Posted on 06/24/2008
Try as he may, Vast Aire’s work may always have to live in the shadows of his group Cannibal Ox’s classic debut LP, The Cold Vein. It was as if the stars aligned during that album’s creation – El-P’s cold, hard production proved to be the perfect showcase for the abstract yet rugged rhymes of Vast and his partner-in-rhyme Vordul Mega. And while Vast’s utterly unique mic presence has remained the same on projects that have followed since, many have felt his efforts have been more hit or miss. Dueces Wild is a considerable hit.

If Vast Aire’s voice is an instrument, it’s definitely a tool that is reliant on the other elements in a song’s ensemble. While he’s totally capable of crafting thought-provoking gems and witty double entendres, the man is not above dropping the occasional stinker that just falls flat. What’s important is that Vast SOUNDS dope if the production is right. And this album has no shortage of totally ill, sinister beats and bangers.

Brooklyn producer Melodious Monk pays Vast back for his verse on last year’s Guns by providing the bulk of the production; Monk’s style, while not a total bite off of El Producto’s steez, wouldn’t be out of place on a Cold Vein-follow-up, and he and Vast have great chemistry together. Whether drawing upon special-herbish samples or dark synths, Monk is a beast on the boards who is destined for bigger things.

The rest of the production isn’t too shabby, either. Oh No laces Vast with the ice cold, synthy “Lunch Room Rap (It’s Nothing)” while the album’s sole Can-Ox reunion is handled by none other than the one and only Pete Rock, and the result is as dope as one might expect from some of NY’s finest.

Though Vast Aire isn’t necessarily deviating very far from the type of songs or content that he’s worked with in the past, Dueces Wild is certainly the strongest effort he’s put forth in quite some time, with some of his dopest production and an aggressively entertaining vocal presence. If the bar remains this high for his future output, he just may be able to leave the ghosts of his past behind.

- Sean Kantrowitz