Review by: Jabari Oliver
A DJ, microphone, beats, and a MC seems like a classic formula for a raw east coast hip-hop rap album.But yet, Statik Selektah and Termanology’s “1982″ body of work has much more monetary force behind it than the eye can meet. Other than the who’s who of guest appearances, which include M.O.P., Cassidy, Xzibit, Bun B, Saigon, Freeway, and Inspectah Deck, the album is masterfully crafted with developed skill rooted from uncanny backgrounds of both New Englanders (Statik and Term).
With both hailing from Massachusetts, to where both were born in the same year, hence the title of the album “1982,” they traveled different paths to the platform they grind on today. Inspired by DJ Premiere and Funkmaster Flex, DJ Statik started out DJing clubs and parties from where he picked up the moniker Selektah from hearing a reggae artist proclaiming it on the mic and from there the grinding DJ was known as Statik Selektah. He attended Boston’s New England Institute of the Arts and later became a lifestyle and marketing guru by forming Showoff marketing (now Showoff Records), a company that represented clients such as Virgin Records, Capital Records, Universal Records, G-Unit, Reebok, Diddy’s “Vote or Die” campaign and others clients. Statik also released various solo albums which reached prominent numbers on the billboard charts. He can also be found on multiple radio stations across the country including Eminem’s XM/Sirius satellite radio station Shade 45. Termanology aka Term came up in the ranks releasing mixtapes in which one received the attention of The Source magazine. He also established a relationship with DJ Premiere through the Gang Starr foundation. With an array of DJ Premiere produced tracks that attracted critical notoriety among fellow east coast lyricists, Term built his all-star production portfolio with heavyweights such as Pete Rock, Large Professor, and Buckwild among others releasing multiple albums and street-worthy mixtapes.
“1982″ is an album that frames the portrait of east coast hip hop in its prime. It laces vintage lyrical styles with new content. It takes the Djing method of looping records into beats while adding some new age MPC technology to keep the album’s MP3 legitimacy. On songs such as “People are running” and “The Hood is on Fire featuring Inspectah Deck” the beats sound as if they were retrieved from the ancient dungeons of Shaolin resurfacing the Wutang legacy. On “Goin Back” which features Cassidy and Xzibit, all MCs come with their A game. Cassidy relays a dry diss “my life a movie/ it never had a director/ in the school of hard knocks/ you never had a semester/ I graduated from my class/ now I’m Cass the professor/ I’m applying mad pressure/ ask Statik Selektah.” Cassidy fails to relay a specific name but the targets could be any rapper from Lil Wayne to Gillie Da Kid to Murda Mook. Nevertheless Xzibit exhibits a flawless display of lyrical prowess in showing how connected he is, “My carbon footprint bigger than Texas/ if I’m ever arrested I’ll be out by breakfast.” On “The Radio,” Termanology sends out a tribute to the radio industry for showing him love and keeping him in rotation from Boston to New York. One of the best tracks on the album is “You should go home featuring Bun B.” Term and Bun rhyme about the tug of wars they go through in their relationships and how their women attempt to dictate their life. Term raps “..so why you on patrol?/ like I’m on parol/ you just want to know in your heart you in control..”
With the current state of the music industry, it has been proven to be difficult to release albums such as “1982″ with wide appeal because of its sound having complacency with a particular region, in this case, the east coast. Guest appearances from rappers from different regions give the album a wider audience. Some may say this may not be enough with the competitive environment of music sales with the industry now on a worldwide scale to where any song is offered for a fee and free depending on the listeners media habits. But now with the industry slowly creating new avenues of shine and revenue for artists such as the more widespread of TV show, commercial, movie, and videogame soundtrack potential, albums such as “1982″ are as relevant as a new Lady Gaga album. These days an artist’s success can be measured by how many times they are mentioned in a blog just as how many albums they have sold. (See billboard’s new Social 50 chart) With an artist such as Statik Selektah with his marketing expertise, raw production skill, and A&R/ radio pull, he shows what it takes to peak above the underground without having a worldwide household name. Statik Selektah and Termanology’s “1982″ album is a progression flag for the underground artist.
Watch Statik Selektah and Termanology’s video for “You should go home” featuring Bun B:
