2001 was transitionary year, with the official rise of the Def Jux empire, encompassing El-P, Cannibal Ox, Aesop Rock, and others. But let us not ignore Necro, Cage, and Non-Phixion... artists that really set the stage for the Def Jux revolution. Out west, there have also been creative rumblings, as the next wave of Project Blowed artists has begun to assert itself with a new breed of fans who demand bold innovation and thought provoking lyrics. Leading the Blowdian charge are Aceyalone, Abstract Rude, PEACE, and Bus Driver.

Asheru and Blue Black epitomize everything that is intelligent and wholesome about hip hop. In this day and age, it seems hard to argue with the inverse correlation between maturity and wisdom... and making compelling music. Most artists who tackle personal situations usually sound whiny or shortsighted. Most artists who deal with social issues usually come off as misinformed and dogmatic. And artists who indulge their poetic sensibilities almost are almost always relegated to the open-mic scene. But Asheru and Blue Black defy these tendencies. Further elevating the album are productions by Geology, J-Rawls, DJ Khaliyl (of Self Scientific), and several others. The sound is engaging, yet relaxed. And the jazz influences are undeniable.

Not every song on the album is a banger. To the contrary, Ash and Blue allow the album to simmer into your consciousness with their smooth beats and flows. Check out these lines from "B-Boy"...

I'm the harvest
not the hardest, or the smartest
but the art chosen by this artist
is the widest, and goes the farthest.

Oh you a "true thug"?
C'mon man, you get a group hug. We embrace you.
But we ain't scared to face you.

The real beauty of popular music is that it says much more about the state of people's day-to-day lives than it does about any real progress or evolution in the world of music. The Cold Vein is not a pioneering work of music in the sense that it breaks new ground or perfectly captures a feeling or a moment. Rather, it is more of an unwitting political statement. What Cold Vein suggests is that an emerging generation of predominantly white hip hop fans is going to be partial to the dark, agitated aesthetic pioneered by Necro, Company Flow, Non-Phixion, Cage, and other MOSTLY WHITE hip hop artists. Not that I'm prejudiced... after all, I'm white. But it is a big shift away from the generally party-spirited, positive, life-affirming tone of the first 20 years of hip hop. Even Wu-Tang and Mobb Deep sound cheery compared to this new crop. Gone are the days of putting on a smile for the crowd and making people dance... today's cutting-edge hip hop artists would rather you simply nod your head and pay close attention to the aggressively pensive lyrics.

If you need proof that American culture is in the midst of a Dark Age... this album can serve as a rather eloquent testimony. Hip Hop's dark lord of production, El-P, has provided Vordul and Vast Aire with a full album of semi-apocalyptic hip hop soundscapes that build upon trudgy, off-kilter drum sequencing, a dissonant approach to melody and texture, and a signature use of sustained sythesizer tones. Gone is the fast, steady pace that has long characterized hip hop music. Let's face it... everything is different here. Even foundational hip hop elements of melody such as large basslines and punchy hooks are largely absent, as El-P explores the subtle dynamics of layering a wide range of textures, frequencies, and durations. In other words, the listener gets a full picture.

A lot of hip hop heads look to Can Ox as a guiding light through dark times. They see El-P, Vast, and Vordul as representing musical progress and lyrical integrity. But the reality is that, while El-P's vision of a beautiful purgatory takes listeners to a whole new realm of hip hop... Vast and Vordul remind us that we are still very much in the world of mortal man. Listening to the instrumental album, I am struck by the calm, reflective... a mood of restrained celebration... pending enlightenment. Yet when I go back to the vocal album, I am struck by how insecure, discontent, antagonistic, and well... downright NORMAL Vast and Vordul seem. Granted, their rhymes are often clever and always eloquent. V&V paint vivid pictures, with skills to match El-P's production. Yet the underlying message and tone are still the typical "All you wack MCs out there bear witness to my awesome display of futuristic street rhyme poetry while I smoke weed and talk about some ghetto shit." Well, on second judgement, let me say that I guess what I'm asking for here is like the black Jim Morrison to step up and spit some apocalyptic shaman type shit and like be all awkward and embarass the hell out of himself.

Soundtrack for a lifetime in purgatory? Post-apocalyptic opus? Bottom line: this is the most solid hip hop album since... well, not many hip hop albums have ever conveyed such a powerful and coherent vision. I celebrate this album. Yet I wonder if it is a sign that the nihilism and all-out cynicism of such artists as Necro, Cage, and Non-Phixion will begin begin to assert itself as a dominant force in rap music? The gradual whitewash of a predominantly African-American genre seems inevitable if the wider audience has not taken the Black traditions to heart. It may be that the optimism of jazz, funk, reggae, and old-school hip hop is slowly being tossed by the wayside as a new generation of self-identified cultural warriors, pursues an aesthetic of bleak futurism.

