After a five year absence from the rap game, Buckshot, 5FT. and Evil Dee Bio are reunited. This trio, known as BlackMoon, put forth their first album since 'Enta Da Stage', which in 1993 took the rap game by storm. Following the release of that album, they were forced to separate because of contract problems with their label, Nervous Records. Enter 1997. This was the year that these three artists found a way to reunite. Buckshot, as the founder of Duckdown Records, provided the label upon which the trio could unite to hopefully take the hip hop game by storm once again.

BlackMoon's styles teems with old skool beats, sound effects and the whole nine yards. The diversity of the album astounded me, but it requires a little more refining. The large number of featured artists plays a role in the diversity, because each featured artist seems to bring their own sound to the song. Such artists include; Busta Rhymes, Heltah Skeltah, M.O.P, Cocoa Brovaz & Q-Tip.

"Freestyle" has got a great beat, and the lyrics cut smooth as butter with a heated knife. Evil Dee spins his thing on the turntable putting forth an extremely creative beats that'll captivate you. Their first single, "Two Turntables & A Mic" samples from Tanya Garner's early 80's classic "Heartbeat". The beat is massively catchy and you will certainly recognize it, but probably won't be able to place it. "Weight Of The World" puts forth a simple but catchy beat filled with lyrical prowess. It puts the world's stresses all into perspective. "Duress" and "This is What It Sounds Like" provide thought-inducing lyrics. "The Onslaught", "Showdown" and "Frame" are all catchy, predominently because their featured artists are the glue for the song.

I find myself at a draw - this album borders on being great and pretty bad. Individually, the songs are all pretty good, but as a whole this album seems to lack the creativity to attract the listener. It's the type of album that you'll grow to love if you give it a few weeks, but on the short term, it'll sound not so great. So, if you've heard BlackMoon's, Buckshot's, Cocoa Brovaz's, or Duckdown's style and really enjoyed it, then this is the album for you. Otherwise, with all the new releases, you might be better off looking else where.

www.brockwayent.com

(Originally posted on HipHopCanada.com)

This review was written March 24, 1999