Tunes from the Whip: Acid Reign "Time & Change"

For quite some time I've wanted to do a weekly feature reviewing a random CD. I went into Easy Street and copped 10 dollar albums and was ready to go. Life got in the way and I've been off the internet for quite some time. Nothing new round these parts. In my recent move I brought my CD collection to Seattle. This means that box of 10 discs is competeing with some piles of shit. I don't know what ya'll are gonna get hit with. Kicking it off this week is the last album from Acid Reign out of LA.

Coming out in 2008 on Alpha Pup didn't quite mean what it means today. Not that Alpha Pup has upped their rep that much but Daddy Kev is a resident of The Low End Theory and viewed as the surrogate father of the sprawling beat scene that's been on a steady rise for several years now. Acid Reign is two emcees Beond and Gajah, they have been rapping together since they were teenagers and have made the rounds with the project blowed cats coming up through the LA underground in the mid to late 90s.

To still be at it in 2008 is impressive and while it seems the album didn't prove to be the spark they needed to finally escape their city Time & Change is out here for people to find and peak into another side of LA Hip Hop.



The beats hear are all pretty banging, sometimes a bit too experimental for my liking but hard drums and tight scratching are always positives for a head. The production comes from a who's who of the beat making uderground with Fat Jack, Omid, edIT, Dert and of course Daddy Kev to name a few all making contributions.

Lyrically the guys are clever and non pretentious. They admit that they are always looking for that next girl they can take to bed and that they like to get fucked up. They aren't afraid to laugh and have a good time. No macho posturing here, just two guys having a good time.

Paris Zax contributes the most tracks here including "Heart of the City" utilizing the same sample for the Jay-Z song of the same name. Kinda strange, but it's a good song, the Bobby Bland sample is beautiful and really is only gonna make a song more enticing. It's their dedication to the town that raised them and features LA legend Abstrat Rude. Can't get much better validation than that on a track about Los Angeles.

One of the guys has a voice that can be annoying. It's not apparent on every track, but their are verses throughout the album that will have you like if dude should ever rap again. These moments coupled with it's own distinct sound that isn't always moving makes the album fairly mediocre. It's a cool piece of these dudes dreams to make it as rappers but I doubt I'm ever gonna put it on again. I've never been a big fan of the old LA underground though. Time & Change does provide a cool document of where many of the current beat mashers were coming from and that is something that more and more people will be investigating.

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