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MH-207 Labtekwon - Song Of The Sovereign  Mush, in conjunction with Ankh Ba Records, has collected seventeen tracks from Labtekwon's extensive catalog for the career retrospective, Song Of The Sovereign. From his debut, Ghetto Gospel through The Future's Now... What's Next, Da Dawn, Da Helpless Won, Balti-Moorish Science, and Nile Child, to his lo-fi live recording Proverbs of Passion, and his most recent full-length, The Last Emcee/The Art of Love, Labtek's releases have been as innovative as they are impossible to find. Effortlessly shifting styles and content, running from hundreds-of-words-in-a-breath stream-of-consciousness channeling to take-no-prisoner battle raps, Song Of The Sovereign is the perfect introduction to one of the underground's most respected and influential emcees. |
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| Reviews Summary |
| An impressive album from an MC whose time has come. - Vibe / Labtekwon is the revitalization of Brand Nubian, KRS-One, and A Tribe Called Quest all in one. - Ghetto Blaster / The most unjustly slept-on rapper in underground hip-hop - CMJ / This is a great collection - Mixer / Raises the rhyme bar with brain-expanding efficiency - Pulse |
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| Labtekwon is an emcee from Baltimore who has released something like seven albums on his Ankh Ba label since 1993. Unlike most hip-hoppers who own their own imprint, this career retrospective reveals Labtek wasn't just wasting away in indie land holding out for a real deal to come along. Rather, he was content to issue his mumblings and musings from the margins with all that that implies. Those under the spell of the mainstream's gaudy baubles may say that this lacks craft, hooks, and production values. His singular, defiantly minimal sense of purpose (seemingly untreated drum loops that don't snap or boom bap but kind of itch and scratch from the edge of the soundfield) is compelling. As for the craft, check out "King of Kings" where his usual Lyrics Born style of flow assumes the personality of about thirty other emcees. - The Wire |
2XLP/Out Of Print