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Album Review - Halifamous Review - November 2003 Various Artists - Bassments of Badmen Vol. 2 [Hand Solo Records/urbnet records] as reviewed by Litterbug  The Bassments of Badmen: Volume 2 is a surprisingly fresh album. Having never heard the near legendary volume one, I knew that this album had high expectations. Upon first listen, the album seemingly fulfills its mission- to introduce the world to a whole new host of badmen. Buck 65, Sixtoo, and Witchdoc Jorun all were involved with the first one, and volume two brings Toolshed, Thesis, SJ the Wordburglar, and others. Weighing in at 20 tracks, the CD definitely hands out more action per dollar than most albums. The beats on this album range from throbbing bass and insane drums, to intense string samples with a driving drumline. However, with that said, I felt the beats were not the strongpoint of the album; even though I'm not a fan of the style, some of the beats felt rough (peep Selfhelp's "Serves Himself-Service") and maybe a little too experimental. Some of the beats were off thechains, too- check "Fearless" by Noah 23. The emcees on the compilation are incredibly varied- everything from the rapid-fire delivery of Toolshed, to the dark, brooding sound of Conspiracy. My personal favourite tracks on the album are for "Wordburglar" by SJ the Wordburglar, and "Amnesia" by Noah 23. SJ's rhymes are clever, and his voice is, well, original. Anybody who says "I'm spittin so much shit I'm gurglin' turds" has to get some respect from me. "Amnesia" displays a melodic, smooth flowing Noah 23 rhyming over an ominous beat produced by Lovely. Overall, BOBM2 has enough replay value to make it worth checking out, although it's not for everyone. Some of the songs are so anti-formulaic that they make for a difficult listen (check Exempt Specimenz). All in all, even though this compilation is not my particular brand of hiphop, many will find it to be a worthwhile listen. Beats: 7/10 Artists: 8/10 Overall: 7.5/10 Reviewer: Litterbug | ||||||
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