El Da Sensei & The Returners – GT2: Nu World
Coalmine Records: 2010
One of the most commonly-heard themes during the “ hip-hop is dead” movement (remember that?) was the battle cry to “ take it back to the old-school” in all forms (read: make it like East Coast hip-hop), from beats to lyricism to the message. Sure it’ s a noble goal, but people were going about it the wrong way, Artist A starting silly beef with Artist B because they didn’ t adequately honor the old-school. The question remains: how much more like the old-school do you have to sound in order to appease these people? Polish duo The Returners, who sound old-school, got back with veteran Brick City emcee El Da Sensei, who is old-school, for their second project together: GT2: Nu World, an album packed with enough boom-bap, scratching, and rap lyric samples to appease the most discriminating admirer of eras passed.
El Da Sensei enlists true-school favorites Sean Price, Treach, and Rakaa Iriscience to appear on the album, and it’ s fitting because the album sounds heavily influenced by the work of those artists. Nu World has a sound very similar to Dilated Peoples’ albums, which themselves are influenced by East Coast hip-hop, and El Da Sensei is as East Coast as you can get, as are Treach and Sean P. The Sensei-Price collabo, “ Everyday on the Street”, is the big banger on the album; gentleman, do not play this around your girl unless she’ s a ride-or-die chick, as Price, Sensei and Bekay get grimy over a beat where The Returners ensure that the horns and the drum section go hard. “ They Don’ t Know” , while the production is a little overbearing, is an informative look into the industry and how to make it, as El Da Sensei drops the knowledge he’ s accumulated during the 16 years since the Artifacts debuted. He also brings John Robinson and Reks on board for “ Toxic Words”, another smart move as both John Robinson and Reks are MCs who embrace the East Coast’ s golden era sound and sound right at home on Nu World.
While most of the beats are strong, the production suffers from 9th Wonder Disease, an affliction that causes the producer to keep using the same drum pattern. Known cures include a steady diet of Madlib. El Da Sensei is chock-full of bravado, and combined with the knocking beats, Nu World is in-your-face and makes no apologies, kind of like
Jersey!
3 out of 5
