SP Double & Focus… – Lethal Weapon

 

Artist: SP Double & Focus…

Album: Lethal Weapon

Source: Kevin Nottingham

Trackllisting:

1. Moton Picture
2. @#$! The Radio
3. Iron Man
4. Lethal Weapon
5. the60barSetUp
6. Interlude – Game Over Part 1
7. What Did I Do?
8. Father (ft. C. Ray)
9. Conspiracy (ft. V.O.A.)
10. Interulude – Game Over Part 2
11. Number 1
12. The Br3@k!

Note:

Here is an extremely dope release that went largely unnoticed in the blogging circles that I follow so I thought I would rectify the wrongs by posting up a review of Lethal Weapon.  I don’t know how you neglect such extremely dope music.  Focus… and SP Double have worked with some of the illest names in hip hop and have some great releases of their own.  SP Double had an EP entitled Focus On SP which was entirely produced by Focus… in 2009 that was exceptional. The two really pick up where they left off with that release, but on Lethal Weapon both of the artists showcase their rhyming skills.

Motion Picture sets the album off with a beat that sounds like it should be off of Dragnet or some other 70s movie.  The track is driven by a funky guitar riff that will have your head noddin’ from the jump. SP Double and Focus… tag team the verses like a maniacal  Starsky and Hutch.   SP Double has a very crisp delivery, while Focus… gives you those raspy, grimey bars.

@#$! The Radio is my personal favorite off the album.   The piano bars and sinister horns give this track a a very dark feel.  Focus… really shines  on this cut with his verse as he incorporates some of the illest emcees circa the 1990s into his rhyme scheme.  I know a lot of emcees have dropped bars with this intention but Focus… makes it sound ever-so fresh with his delivery.    The chorus should give you an idea of where both artists’ heads are at:

Fuck The Radio! / Fuck song structure / I do me, SP and now it’s on suckers !

I’m done with radio / Murder the song structure / I do it up /Focus…  now it’s on suckers!

One of the more lyrical joints is the60BarSetUp , which really just has the two emcees launching bar after bar at the listener.   It really gives you an idea of the talent that you are listening to .  It is the shear polished lyricism set to a  entrancing beat.  I say polished because these guys are not new jacks.  They have been at their craft for a long time and it’s time the world bears witness.

Father is a track that demonstrates that they can make a heart felt song which touches on a topic that lots of us can relate to.  SP Double and Focus… talk about their relationships with their respective fathers, both of whom have passed.  They speak on their disappointments and their expectations.  Again, when an artist draws from experience, that translates into dope music. It’s a nice change up on an album that is focused on their grind and respective skill sets.  The altered sample used in the background is Jim Croce’s Time In A Bottle, which proved to be the perfect compliment to the content.  If you can’t feel this track then you must be numb.

SP Double and Focus… have put their stamp on the game several times over.  When is the populous going to recognize the dope music these two make?  Lethal Weapon is the perfect example of how extremely dope releases get lost in the shuffle and what gives my blog purpose.   It is a demonstration of ill lyricism and flow coupled with excellent boom-bap production.   Cop this release and check their other releases!