By Odeisel

It’s been a while since Hip-Hop has had a street duo in the vein of Pete Rock & CL or Gangstarr. Producer Statik Selektah and rapper Termanology have decided to join forces for the sake of the underground and stake their claim to that open space as a duo with their debut album 1982, also the name of their group. The album is a solid blend of strong beats and solid rhymes that gives flashes of the brilliance that typified the groups that inspire this union.

“The World Renown” opens with soulful brass and bass with sharp strings placed to jar the listener. Termanology gives a thorough performance diluted by the length of the song. The haunting, well-chosen chant of “People Are Running” provides the hub for a lively drum and snare combo that pops.

Term poses as America’s nightmare on the track “Things I Dream,” powered by a demonic reverb and a helter-skelter spooky ambience and a slow-grinding guitar. Lil Fame adds to the macabre with a borrowed RBX line from Snoop’s classic “Serial Killa.”

Cassidy brings high powered rhymes on “Goin Back,” flaunting his well-read status with lines like “I write just like Homer it’s all prophecy but not as complex as The Iliad or The Odyssey.” Term switches his rhyme scheme for a nice change of pace and Xzibit’s muscular flow closes the track with high testosterone. Statik does his best Primo impression on “The Radio” with a perfectly scratched-in Cool J sample from “Mama Said Knock You Out” and piano key integration atop boom-bap drums.

There are some missteps on the album when the duo ventures outside of underground grit. “Wedding Bells” is a weak attempt at a crossover track with bad R&B crooning on the hook. The same mistake is repeated immediately with “You Should Go Home,” which fails even with the help of Bun B.

“Tell Me Lies,” featuring Styles P, is an interesting concept that takes the lies that rappers tell on record to impossible levels. Term makes fun of the crack tales, the guns and the girls, cosigned by a Dr. Dre interview excerpt. Unfortunately, Term is chopping up crack on the next track, albeit in the course of a narrative, on the Saigon and Freeway featured “Life Is What You Make It.” Freeway owns the song, but doesn’t adhere to the title by any means.

The mellow rhythm of “Freedom” is expertly crafted by Statik who deftly merges disparate elements for a rolling production of drums, high-hats and cymbals. Guest rapper Reks confuses 3/5 with 2/3 but delivers solidly while Term relays the Puerto Rican experience with a real intimacy. The bpm is maintained on “Still Waiting” as Termanology ponders what he needs for the come up.

The jazzy “Streetlife” incorporates a Prodigy sample from “Give Up The Goods” and delivers a drug dealing 101 tale. M.O.P. brings hood rage to “Thugathon.” Fame bodies the track noting, “My street cred is good, fuck going in my account, I can get your head popped off with no money down.” Sinister strings add additional menace to Billy Danze’s verse and Term’s Spanglish delivery brings flavor.

“The Hood Is On Fire” features a relentlessly flowing Term and Inspectah Deck rhyming on inequality and the systemic ills plaguing the hood. “Born in 1982” is a semi-autobiographical tale of Term’s childhood amid multiple key sequences and a bassline. The album closes with the uplifting and off-kilter “Help.”

There are plenty of guests to offset Termanology’s limitations as a rapper. If he builds his consistency there is enough talent in him to begin carrying an album like this alone. Statik Selektah has a keen eye for samples and aside from misdirected forays into R&B land, did a stellar job helming this album. 1982 isn’t as ambitious as the albums that inspired it and it doesn’t create a world large enough to draw you in but it is solid boom-bap from two serious practitioners.

Statik Selektah and Termanology-“People Are Running”

Statik Selektah and Termanology-“People Are Running”

out of 5

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