The greatest strength of popular culture is also its greatest weakness: our constant need for musical evolution leaves us unsatisfied. Every generation demands its own voice, and thus each generation expresses its particular zeitgeist through music... whether happy or sad, enlightened or mad.

In a perfect hip hop universe, MCs would flex styles so unique and diverse that battling would be akin to having martial arts masters from different styles compete against each other. In that universe, Bus Driver would definitely be a master of his style. You'd be hard pressed to beat this guy in a battle, let alone understand what the hell he is actually saying.

But what exactly IS Bus Driver's style? Well, the difficulty in answering that question is part of the reason why Bus Driver is a master of his style... because no one else sounds anything like him. Being the L.A. resident that he is, the influence P.E.A.C.E., Micah 9, Aceyalone, Jupiter, and other Project Blowed & Good Life MCs is obvious. But Bus Driver has taken the boldest innovations of these MCs and made his own style that is 100% innovative at all times.

When I first heard Bus Driver on Fat Jack's Cater To The DJ, I thought his style was a little gimmicky... something different for the sake of being different. And it seems inevitable the Bus Driver will be written off by most hip hop fans for having such an unconventional style. But when you get down to the nitty gritty of Bus Driver's style, you find a rather solid method to his madness. To get a better sense of Bus Driver's style, try ignoring the literal meanings of his words for a few minutes, and focus on the musical qualities of his delivery. Here's what you will find... First and foremost, Bus Driver eschews the use of space. His phrases often run together for entire songs. As for his phrasing... his phrases are usually long and twisting... sometimes short and punchy, but often so long you can't help but wonder when he gets a breath in. Perhaps the most obvious characteristic of Bus Driver's delivery is the weird tone he seems to squeeze out of every word... sort of half evil witch, half psychotic Yogi Bear. And rhythmically... well, rhythmically Bus Driver is ALL OVER the place. And combined with his wildly varying tempos, Bus Driver is enough to make you dizzy... and possibly sick in the head.

The stand-out track on the album is "Get On The Bus," due primarily to the fact that Bus Driver actually seems to work with the beat, instead of just rapping over it. The fact of the matter is that most of the beats on the album aren't nearly as catchy as "Get On The Bus". With Bus Driver's rich, complex delivery... the beats are somewhat incidental... a canvas upon which to paint words, or a background mood against which to throw up his verbal barrage. Not that the beats aren't wildly creative (because they are)... it's just that Bus Driver always overwhelms the track with his delivery. Hard to pay attention to the beat when you've got this guy having an epileptic mic seizure in your face. Maybe on the fourth or fifth listen you can start to sort out the beat from the rapping.

All in all, Bus Driver stands as a testament to the vast potential of his craft. And hopefully others will throw off their style chains as well, so that maybe we can take ourselves a few steps closer to that perfect hip hop universe.

For those of you so-called "underground" hip hop heads who still sleep on the production revolution started by Timbaland and Swizz Beats, P.E.A.C.E. and Fat Jack have put together this LP to show that DIRTY SOUTH BEATS + A DOPE MC = GREAT HIP HOP. While the rest of the underground sleeps on these beats, MCs like PEACE, Natpron, DV Alias Khryce, Bus Driver, Ret Sam, and others have finally given these beats the rhymes they deserve... not those trite banalities, just straight up fresh lyrics. Stand-out tracks include "Southwest Rider", "Already Gone", and the feel-good classic "It's A Packed House".

In case you didn't know, P.E.A.C.E. from the Freestyle Fellowship, is one of the greatest freestyle MCs ever. Always on the cutting edge and consistently pushing himself to the limits of his ability, PEACE is a living legend. Included on this album is the Freestyle Fellowship b-boy sure shot "Physical Form" from FF's To Whom It May Concern. Rarely do I tell people to support an MC by buying his album... but I urge to buy this album. Not just for the incredible music, but also because P.E.A.C.E. has knowingly sacrificed commercial success in order to take hip hop to the next level. Buy this album!

If one were to attempt to put together a perfect MC from scratch, you could save a lot of time by simply dissecting the style of Aceyalone. It's all there. He has a nice voice. He is a master of wordplay and rhyming. And his subject matter reflects an interesting personality. But what really sets Aceyalone apart from other MCs of his caliber is that his delivery is very clear and concise. Aceyalone always enunciates his words, whether he is rhyming fast or slow. This is why he is so popular: in spite of the extremely high level of difficulty... you can always understand what he is saying the first time around. While there are definitely many unremarkable tracks on Accepted Eclectic, Aceyalone's entire body of work should be mandatory study, because his mic methodology is totally solid. In spite of the fact that many Aceyalone fans would say that 1994's All Balls Don't Bounce is his best album. Aceyalone has only improved with time. Songs such as "Rappers, Rappers, Rappers", "Golden Mic", and "B-Boy/Real McCoy" show him to be as adept as ever.