Posted on 04/14/2008

It's like Q-Tip said, "You can be white and cool but don't crack the roll." Most of Majority Rules unfolds like Premo produced a solo album for Prime Minister Pete Nice. And yeah, that means it's tight. E Major sounds like he'd be right at home dipped low in a leather office chair speaking real words out the side of his mouth waving a cane in one hand with a cigar gripped tight in the other. The brother from Baltimore rocks a healthy swagger without coming off as an asshole, check the lead single and video "Nuthin' Nice" (feat. Hezekiah) for evidence.

 

Overall, E Major's nonchalance blends perfectly into the textured beats Majority Rules is blessed with. Hints of jazzy Tribe and moody Bootcamp sneak into the mix but it's a soulful cohesiveness that bonds the album like Stucco. E's flow, laid back but memorable, DL but dope, floats nicely atop the classic snap of "The Next Episode" and the hand drum sampling, up jumps the boogie jam "Know That." "Seasons Change" is the sentimental jawn of the bunch but the sinister piano stabs and dirty drums of "We Got It Goin' On" provide requisite balance. And again, just because dude can groove with his production doesn't mean his lines don't bite. E Major is still "out for scratch like cat fights."

 

At the end of the night, I don't know if the Under Sound Music CEO / premiere artist is really shattering any establishments. This is good old soulful northeastern hip-hop with attitude. Playing the devil's av', E Major jabs, "He's old school, his style's irrelevant / Oh, he's a backpacker cuz his lack of melanin." But color doesn't have anything to do with it. Plain and simple, this is one of the better bread and butter rap records I've heard in a minute.

 

 

- Jeff Artist