Digable Planets
Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time And Space)
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NATN Recommended
Digable Planets
Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time And Space)
Pendulum, 1993
RiYL: Guru, Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest |
Although it's not a bad record per se, the 1994 epic Blowout Comb is so wildly overambitious, so seeped in in-jokes and references and dense with local knowledge that the band must have known in advance that there was no way it was going to match Reachin''s crossover cool. And they didn't mind, apparently. Well, good for them. I just wish they hadn't broken up before getting the chance to make a true sequel to Reachin', one of my favorite hip-hop records ever.
Every note and sample on the record rings true, this is one of the few rap records you'll ever hear where even the drum programming is memorable. Starting with the bass slink and snapping fingers of the deserved mega-hit "Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)," Reachin' mines jazz history and bohemian hip-hop/DJ convention to lay out a sonic trip that's unparallelled for pure relaxed funkiness. The first half, which is staggering, throws mindblower after mindblower, opening with the high-stepping "Good To Be Here," segueing into the perfect "Pacifics," still hip-hop's greatest ode to slacking off. Part two, after "Slick," never quite aims as high, but the striking "La Femme Fetal" proved that Butterfly's rhymes stayed just as sharp when the topic of discussion got serious.
Ladybug and Doodlebug prove just as durable, rapping through some of the best verses in all hip-hop's canon, sliding words off tongue as casually and masterfully as a Dr. J finger roll. "The lyrics are so phat, you might gain weight," Doodle tells us, and he isn't kidding. These guys, they be to rap what key be to lock.
And it never really did as well as it should have, despite near-universal critical praise and the genuine support of commercial radio & press. Sometimes you just don't know. In any case, if it's a record you've heard about but have held off buying, don't anymore -- this one is a must-own, for everybody, not just insular college student boho indie boys.
MARK T.R. DONOHUE | Mark T.R. Donohue is a prolific freelance writer whose areas of expertise include Rockies baseball, video games, genre television, English soccer, and pub rock. He lives in Colorado, where he cultivates the largest and creepiest private collection of Alyson Hannigan memorabilia in the Mountain West.