Taken off producer duo L.A.U.S.D.’s upcoming compilation album Los Angeles Unified Sound District: Board of Production, this is the smooth lead single titled “Ignite”. With Polyester and L4ZY LOU on this feel-good track, they roped in Inglewood’s Thurzday and Y-O of U-N-I fame, as well as beautiful vocals from Vida Jafari. The recipe to this track works beautifully like that piece of cheddar cheese and lettuce on your bread. Besides being able to check out LA’s list of new acts on L.A.U.S.D.’s Board of Production, this already sounds like a hot summer release.

Download: L.A.U.S.D. – “Ignite” f. Thurz, Y-O & Vida Jafari [Right Click Save-As]

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Potholes

While it is not known that the West Coast-based crew U-N-I’s sophomore album A Love Supreme (released as a free download last year) was a nod to the great John Coltrane classic, the duo of MCs Y-O and Thurzday along with producer Ro Blvd have created a sound that is at times jazzy and most definitely diverse. The prelude to Love Supreme was the underrated Before Their Was Love mixtape – perhaps one of the stronger (if overlong) freebie mixtapes from last year. The crew returns with the beefed-up A Love Supreme 2.0 and while there are just five new tracks, several of the previous records have been reworked to great effect.

The LP, produced entirely by Ro Blvd, begins with the excellent “Supreme”. Ro’s track is both sparse and captivating with the producer relying mostly on synthesizers to bolster the strong rhymes from Thurzday and Y-O. “Land Of The Kings” is an immediate shift in sound, as the track takes on a more pop-friendly and lighter approach with its infectious hook. The production is the star, but the MCs deliver another strong performance and thus mesh well with the excellent music behind them. “Hollywood Hiatus” continues the excellent keyboard work from Ro and the song has a clever nod to ’80s R&B sensation New Edition. Y-O delivers his strongest performance lyrically thus far. “On The Launch 2.0” is another quality track with Ro Blvd’s bouncy, breezy track compliments Thurzday and Y-O’s slightly autobiographical lyrics. The MCs offer slight braggadocios in their rhymes but the hard work to ascension is the more evident theme. “Lady” featuring the talented vocalist Miguel highlights Ro’s versatility and the slinky groove is the perfect backdrop for the MCs’ earnest attempt at a song for the ladies. The track succeeds most specifically because of Miguel’s well delivered hook and Ro Blvd’s ’80s-tinged track.

The LP is not without snags and glaring issues, which all show up in epic fashion on “Stylin”. The track, while decent enough, is an overloud mess and the lyrics fail to hold interest. It is here where it becomes apparent that Thurzday and Y-O, great voices and all, have very thin source material. This is quickly corrected with “Pulp Fiction” featuring the talented Fashawn. The use of the story angle and yet another amazing Ro Blvd track shows that when focused, these MCs are as good as any from the West Coast today. Fashawn nearly steals the show but all three MCs shine bright on this track. The album closes with the incredible “A Love Supreme” which gels the prodigious MC talents of Y-O and Thurzday with Ro Blvd’s production seamlessly and the heartfelt lyrics buzz with sincerity. It is with this track that the sound the group aimed for throughout the entire LP is fully realized. A Love Supreme 2.0 may not shift the paradigm of sound in a suddenly crowded West Coast underground but they deserve a great deal of recognition for delivering one of the stronger releases of the year.

In short, A Love Supreme is one of the greatest albums of all time. From “Acknowledgement” to “Psalm”, John Coltrane’s quartet produced a timeless classic.

(April Fools? No. That was just wack.)

U-N-I is comprised of Y-O and Thurzday, two young emcees hailing from Los Angeles, California. These flamboyant characters are nothing short of stylish, and their sophomore release entitled A Love Supreme is the vibrant pink icing on the cake. With the help of producer Ro Blvd, this album is a voyage down a synth/key-oriented rainbow road. You can imagine there are quite a few bumps along the way. No sugar high comes without its repercussions.

It is important to note that A Love Supreme is a very clean album. The delivery of the lyrics are crisp, and the production is in a West Coast state-of-mind. It didn’t take long to admire the simplicity of a track like “Supreme”; a bar’s worth of catchy synths and complimentary drums is all U-N-I is given to deliver the goods. “London Lauren” is another prime example of Ro’s impressive ability to slap together a relaxed piece of work for Y-O and Thurzday to attack. Though there are a few instances where this record is too pretty. “Hollywood Hiatus” will take you back – literally. The beat is a multi-layered cyclone, set to a slow motioned reverse. “Stylin’” is far from stylish – it comes off as weak and fragile via both the producer and the emcees.

This clean album does have one rotten apple though. It’s grimy, dirty, and raw. It also happens to be the best track on the record. I could not ask for more out of ”Pulp Fiction Part 1″. A narrator (Thurzday) tells the story of Mike (Y-O) and Cedric (Fashawn), two men who “plan to satisfy their hunger for wealth“. A badass guitar riff on one end. Scratchy keys on the other. Enticing story. Everything clicks.

I have a really tough time soaking up the conclusion of U-N-I’s A Love Supreme. Any of the last three tracks could equal one outro. The over-the-top cries from both “Black Sky” and “Halftime” put Kanye West’s “Pinocchio Story” to shame. If that’s not enough, the final two/three minutes of the album is pure story time (Which actually reminded me of Kanye’s “Last Call”). Don’t get me wrong though, it’s a nice sounding curtain call to a unique album. I just don’t hope these L.A. natives think they’ve made it far enough in the industry to be taking such a mellow approach to a finale.  To each his/her own, though.

A Love Supreme is this, that, and a third. Y-O, Thurzday and Ro Blvd have created an album that covers a lot of different sound and material. It’s a stretch to call it versatile, though. No matter how badly these guys want to call themselves escapists of the stereotypical West Coast sound, I think they’re still in the mix. Regardless, it’s a good clean effort, and good clean fun.