POINT BLANK (KOCH) Rating: NNNN
Structured like a solid Boot Camp Clik project, this disc has the rappers take turns dropping combinations of tight verses and hooks over 16 lush, rugged and chilly productions care of Boi1da, Sproxx, Pikihed, Tone Mason and others. The cinematically vicious atmosphere proves time in the trenches have taught them how to organize like a musical militia training beneath Regent Park.
As they state their business with mad swagger, T.O. 2 O.T.’s violin cascade thump ropes you into the creeping hometown chantdown. And, sure, it feels wrong to enjoy Pimp Shit, but it’s hypnotically catchy. Also, delivering empowering ghetto wisdom like “Success is the new murder” separates them from insightless studio gangsters. I avoid cross-border comparisons, but in the tradition of ghetto reporter audio documents, this is the closest thing Canada has ever produced to classics like CNN’s The War Report or Mobb Deep’s Hell On Earth.
