, in allowing uncultivated talent to seep through the cracks on “Collecting Props,” Guru fails to use his rap-game wisdom to help newcomers Killa Kaine, Mr. Moe and Pete Powers to benefit effectively from the subtle violin sample on the Alchemist-produced track. Without leadership from one of hip-hop’s elder statesmen, it appears that the aforementioned artists are left without strong guidance. In addition, Guru’s own lack of original material leaves the chorus with much to be desired (“Now I’m a start collecting props/Connecting plots/Networking like a conference, ’cause the nonsense is yet to stop,” he raps on the chorus, ripping it off his own work on the Moment of Truth track “Work”).
Among all the clutter, however, still lies the distinctive voice and commanding presence of Guru, as well as impressive appearances from Naughty By Nature’s Treach (“Ni***z Know”), Ed O.G. (“Rollin’ Dolo”), Ice-T (“Underground Connections”), and production credits from heavy weights DJ Premier (“Back 2 Back”), Pete Rock (“Pimp S**t), and even Guru himself (“Never Ending Saga”).
While it is a mystery what the incentive was for Guru to produce an album under a different moniker, the bigger question is whether he can use this experience to maximize his potential and produce a truly great solo rap album without being under the tutelage of Premier. Unfortunately, the man who once said “it’s mostly the voice” proves it may be just that which has made him such a recognizable talent, and not his ability to lead and exercise the range and rebellion that an independent label project like this could have brought.
Grade: B/C
