By T Love

For most of this decade, Hip-Hop has been undergoing a changing of the guard.  It began with almost everyone but the South bemoaning the fact that New York had fallen off as Big Apple centric Hip-Hop no longer dominated the genre. From there, it became en vogue to say “Hip-Hop is Dead and you had a lot of New York rappers switching their styles up to emulate what appealed to the Southern demographic. This strategy failed miserably as more often than not the results were sub-par.

On the cusp of 2010, Diggin’ In the Crates Crew stalwarts AG and OC have provided a respite from NY’s dearth of quality material with Oasis.   AG and OC have pushed the foundation of the DITC sound back to the spotlight with an album that fits in with the best of DITC’s albums during the crew’s Golden Age heyday. 

What you will not hear on this album is AG and OC straying from their lane. They’ve both had decade plus careers in the game and they stick to what they do best:  making East Coast Hip-Hop; straight, no chaser. Oasis is devoid of tracks with stuttering drums, double time rhyme schemes, stupid dances that go with the songs, or whistles in the background. 

The duo  recruited fellow DITC vets Showbiz and Lord Finesse and accomplished producers Statik Selektah and E Blaze to provide the canvas on which they drop their lines.  Their divergent styles are a great combination on Oasis.  AG has a conversational  punchline heavy style and more often than not, he makes it seem effortless. OC on the other hand, also has some good punchlines but is the more technical of the two with his rhyme schemes.

As a whole, Oasis is consistent.  The beats knock and the subject matter really doesn’t vary much from just rhyming for the sake or rhyming,  a little street shit, how dope they are,  and a  serious joint sprinkled in here and again.  “Pain” is a standout track in which they reflect on the hardships they’ve been through and they have a back and forth dynamic that’s reminiscent of Redman and Method Man. 

“Two For the Money” is an outstanding track with a beat that has all the elements that made DITC revered in the first place.  Swinging high hats and bass drums layered with energetic strings and blasting horns that AG and OC go absolutely nuts over. “They astonished, hooked on these Ebonics. You comic.  We iconic. Gin and Tonic mixed with chronic, nigga.”

“Reality Is” is an E Blaze produced joint that’s equally relaxed but not soft by any means.   AG drops some real nice quotables throughout with lines of, “Everybody wanna be Mike. Nobody wanna be Starks. Niggas wanna be Pac. Nobody wanna get shot.”

 Oasis is  17 tracks deep, and as such, a few joints are hit or miss. One track in particular, “Boom Bap,”  doesn’t boom or bap at all. In fact, there is nothing engaging and it’s surprisingly pedestrian from both a production and lyrical standpoint.  “Against The Wall” is another song that AG and OC could have just left in the vault.  Both emcees rhyme over a synth heavy snoozer and they sound just as uninspired on the mic as beat is itself.

There have been a number of rappers from the 90s coming together to collaborate and breathe new life into their careers.  Buckshot and KRS-1 recently released Survival Skillz and Masta Ace and Edo G have Arts and Entertainment.  Oasis can hang in this company because for the most part they stick to what they do well and do so without the project sounding dated or throwback.  It’s just the next great chapter in the legacy of the DITC crew; an album with quotables for days and beats that will bump a decade from now.

out of 5

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