Actually, deep down, I knew it was going to be a good album. I was “list sweeping,” though, as I term it, and yes, Snoop Dogg’s simplistic, pompous and lazy part in “Spirit of Cyrus” disqualified it from my year-end festivities. I mean, you have to be able to put the record on and recognize a dope product, there, at least for the first eight tracks or so.
Indeed, on “Saturday Night Special”; Rick Ross and Fat Joe do pretty decent damage to our conventions and ear drums, at least pulling their weight. Still, it’s not a stretch to say LL is at his best when he’s alone on the vocals — he flows like a prize racehorse, splitting a clear, street style between Jay-Z and GZA, and, of course, coming off more approachable and down-home than those two, which certainly isn’t always unwelcome.
Anyway, the real “sleeper” topic surrounding The Force, which was released almost exactly two years ago, to relatively little general accolade and media din, involves the beats which, were, apparently all created by Q-Tip, former rapper in Golden Era pioneers A Tribe Called Quest. Actually, this album has the feel of a great Kanye album, like Late Registration — lively, jazzy or gospel-y beats backdropping an emcee who treats a mic like a freed dog treats the streets, flexing his vocal muscles with complete freedom and handling apparently every topic under the sun with impunity and unscrupulousness. I bring in Skee-Lo, yes, Skee-Lo, as another comparison point here, for simply coming across as an aw-shucks, honest type dude, a little less prone to braggery than Drake, but full of stories, rhymes and a great, understandable flow. “Proclivities” invites in one of the more organic snare sounds I’ve heard in a hip-hop song to date — think Clipse’s “Wamp Wamp (What it Do)” done even more DIY and pub rock, like bringing things back to the basics just for the purpose of potentiating the artist’s ability to overcome long odds toward a dope product. Granted, Saweetie does more toward ruining this track than any cheap-sounding drum sound, certainly — it’s dangerous territory akin to inviting in Nicki Minaj circa 2010, but ultimately this unlikely all-star duo overcomes, and “Proclivities” indeed sustains the LP’s energy. Not bad for having initially served us dogg-y biscuits.
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