ChoppedNScrewed

In my opinion this is a very impressive follow-up to Cormega's likely magnum opus of the year before, The Realness. It sheds some of the more Mobb Deep/CNN street sensibilities of the his previous effort, and thus some menace, grit and thrust is lost, as well as the production not being quite so much to my taste here for similar reasons. In its place, however, Cormega's introspection and thoughtfulness take centre stage, and he consistently delivers on each song.

Jay Jay Johnson is an excellent trombonist, backed here by a hugely talented band including a young John Lewis and Charles Mingus. The album has real forward momentum all the time, and outside of mavericks like Roswell Rudd and Grachan Moncur III, with whom comparison would be largely pointless, Johnson distinguishes himself as a contender for the greatest jazz trombonist.

IDK attempts a great deal on this effort both musically and lyrically, and his enterprise in the large part rewarded even if the thematic aspects of the album have been done better by more prodigious talents. Nonetheless, IDK is a very engaging personality on the mic and the production complements his energy well.

A haunting, stripped-back album with each song affording ample breathing space for Cohen's lyrical talents to thrive, and the blend of emotional intensity and despondency makes for some very powerful songwriting.