By Malice Intended

DJ/Producer Statik Selektah plays host to a bevy of notable guests for his compilation album Population Control.  The extensive list of collaborators gives the album an eclectic feel; making it veritable buffet of rap talent.  Though it clearly favors a traditionally East Coast brand of production and lyricism, the album avoids both redundancy and repetition by switching gears at appropriate intervals.

The album charges forcefully out of the gate with the title song.  The repetitive, menacing keys change pitch while maintaining an imposing march.  The driving track propels the listener forward while Sean Price and Termanology infuse it with requisite amounts of aggression.

“New York, New York” is, as one would expect, an ode to the rotten apple and its surrounding areas, featuring Styles P and Saigon.  Similar to other songs of its type, this one lovingly embraces the city’s rougher elements.  A muted trumpet blares mournfully over the strums of an acoustic guitar.  The arrangement sounds much livelier than it reads on paper, and oddly captures the hustle and bustle of rush hour in Manhattan.

Majestic horns and crashing hi-hats pummel the listener into submission on “Sam Jack,” a lyrical jam session featuring XV, Jon Conner, and Daytona.  Choice movie lines spoken by the songs namesake are cleverly woven into the lyrics.  The instrumentation conjures the feel of a New Orleans jazz club or a half time show at a high school football game.

“Down” flaunts a military drum roll with deep kicks and sparse piano keys.  The track looms over the listener like an overcast sky.  It doesn’t move quite as fast as the drumroll cadence would make it seem, but it still gets the blood pumping.  “Let’s Build” features emotional piano keys that exist somewhere between inspiring and menacing.  The sporadic drums and awakening horns add to the mix of emotions.  Crisp yet raspy synthesizers underpin the track.  The drums and hand claps from Whodini’s classic “Friends” make an appearance at the halfway point.

The appropriately pimpish “Smoke On” struts along atop easy going strings and bongos.  The title doesn’t so much reflect the content as the mood.  Dom Kennedy spins a slinky narrative about a freaky encounter.  Strong Arm Steady offers an aggressively braggadocios verse that doesn’t quite jibe with the energy of the track.

“Half Moon Part” coasts on soothing keys and casual pacing that are perfectly suited for Skyzoo, who provides the opening verse.  The production suits the mood of his flow and allows the listener to focus on the lyrics.  “Black Swan” features twinkling xylophones over kinetic drums.  It’s at once dreamy and urgent, emanating the effect of water droplets over thunderous noise.  Nitty Scott attacks the track with a child-like eagerness.  Rapsody’s delivery isn’t as rapidly paced, but offers more clarity so that every line can be dissected by the listener.

“Damn Right” is an introspective and descriptive tour through the hood hosted by Joell Ortiz and Brother Ali.  Bluesy pianos unfold over the drums to the Isley Brothers classic “Footsteps in the Dark.”  The mix facilitates the kind of emotional reflection that the track aims for.

“A DJ Saved My Life” is something that has been missing from many a rap album over the past couple of decades, an entire song that allows the DJ to do his thing.  In this case it’s a quartet of DJ’s: DJ Premier, Babu, Scram Jones, and DJ Craze.

Population Control offers ample variety, giving the listener a lot of musical flavors to choose from.  However, wondrous variety can sometimes be too much of a good thing.  The marathon length can test your patience and such an overstuffed tracklist might encourage many listeners to skip past worthwhile tracks in favor of ones featuring recognizable names. The album is, as its title suggests, a musical balancing act.  It’s a large collection of styles and disciplines organized into a single, efficient fighting system.  It would have been nice if he paired down the number of features and songs into something more manageable, but the final product leaves surprisingly little to complain about.  Score one more for the Duck Down family in 2011.

4 Out of 5

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