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***Recorded between i95 and i97 for Loud/RCA (before Loudis ignoble fall from grace), Darc Mindis Symptomatic Of A Greater Ill is almost without comparison in the history of NY rap. Songs on this album, iVisions a Bluri chief among them, sound as if they arrived from another planet. Inevitably, critics will struggle to figure out how Darc Mind fits into anticonis larger oeuvre. If less for the sake of accuracy than to discourage aimless pondering, anticon suggests that, number one, it doesnit, and number two, theyire profoundly grateful to be releasing this record. Kevroc, the vocal half of Darc Mind, possesses a unique sense of timing and nearly instrumental phrasing. Delivered in a low, Moses-fresh-from-the-mountaintop rumble, his rhymes are densely packed with strange imagery. Skimming the albumis lyrics, itis easy to detect the sea change occurring ten years ago in hip-hop: the transition from iIllmatici to iIt Was Written;i the ascendancy of Biggie and Jigga; a new affection for name-checking luxury brands; and rinib hooks creeping from the shadows into pop-rap ubiquity. And the beats, oh, the beats. Like DITC in their prime, DJ and producer GM Webb D (aka X-Ray) unpacks a treasure chest of horns and keys, ruggedly reworking the choice bits with full-bodied basslines and chopped drum breaks. Between the fractured, unsettling iIim Illi and the horn-stab-and-drum-machine-driven iFever Pitch,i rapis history and its future are willfully crosscut and interlaced. Had Symptomatic Of A Greater Ill been released in i97 as planned, it could have affected the orbit of mid-to-late i90s hip-hop. It might have given heart to skeptical and exhausted innovators who were giving up the game, and shown the world that a certain kind of NYC rap record, both traditional and envelope-pushing, was still possible. 30-second MP3 excerpts: Visions of a Blur
U Da One
Seize the Phenom
Knight of the Roundtable
I'm Ill
Covert Op
Give Me Time
BMOC
Fever Pitch
Rhyme Zone
Outside Looking In If you have a recent version of iTunes software on your computer, clicking on the link immediately below should open the iTunes application and take you to that album's iTunes page-- where you can listen to samples and buy this album, or individual tracks: go to iTunes to browse downloads for Darc Mind "Symptomatic Of A Greater Ill" [please note that, due to international licensing agreements, not all Midheaven titles may be available for download in all territories]. For a complete listing of Midheaven exclusive albums available for download from the iTunes Music service and emusic.com, please visit the Midheaven Mailorder/Revolver USA Downloadables page. |
