EVEN IN DARKNESS
DUNGEON FAMILY
Arista/BMG
Ranking 6.5/10

One summer day in 1997, I happened to pick up both the Wu-Tang Clan's Forever album and Goodie Mob's Soul Food album. Despite the harsh criticism of my basketball buddies, Goodie Mob's album won my praise hands down over the cluttered Wu-Tang album.

Now, nearly five years later, ring leaders, Outkast and Goodie Mob have finally managed to release their southern hip hop family's debut album, Even In Darkness. The Dungeon Family collective includes the likes of Outkast, Goodie Mob, Withdoctor, Freddie Calhoun and others.

Like the cluttered Wu-Tang album of five years ago, Even In Darkness, fails to shine as bright as it should. The lyrical content falls a bit short, with a disarray of the family's artists all putting down verses throughout the album. In fact, the characteristic Outkast and Goodie Mob stories seemingly go missing.

However, the album does features some truly bangin' songs like the Kraftwerk inspired 'Trans DF Express,' 'Follow The Light' and 'Crooked Booty.' 'Curtains (of 2nd Generation)' also provides a bumpin' beat, but the second generation of emcees show that they aren't as lyrically gifted as the first generation.

Overall, this album fell below my expectations, but maintained respectability. The Dungeon Family is extremely talented, and they are definitely helping to elevate hip hop. However their work as individual groups far exceeds the average outcome of their collective production on this album. This album is worth picking up, but it won't blow your mind like Outkast's last album.