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(Obese)
First things first – The Hard Road is a better album than The Calling. Rather than being satisfied with producing, arguably, Australia’s best ever hip-hop album (but certainly the most popular), the boys have gone back to the studio and struck gold. Make no mistake, this is far from The Calling: Part 2, it is an album more in touch with their roots, better produced and with sharper delivery. It is exactly what fans had hoped for.
The Calling was a smash, and three years ago when I reviewed it the boys were merely a crew from my home town producing quality hip-hop. Jump to 2006 and Suffa, Pressure and Debris are the biggest (credible) stars in Australian hip-hop, nationally known and with a swag of first offs for album sales. The follow up was going to have to be good, it is all that and then some. From the moment the first drum loop kicks you get a feel for how aggressive this album is, still riding a vocal sample Recapturing The Vibe has an outstanding drum loop and Pressure and Suffa attack it like hungry men. By the time Suffa spits this line “Two of the best to ever edit poetics, it be the three headed beast from Obese come to set it” all doubts should have left your mind.
Backing up the outstanding start is lead single Clown Prince which along with Conversations At The Speakeasy featuring Omni from the US and Obese Low Lifes with the UK’s Mystro and Braintax provide the party track flavour. All three have the funk infused bass, party lyrics and punchlines you need to get a party started, they will probably be written off by some as not hard enough, for those people I have one question, when did it become un-cool to party?
The thing that really blew my mind here is the production, Suffa has really elevated his beat making to another level. Only two tracks really rely on vocal samples the afor mentioned Recapturing and the title track, other than that outstanding use of instrument samples sets the mood. The flute loop is back creating a vibe not too dissimilar to Little Ghetto Boy on Stopping All Stations as Pressure vents his anger at treatment of the elderly. Both this and his later solo track, Breathe, herald his arrival to the world as a premier storytelling MC.
The other flute loop features on Circuit Breaker, this time Trials tweaking the beat and Suffa and Pressure ride it at their braggadocios best. Suffa is no one trick pony though, the tough drums and piano loops of Breathe and again the title track are outstanding, whilst the guitar rocks on What A Great Night as Suffa pieces together big nights, and acoustic on City Of Light – an ode to growing up in Adelaide. To round things out beat wise Simplex from Terra Firma delivers an absolute corker, starting with simple keys and kicking with a mashing of nasty samples and drums. Monsters Ball is brilliant and should only heighten excitement for the TF project due this year.
Lyrically both Suffa and Pressure have improved. Whilst Suffa comes hard to match, his new production flavour still features his unique sense of humour and cockiness. Witness his line on Circuit Breaker “I lose it every time I put it down like car keys” followed by tongue firmly in cheek bigging up of himself. Pressure on the other hand has taken his aggression, wordplay and storytelling to another level. It’s hard to pinpoint a precise lyric that sums up where he’s at so it’s best to just say he is brilliant from start to finish.
So after all that the only thing missing is the posse cut to match last time rounds The Certificate. Ladies and gentlemen they give you The Blue Blooded. This track is a who’s who of hip-hop in this country with Hau, Funkoars, Vents, Drapht, Pegz and Muph all established stars. Each deliver, in particular Sesta, with this line “I used to think big till it killed L, Pun, Smalls & Kev” whilst Pegz drops the gem “The most incredible rapping since edible panties”. However, one name was a surprise inclusion and doesn’t disappoint, Robby Balboa. Remember the name, in his two cameos of recent months here and on The Optimen’s album he has shown he can hang with the best we have to offer.
This album is brilliant, if you don’t have it already what the hell are you waiting for?
