Acid Reign Time & Change LP
The US West Coast still has a lot of hip hop secrets to share with the world – and Acid Reign, aka MCs Gajah and Beond, could be the next one. They met up in the early 90s in this most usual of hip hop spots – the Christian Youth Center. Having formed a crew following this they made regular trips to the legendary Project Blowed open mic workshop in L.A’s South Central during the 90s, learning their craft and building their name with self released tapes and albums.
Fast forward to 2005 and an album deal with the burgeoning Alpha Pup label has teamed them up with some of the finest producers around under the executive direction of label head Daddy Kev, himself no stranger to producing for some of L.A’s finests.
Beats come varied and fresh courtesy of Kev, Omid, Paris Zax and edIT and guest appearances from Abstract Rude, Scarub, Pigeon John and D-Styles complete the type of line up that could only result in crap if you really tried hard. And that’s not the case here as Acid Reign pull off a strong showcase – between clever word play, laid back rhymes, fast raps and tongue twisting metaphors the two MCs show that over a decade on the L.A underground has made them into worthy contenders in today’s hip hop landscape.
The overall result is dope and somehow reminds me of some of the West Coast’s finest moments – there’s something in the production and rhymes which instantly makes you think of all the good stuff L.A has given hip hop over the last 20 years, from N.W.A to Busdriver. Maybe it’s a certain sonic quality which is inherent to producers based there. Whatever it is it works well and ensures the LP doesn’t come off sounding too forced as can be the case with so many albums where producers are paired with MCs.
If you’re a fan of the West Coast underground then this will hit all the right spots and if you’ve not yet acquainted yourself with the wealth of underground talent out there today, you could do worse than starting with Acid Reign.
A dope album that reminds you of the West Coast's finest moments
- Kper
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