RP Boo - I'll Tell You What! [CD]

While notorious in the Chicago streets, RP Boo's music had been unfairly confined to a few white labels and self-released mixtapes until his two archival Planet Mu LPs Legacy and†Fingers, Bank Pads & Shoe Prints†introduced broader audiences to his sonic history, some of it fifteen years after it was first recorded.†I'll Tell You What!†is the next step in his mission, and the first time he's released an album of contemporary material. The title, a favorite maxim of his, welcomes listeners to sit down and let him narrate in the unforgettable abstract fashion he's known for. He explores familiar motifs such as the cosmos, movement, and opposition, using densely interwoven vocals, unpredictable percussion, and evil humming bass as his tools of choice.

I'll Tell You What! throws more than a few curveballs into the mix. Footwork has always borrowed from hip-hop, and many vocal tracks are almost condensed raps, dating back to the street chants pioneered on Dance Mania Records in the ghetto house days. On†Bounty, Boo grabs the mic and brazenly lays down a full-on verse of terror over a thick atmosphere of his signature sweltering low-end and erratic Roland R-70 patterns.

While he's most famous for his confrontational battle anthems, his melancholy moments are just as powerful. You get the best of both of those worlds on†U-Don't No, with soulful samples finishing his own cocky sentences, one of the most elegant tracks RP has made to date.†Deep Sole†closes the record out, with the words It's always beautiful at the end looping over waves of hypnotic synthesis, confidently looking death straight in the eyes.

01 No Body 02 Back From The Future 03 At War 04 Cloudy Back Yard 05 U-Don't No 06 Earth's Battle Dance 07 Work The Flow! 08 Bounty 09 Flight 1235 (ft. DJ Phil & Crossfire) 10 U Belong 2 Me 11 Wicked'Bu 12 Deep Sole

• Format Detail: CD
• Format: CD
• Genre: Dance & Electronic