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Thursday, 05 June 2008 20:25 |
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 Kurupt - Yessir
Produced by Pete Rock
Cross-coast collaborations in rap are usually a one-way street. Maybe it’s because West Coast rappers use their voices as instruments more than East Coast rappers historically have, so hooking up with producers who don’t make beats for them doesn’t make much sense. Whereas rappers from the Left Coast are more likely to explore every nook and cranny of their beats, East Coast rappers have an uneasy relationship with their beats; sometimes it almost feels like they are scared of them. To say that West Coast rappers are more musical than those from the East is reductive, for there are exceptions on both sides. The inverse of the common NY rapper/LA producer is a less explored terrain, and if Yessir is any indication, the more fertile of the two landscapes.
The first taste of the forthcoming G-Boy Status finds Kurupt rhyming over a breezy Pete Rock track with sparkling keys and regal horns. At first the match-up seems unusual. The track doesn’t immediately sound like one Kurupt would normally rap over, but in time it reveals itself to be the ideal playground for his verbal acrobatics. Both artists meet each other half way. The song both proves that Pete Rock isn’t entirely irrelevant yet -- Yessir is better than anything on NY’s Finest. It also allows Kurupt to cram everything that makes him a great rapper into the song: the most ridiculous internal rhyme schemes, the immaculate enunciation, the elastic flow that weaves in and out the track’s pockets, the creative turns of clichéd gangsta rap tropes, and the effortless, concentrated magnetism that separates him from the majority of the West Coast. And the East Coast. And the South. Easily one of the year’s best rap songs.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 June 2008 20:31 )
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