Boot Camp Clik - The Last Stand
Label: Duck Down Music
Grade: A-
Highlight: One, Two, Three
Overview: Duck down! The legendary crew is back with an outstanding album. When you get the vocal prowess of Buckshot, Heltah Skeltah, O.G.C. and Smif ‘n’ Wessun mixed with the production of Chocolate Boy Wonder, the Mad Scientist, and 9th Wonder, you can expect something off the charts. I would say there are 8 dope tracks on the album and 6 others that are still good, but not as stellar. When you’re talking about a 60% success rate on any hip hop album today, that is something worth listening to. Rewindable tracks include the Pete Rock produced “One Two Three,” Large Pro’s “World Wide,” 9th Wonder’s “Here We Come,” and Marco Polo’s “He Gave His Life,” where Steele pays his respects to our real soldiers at war. On the final track, “Soul Jah,” the entire crew gets down on what could be the posse track of the year. On another high note, there is no filler on this album. Can you believe it? No skits, interludes, intro, outro, etc. Just straight up music 14 tracks deep. While there is much to praise on the album, there is a reason why it’s not a 4.0. Production is a bit lackluster on tracks such as 9th Wonder’s “So Focused” which sounds like a deleted track from the Chemistry LP, “Trading Places,” “Don’t Cross the Line,” and Da Beatminerz’ “But The Game Is Still Tha Same.” Considering Da Beatminerz only did one track on the album, I would have expected more from BCC’s most frequent collaborators. Some “critics” will argue that the beats are not grimy enough for BCC…more Little Brother than Mobb Deep. However, I would totally disagree because Buckshot flows over a jazzy beat better than anyone (i.e. I Got Cha Open Remix). This is the BCC’s third album in the past 9 years, and the 16th for the entire collective. This crew just doesn’t make whack albums; they are consistently dope and what could a hip hop fan ask for more than consistency?
