Oct 10, 2009
Themselves
CrownsDown
Anticon
The Anticon label is one which seems to have seen its star dwindle with every passing year. From the heady days of the late 90s and early 2000s when Sole's name was as commonplace in backpacker conversations as Atmosphere and Company Flow, the label has become more reclusive, with only a couple of notable exceptions. One of these exceptions was "Soft Money", Jel's 2006 solo outing, which placed his production on a justifiably highly thought-of pedestal, and as such Themselves always had a base of quality beats to work with.
With six years between this album and its predecessor, the duo - Doseone bringing the rhymes to the table - have had plenty of time to work on their arsenal, whilst also being involved in the 13 & God and Subtle projects, but the same pitfalls exist throughout the album as they did in 2003. The album starts off with a bang, the beat pumps threateningly and Jel's trademark drum expertise stands up tall, but the delivery of Doseone simply doesn't fit. A verse from an MC like Aesop Rock would annhilate the beat, giving it the gusto it deserves, but the nasal tones of Doseone leave the track short, the equivalent of a stereotypical Dungeons & Dragons loving geek playing out his revenge fantasies whilst daydreaming in class.
The epitome of how difficult it is to listen to ‘CrownsDown’ is the track ‘You Ain't It’. The lyrics could well be the most life-changing ever committed to record, but it is impossible to make out a single word of what is being said as Doseone tries to stuff as many lines as possible into each set number of bars. Whilst there are some people who admire his ability to get that sort of fast-paced delivery out, the majority would simply find it pointless, even more so when the chorus line turns into an auto-tuned mess.
Experimentation is all well and good but it shouldn't forsake the art of rapping and songwriting as a result. This might not be the worst album ever made, indeed, Jel's beats on ‘Skinning The Drum’ and ‘Back II Burn’ are brilliant examples of how to arrange percussion, but it is going to take an extremely acquired taste to get this album more than a couple of spins.
CrownsDown is out 19th October on Anticon
