Percee P is a hiphop legend, but a look at his discography does not reveal this. He's a rapper who has been at this since the eighties, but who has been slowly building his reputation until anticipation of his debut album reached almost hysterical levels amongst those people blessed enough to ever see him live or hear him drop guest verses on one of the few tracks you can hear him on. If you ever heard Edan's DJ album Fast Rap, you will of course know Lung Collapsing Lyrics, his classic debut single from way back, and maybe you were lucky enough to find one of Percee's bootleg albums, collecting what few singles the man has released so far.
On his solo debut, Percee P connects with Madlib for an album that is easily one of the best of the year so far. And it's not just Percee's incredible rhymework either. Madlib shows once again he is an expert beatsmith, giving P. a musical background that is dark, funky and always interesting. It harks back a bit to the beats from Madlib's amazing Champion Sound collab with Jay Dilla, and people who have heard some of Percee P's earlier work with people like Showbiz and AG may be surprised by this choice for Percee's debut. Put those doubts to rest quick though, because Percee P and Madlib make magic happen on this album.
Whenever I have an album on repeat throughout my workdays, after three or four listens I start to skip those tracks I'm not as excited about, meaning that by listen 5 or 6 the album has turned into more or less a miniature greatest cuts collection. Not so with Perseverance, which has been completely skipless for a few days now. I'm not saying every track is as dope, but when even the lesser cuts are of this high quality, you know you have something special in hands.
Standout tracks in my opinion are The Man to Praise, which sounds like it came straight from Champion Sound, Legendary Lyricist, which successfully harks back to the days of Lung Collapsing Lyrics, 2 Brothers from the Gutter (featuring Diamond D), which uses what sounds like videogame samples as a musical backdrop, the high energy Throwback Rap Attack, and Put it on the Line, which also sounds like a Champion Sound excerpt. But don't think for one second that this is not Percee's album, since his commanding rhyme style makes sure you know who the main man on this album is. There are some good guest spots from people like Guilty Simpson, Vinnie Paz and Aesop Rock, but on his debut album, Percee P reigns supreme. Let's just hope it won't take this long again for his next album to drop.
****½
percee is definitely a hip hop legend,and this album only gives you a sample of what percee is worth, he has done collabo's with almost all artists in the game,i am also a hip hop artist:(gee rock & tha cnd coalition)
some may know of me,by my internet rep......
percee p and lakim shabazz(flavor unit),and myself are presently working on a collabo project:(three the hard way)soon to hit the scene by storm,plotting the return of lakim back into the scene will hopefully spawn returns of many more hip hop vets to help the game reclaim its glory....kill em percee.
Posted by: derek simmons | October 02, 2008 at 07:48 PM