Philadelphia Slick - Oil
After a solid debut album (Culture Industry) that may not have been felt by all true hip hop heads, Philadelphia Slick
is back with their sophomore LP - Oil. For those that don't know, Philly Slick is a live hip hop group that features as
many as ten musicians, but maintains a five person core, headed by lead emcee and band leader, Noesis. On Oil,
Noesis spits about everything from Coffee (Coffee Cold 2009) to Philadelphia's gun problems (Hunt V Kill), with lines
like "Black goddess from Guatemala see ya/ and I have to holla holla all these onomatopoeias" and "Sensational,
selling drugs for Columbine / while Hillary Rodham-sized villages are volumized." At times sounding a bit like Aesop
Rock, at times a bit like MF DOOM, the emcee veteran really comes into his own on this album, breaking through the
good-but-always-similar-flow that was featured on the band's first album.
Instrumentally, Oil is more diverse than Culture Industry, and while the always pleasing horns make their appearance
on stand out tracks like Gonna Get Over and Ignition, singer Jenn Z. is featured as an instrument just as often. On the
aforementioned Hunt V Kill as well as on Turn It Up, the female vocalist produces heavenly background melodies for
Noesis to rhyme over. Also, it seems as if Philadelphia Slick did a bit of sampling, as Philly Mayor Nutter is heard at
the end of one track, there is some odd military advertisement following one song, and the "Words Interlude" features
some british woman talking about word usage.
As an album, Oil is a great piece of hip hop; the type of album you're going to want to rewind once you reach the end.
Though at times you might yearn for more explosive horns and live drums (as on Culture Industry), you'll definitely
be able to listen to Oil more extensively and for a longer time. I know I haven't stopped bumping it.
www.philadelphiaslick.com for more info.
