Diversity bleeds from this group made of Iz, Life, Talib, Jame, Don Heroic, and DJ Rockon. If I had to make a comparison to a mainstream group, I’d easily compare these cats to the Ruff Ryders. However, they’re not gangsta rappers, thugs, or any of that garbage. They’re a group of lyricists, each member with their own style. I’d only relate them because the unity shared by each group is equally strong. S.I.N. is a hot album, honestly one I would cop. I wouldn’t be doing the LP justice if I didn’t do a little track-to-track summary. “U.N.I.O.N.” begins with a pretty dramatic, war-like introduction. The enter track is about the group’s strength in unity. Life spits first, with a flow like Styles of the Lox, which I’m feeling. Jame, the only white member of the group, spits next with a hot flow and some serious energy. The all-star on this track is most definitely none of the emcees, but the production. The beat, created by Daddy Mark Buckz is some way type ish, and there’s a sick violin constantly going in the background.
“Dangerous Minds” has a more mellow beat produced by Don Heroic, but this track is opened up by Jame with a hot verse. He spits, “Sick intellect, I used to bang and dip in the Lex/ Scarred from me, you’ll breathe through a slit in your neck”. Then some lines later, he rhymes, “I do this cuz I like it, Yo Dione call your psychics/ See the future holding hands, how many mics I get?”. Iz is fourth up to rhyme, flowing on some serious tongue-twister shit, never changing the sounds he’s rhyming with. It’s a hot flow, but a little too segmented.
Jame opens up on “Survive A Minute”, a more emotional song about how their lifestyle isn’t easy to maintain, and most cats wouldn’t survive it. Jame has a few quotable in his verse, “You know my flow? No/ Kick this shit like the studio was fuckin’ with a dojo”…”all alone often, even in coffins I’m assaulting/ Rip your shit like your style had a fuckin’ abortion”…and “I see success and you’re seeing death/ I spit this shit underwater and never need a breath/ Take you back to bar two, think you need a chest/ Sell your head for this shit, you’re fiending for the rest”. Life spits third, with some nice lines, “Everything I happen to say, y’all seem to like/ Y’all couldn’t match this with a team to write”….”I done been through the struggle, I been through the trouble/ Like water wading on air, I been tryin’ to bubble”.
Possibly one of the hottest tracks on here, “Strike Back” has some sick verses, over a decently produced beat by Don Heroic. He also spits first on the track, with a hot line, “And soldiers like ours?/ Nissan couldn’t build better pathfinders, according to Honda’s two-thou’ edition/ Philopher like Aristotle holds shop down without a degree from Princeton”. The bars seem long because this cat spits pretty fast. The catchy, yet dope chorus will definitely have you rhyming along in no time. Talib has some enunciation difficulties on this song. He tries to rhyme fast, and I can’t understand what he’s saying. Jame comes next with nice ass lines, “Crush pyramids, barely see through the mist/ Check Revelations just to know I exist”….”I’m King Cobra’s spit on the world, still molding it/ Pandora’s box ain’t even got my soul in it”….”It’s John Rambo mic flow, catch you in the shower, I get psycho/ Fuck two-and-a-half, where my other two-and-a-half mics go!?”
Some more conceptual songs are “What You Know Now (Is It Enuff?)”, which makes you think about how much you really know about life. It basically shows that you don’t know as much as you think you do, and you only learn from experience. Some lines from these emcees seem to reflect on hipocrisy, as well, saying it’s important that you ‘practice what you preach’. “Pain” is a crazy joint, filled with some energy, and anger, I assume. There’s nothing here I’m really feeling. “In The World” has a real basic beat by Don Heroic, but there’s some deep shit in here. I’m not exactly sure what the guest, Mane, is rhyming about, but Jame spits some shit, “We run away to destruction, diamonds are nothing/ Now any smiling ends with heat bustin'”….”Wall Street storms spray hate/ Guys beatin’ girls like it’s their fault their period’s a day late”…..”In some cases, more is worse than less/ In 2000, a hearse seems pushed more than a Lex”.
This album has at least one song for any hip-hop fan. From battle tracks, to freewrites, to tragedies, to storytelling, S.I.N. has it. Each emcee expresses their own styles on this album, and it’s evident by the substantial differences from any given emcee in the group. I recommend going to the Underground section to find out how to get a hold of this 14-track LP.
Reviewed By RhymeLife.Com for HipHopHotSpot.Com
