Hi-Teknology Vol. 2: The Chip
Hi-Tek
Dion, Q-Tip, Kurupt, Ayak, Talib Kweli, The Willie Cottrell Band, Ghostface Killah, Pretty Ugly, Jadakiss, Papoose, Raekwon, The Game, Haze, Nok, J Dilla, Marsha Ambrosius, Nas, Busta Rhymes
Babygrande Records, 2006
1 CD
Catalogue #: 3022
EAN: 0823979030225
UPC: 823979030225
You save: 20%
Recording information: 2006.
After his second release, HI-TEKNOLOGY 2: THE CHIP, Cincinnati native DJ Hi-Tek can sit at the table with hip-hop legends like DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and Dr. Dre--all of whom have shown that the mark of a great producer, aside from making consistently hard beats to get your head nodding, is the ability to bring out the very best in those you share studio time with. Hi-Tek has a smorgasbord of talent here, and every one of them--Talib Kweli, Raekwon, Ghostface, Jadakiss, Common, and many others--spit at their fullest potential.
Tracklist
Dion
Not unlike his friend Bobby Darin, Dion Dimucci was a native New Yorker who started out as a rock & roller in the 1950s and went through a series of drastic stylistic changes. He began as a doo wop hitmaker with his group the Belmonts, turning out such smashes as "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer." Over the ensuing decades, the artistically restless Dion tried his hand at blues, folk-rock, Phil Spector-produced pop, and hard-edged rock & roll, managing to maintain his credibility and integrity all along the way, and eventually getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Talib Kweli
Brooklyn-born Talib Kweli got his start as a hip-hop recording artist when he collaborated with DJ Hi-Tek. After numerous guest appearances and compilation tracks, the intelligent and thoughtful lyricist teamed up with his longtime friend Mos Def in 1998 and formed Black Star, the vehicle that brought success and acclaim to both rappers. Kweli went on to release REFLECTION ETERNAL with Hi-Tek in 2000 and his solo follow-up in 2002. In addition to his musical endeavors, Kweli, along with Mos Def, owns Brooklyn's Nkiru Center for Education & Culture.
Ghostface Killah
With more successful releases under his belt--including IRONMAN and the SUPREME CLIENTELE--than any other member of the venerable Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah is arguably the Wu's biggest star. While other members of the rap collective have broadened their artistic palettes over the years to include film and TV work, Ghostface has remained dedicated to releasing stellar records marked by expansive soul-based samples and a dizzyingly complex ghetto-slang vocabulary. In 2006, he collaborated with underground star MF Doom for FISHSCALES.
Jadakiss
After the break-up of Yonkers-based hip-hop combo the Lox, the three group members--Sheek Louch, Styles P, and Jadakiss--went on to solo careers. Though they all stuck close to their educated, New York gutter style, of the three, it was lead MC Jadakiss who made the biggest strides into the mainstream. He was a longtime affiliate of the DMX supergroup the Ruff Ryders, in addition to having worked with Sean "Diddy" Combs when in the Lox. All of this led to his successful crossover solo debut, KISS THA GAME GOODBYE, and its 2004 follow-up, KISS OF DEATH. Jadakiss reteamed with Louch and Styles as D-Block in the early 2000s.
Raekwon
Charter Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon (aka Raekwon the Chef) immediately turned ears from his first raps on ENTER THE 36 CHAMBERS, particularly his turn on the 1994 hit "C.R.E.A.M." His solo debut the next year, the critically acclaimed ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX, easily held its own amidst a flood of individual releases from the hyped-to-the-hilt Staten Island collective. With his complex vocabulary wandering through dark recesses of both the mind and mystic urban landscapes, Raekwon swiftly became a cult favorite.
Nas
With charged poetic lyrics spit in a preternaturally smooth flow, Nas turned the rap world on its ear in 1994 when the Queens MC unleashed the instantly immortal ILLMATIC. The immaculate record contained few frills, no skits, no celebrity cameos, just the rapper's deceptively complex rhymes, words which lounged in the listener's psyche for days after, layered over beats by some of the best producers of the day. While the following years would find Nas hard-pressed to live up to his supernova debut, he quietly released solid records. In 2001, his spirit revived by a beef with Jay-Z (they would reunite on stage years later), he released the acerbic STILLMATIC, which was followed by a string of critically praised records, but no shortage of controversy.
