This is the type of music that makes you want to celebrate its release like it's the coming of the hip-hop messiah, arriving right on time to remind us of the standards of the golden days.
All right, that may be a little excessive. But with the vintage laid back West Coast sounds of their new album, "Stepfather," the Los Angeles duo People Under The Stairs (PUTS) has returned in near flawless form with its first full length album since 2002.
The album was produced, mixed and written by hip-hop renaissance men Thes One (born Chris Portugal) and Double K (Michael Turner). While the two share crate digging and spinning duties, the L.A. native Double K lays down a soft, wisdom-infused bass flow that complements the lyrically playful, sharp delivery of the Peruvian-born talent Thes One.
The importance of the rapper/producer multi-talent shouldn't be downplayed in any evaluation of a hip-hop performance. In today's game, where hot beats are a hot commodity, the all-encompassing jack-of-all-trades group sits at a different level. Cultivating the authentic "L.A. summer days" sound since 1998, with minimal outside support, PUTS have created their own signature and left their imprint on the independent hip-hop scene.
Furthermore, it is important to notice that this type of musically rooted hip-hop act is prone to pack an album with funky interludes and a superabundance of various samples, ranging from old-school hip-hop lyrics to '80s television dialogues.
The album's intro falls under the category of powerful instrumental interludes, consisting of an almost unaltered soul record, free of the artists' thanks and shoutouts or disclaimers that "the following is a creation of God and we are just the messengers." The next track, "Step In," starts off hurriedly with an urgent arrangement of keys, bass and pleasant-sounding profound lyrics that make you realize what hip-hop should have been sounding like this whole time.
"Pass the 40" is another stand-out track, with a simple bass and drum beat, deliberate verses and a clever sample hook, which combine to create a song eerily reminiscent of Snoop's Neptunes track "Drop It Like It's Hot." Although it is a definite contrast to their traditional sound, it still makes for serene listening.
The album strolls through some solid beats and verses in early album tracks "Tuxedo Rap," "Days Like These" and "Flex Off," a song on which Thes One explains the barrier-breaking powers of hip-hop through a story split ? la Common's "Chapter 13 (Rich Man Vs. Poor Man)."
The two-part summer cookout summary "Jamboree" impresses with bubbly bells and a constant background buzz of playful party banter. For the album's intermission, PUTS gets George Clinton to mumble funkadelic nothings over a slightly strumming bass guitar on "The Doctor and The Kidd."
"Eat Street" is a long-overdue dedication to an essential artistic motif: food, and where to get it. "Crown Ones" is another track that is pleasantly catchy despite a surprisingly simple beat, while "LA9X" gives time for the two to spit on the history and the different dimensions of West Coast hip-hop culture, chock full of NWA and Pharcyde references.
Though most of the songs are laced with old-school undertones, "Letter to the Old School" features a truly minimalist drum, sirens and scratching combo, with Double K shouting out respect for and seeking advice from old-school legends. The emcees get uncharacteristically personal at points, particularly on later tracks like "More Than You Know" and "Reflections." "Stepfather" ends with an energized homage to the fans in "You," and thoughts on the powers of the essential hip-hop sound in "On and On."
Of the album's 20 tracks, highlights include "Pass the 40," "Tuxedo Rap," "Days Like This," "More Than You Know" and "You," while the few less outstanding include "Pumpin'" and "The Brownout." Double K and Thes One recreate the old-school, lounge rap sound flawlessly for a dusty time capsule of an album full of crisp records and authentic samples, simultaneously consistent with and progressing from their trademark style.
