Other notables behind the boards include Lone Catalyst J. No need to get nervous as you get into the verses” Well fuck that, real tracks at your service “‘What happened to the sounds?’ what everybody’s askin’ Switzerland’s DJ Sebb goes first, with “Relax”, a optimistic tune that supports El’s attempts to calm things down: The beats selected by El for his solo venture are definitely up to today’s standards. Still, even if snippets of Artifacts highlights introduce this record, it can hold its own. It made way for much simpler tracks, where melody is introduced by delicate violin chords and slick guitar riffs rather than triumphant fanfares of horns and towering basslines. In most cases, the sonic boom of the ’90s East Coast sound has been reduced to a mere whisper. Since 2002 is neither 19 and El Da Sensei and DJ Kaos without Tame One are not the Artifacts, don’t expect “Relax Relate Release” to pick up where the criminally slept-on “That’s Them” left off. With the DJ on deck, all El Da Sensei has to present are the lyrics and the hot beats. Technician with precision, switch the fader all day” You had to have lyrics and plus hot beats to get the mixture Yeah kid, it goes deeper but you get the picture (Like Moe Dee, Busy Bee, MC Shan and KRS?) Showin’ your skill up on the mic, originality was keyĪnd the law was not to bite in the highest degree (I hear that) Only a single got you city-wide appeal (Damn!) No video, car, crib or large deals (Huh?) When your favorite MC’s had no major airplay (What?) “Aight little man, let me tell you ’bout the days After teaching biters a lesson himself in a short interlude called “Be Original”, Kaos plays the naive but eager to learn kid discovering the wonders of yesteryear’s hip-hop music: In between, DJ Kaos also takes on the role of the youngster who is getting schooled on the ways of old in “Questions and Answers”, the type of history lesson that hip-hop needs more than ever. What’s more, by contributing a batch of scratches, Kaos gets an amount of exposure that is rare for DJ’s these days. On his recently released solo debut, “Relax Relate Release”, he tries to rekindle the fond memories of an era when, as Fat Beats owner Joe Abajian says somewhere on this record, “that was the hip-hop at the time, it wasn’t split up as it is now.” Those of us old enough to remember those happy days, who may even remember the Artifacts specifically, will be glad to hear that El is still down with DJ Kaos who had become an official member by the time they released their sophomore joint in 1997. Apparently, so did El Da Sensei, the down-to-earth half of this dope New Jersey duo. Back in the late 90’s, I felt really sorry to see the Artifacts break up.
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