Posted on 10/21/2009
When KRS-One proclaimed: “we will be here forever,” to set off his 1993 classic, Return of the Boom-Bap, the words reverberated with more than just the bombast of the Blast Master’s baritone. In the face of necessary artistic expansion, as well as corrosive commercialism, the teacha was letting it be known that Hip-Hop, the boombox and breakbeat real shit, would find a way to survive. Sixteen years later, arrives Survival Skills, his collaboration with fellow true school luminary, Buckshot, to largely make good on Kris’s lofty promise.

Armed with beats from a who’s who of contemporary traditionalists, the two nimble vets boast, battle and bully their way through a crisp, no frills set. The Ill Mind helmed titled track is all heavy drums and rumbling bass line, over which the MCs set the tone for the project: KRS asserting his lyrical dominance with professorial precision, and Buck bringing the swagger with grimy, street menace. Hip-Hop’s original siren, Mary J. Blige lends her signature vocals over Black Milk’s soulful synths, adding urgency to the inspirational rhymes that make “The Way I Live” a stellar selection for any hip-hopper’s morning commute. Auto-Tuned automatons get taken to task over an eerily propulsive Havoc beat on “Robot.” While Buckshot’s vitriol proves potent, it’s KRS’s musical history lesson that drives the point home: “This ain’t a dis to nobody’s art/cause Afrika Bambaataa really gave it the start/You go back in the history of rap, man/And you’ll see classic jams like “Planet Rock” and “Pack Jam”/Go online, look up Kraftwork/Everything you’re doing is past work.”

Enjoyable as this album will be to heads weaned on ‘90s boom-bap, it isn’t in the same league as the Boot Camp and BDP classics on which the principals built their respective reps. There is a fine line between vintage and dated, and while the majority of the tracks play as the former, a few, such as the disappointing Pharoahe Monch colllab, “One Shot,” stumble ploddingly into the latter. Though both MCs turn in generally solid (though rarely spectacular) performances thoughrout, there is no particular chemistry between the two. The lack of synergy is probably the result of the MCs having recorded separately, an all to common reality of most modern collaborations, but still at odds with the “keep it real” sensibilities espoused by this particular project.

Still, Survival Skills should fit comfortably in a rotation with the surprisingly spry sequels to Raekwon’s Only Built For Cuban Linx and Red and Meth’s Blackout, as ’09 appears to be the year of the ‘90s revival. They may not be running this town anymore, but KRS-One and Buckshot have set up shop on the corner, As they flow like water over the triumphant strings of the 9th Wonder laced closer, “Past*Present*Future,” you can’t help but feel they’ll be there forever.

- Jeff Harvey