(Definitive Jux/Inertia)

A fine pedigree.

The Mighty Underdogs’ debut EP, as well as the various other projects and solo material from the  members of this indie-rap supergroup, set a dauntingly high standard. Two of the tracks from that EP are repeated here – there’s a remixed and funkified version of the verbal boxing match UFC, in which Lateef takes on all comers in mainstream hip hop (“Can’t tell what they rappin’ bout / steadily they tappin’ out”), and the MF DOOM feature Gunfight is also present. The EP’s highlight, Gunfight displaces hip hop’s gun obsession to the wild west where the three MCs tell twisty cowboy narratives – it just might be the best track about shooting people ever recorded. That high standard is lived up to by the new material; all of the group, and their guests like Lyrics Born and Chali 2Na, sound like they’re having a hell of  a good time and the fun is infectious. They redefine getting freaky with a catalogue of movie freaks called Monster and Gift Of Gab’s cosmic side shows when they party with aliens in Science Fiction; summing everything up is a sample from the movie Stripes, a rousing speech about mutts, mutants and dogfaces banding together. I’m pretty sure Bill Murray wasn’t talking about creating an awesome hip hop album, but that’s what these underdogs have done all the same.

****   

JODY MACGREGOR

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