------------With such a hectic year for Darkroom Studios we see yet another, and final, release of the year from them. Unlike the other cds that came out of the Darkroom this year this one sort of appeared from nowhere and was on shelves before the end of late October. Not knowing what to expect from this trio of rappers, with both Konflict and Nightmare only having a few appearances between themselves, this cd was more of a mystery than anything. Having only 10 tracks this cd is full of some surprises but also some major letdowns.
___With only 10 tracks, the pickings are slim. And with 10 tracks we only see one guest appearance from a Darkroom member, Sir Dyno, and Lowdown members Never, Lil Wyno, and Hurrikaine J. ALG appears on every track and also has a solo song at the end. You are also introduced to some new rappers that I have never heard before, Rudd-Dogg, Lil Loksta, and Mr. Mentiroso (he has been on one other track to my knowledge). Rudd-Dogg and Lil Loksta unfortunately sound like they have never touched a mic before and don’t add to the cd at all. Not to say that they are really bad but don’t really contribute much in terms of quality lyrics and they sound simplistic next to the members of NKA. Mr.Mentiroso is somewhat better than them, but nothing so you just can't wait to hear more from him. So you are probably expecting me now to proceed with a verbal bashing of this cd but that is not the case.
___The first thing I noticed was that the beats on this cd are very tight and some of the best to come out of the Darkroom. Production comes from a number of people including J-Loc, Crooked, Dyno, ALG, and Konflict. With these tight beats come the surprising performances of Nightmare and Konflict. In fact they outshine veteran ALG throughout the cd.
___“M.C.D.L.G.” is the first song that really catches your ear and features ALG, Never, Lil Wyno, Hurrikaine J, and Nightmare. The beat is good and the members of Lowdown steal the show on this one with some of the best lyrics from them yet. This is also my favorite song on the whole cd and is a cut above the rest. “Who’s Got a Cuete?” is good song with a nice, deep baseline and good lyrics from Nightmare and Konflict and decent verses from Sir Dyno, ALG, and Mr.Mentiroso. “1 Day at a Time” is another banging beat that overcomes the appearances from both Lil Loksta and Rudd-Dogg. “Mandatory Suicide” is yet another track with a great beat and is the only song in which all 3 members of NKA are by themselves. It has a nice hook and good lyrics from NKA. “Alwayz on tha Hunt” has my favorite beat on the whole cd, with a dark vibe to it. Mr.Mentiroso opens up this song real nice and brings some heat and NKA takes it from there with another quality performance.
___The major letdown of this whole cd is the fact that there are only 10 tracks in all. That is good for only 35 minutes of music. Add in the fact that “Still Can’t Stop What-Cha Can’t See” is taken from ALG solo and that leaves you with only 9 new songs. I am not saying that this is a bad song, in fact is was one of the tightest songs on ALG’s solo but it should not have been included due to the length of this cd. With appearances from any other Darkroom members limited to 2 songs, and the other appearances being subpar, this is another drawback of the cd. But Nightmare and Konflict both show good performances and hopefully will be appearing more often. ALG did not come as good as he could have on this one and gets repetitive at times using the same lyrics song after song. I am not saying he doesn’t add to the cd, but he could have done more in my mind. The final line is this cd is not lacking in the production department, but is hurt in the area of both length and questionable guest appearances. Any one other than a Darkroom fan should overlook this one.
Rating: 7.3/10
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bruce Wayne
