El Da Sensei - The Unusual
(Fat Beats Records)
Grade: B
“The Unusual” is El’s sophomore release as a solo artist, following up 2002’s “Relax, Relate, Release.” El has said that his last album was a bit too personal for people and he wanted to bring that fire back on this one. He succeeds to an extent, but also leaves you scratching your head on certain tracks, rather than nodding it. In an attempt to bridge the mainstream with the underground, El has created a nice piece of work, but far from the classic that many fans had hoped for. He enlisted a nice roster of producers including Jake One, Saukrates, DJ Revolution, Illmind, P-Original and Fusion. Collabos include the hot Nuttin to Lose featuring O.C. and the disappointing No Matter with Sean Price. The album’s highlight, Crowd Pleasa, opens this LP with a blaze. Most of the remaining 14 cuts are solid, but fail to keep the fire going. On What’s My Name, El and Revolution evoke that Chinese Arithmetic vibe by making dripping water sound hot again. On Course of My Life, El reminds us that he is often as his best when he is introspective and personal. On the down side, Rock It Out seems like a sad attempt to garner some mainstream radio attention, while Live in the Flesh and Lights, Camera, Action! are just annoying with their overly repetitious sampling. To El’s credit, the album maintains a good bounce throughout, he keeps the cameos to a minimum, and stays on point lyrically. There are more refreshing moments to this album than disappointing ones, but considering it’s title, there really isn’t anything too Unusual about this joint.
