(I realize this album is old news for most of you, but with DPD dropping I wanted to ensure that everyone knew their history.)
Let’s talk about classics shall we. Folks tend to have many different criteria for what makes a classic. Some say an album has to make an impact upon the art, others simply require an album full of dope music. I submit to you that it is something more that places albums close to our hearts. The album, which will really stand the test of time for true hip-hop, is the album in which we can get to know the artist. One needs only to look at the seminal hip-hop classic, Illmatic. From the opening words “I don’t even know how start this yo” we are within Nas’s world and his mind, and he doesn’t free us until the final bar.
It is this same captivation that Slug provides on the album, which has assumed the role of the Internet Illmatic, Atmosphere’s Overcast. His first bars in the opener, “1597,” “Henceforce/ step within my psychoanalysis/ calluses upon my mind/ make me strain for my line/” actually invite us in to his world and mindstate. Slug maintains this honest grip upon the listener all the way through the final, hidden track when he assumes the identity of a white trash trailer park hick. Along the way we are taken through amazing tracks like, “1597,” “Adjust,” “Clay” and the classic “Scapegoats”. This song is a true example of conceptual hip-hop genius, fueled by lines like “It’s the nails, that keep my hands and feet to these boards/ It’s the part time job the governs what you can afford.”
His sidekick, Spawn, provides the only speed bumps on this powerful journey through Slug’s world. Spawn’s persistently wack Del impression infects a few too many tracks. What is unfortunate is that the only song Spawn represents well on is his solo joint, “Caved In,” so we never hear Slug complemented by another MC anywhere near his level. Also the quality of the album dips between tracks 1-5; these three tracks are far from weak but compared with the rest of the album, these joints might have the more critical listeners pressing the skip button.
In spite of these shortcomings Slug’s performance alone is makes this one of the modern underground’s best. So is this album a classic? I’m giving a 9.0 as a critic, but I feel that this album compares quite favorably with Black On Both Sides, and Like Water For Chocolate, the two albums this site his flirted with giving classics status. Whether this is a classic or not, it is one of the greatest single MC performances of the 90’s. While Slug has done some very tight work since, Overcast remains as his masterpiece. This album should be in every hip-hop heads collection, from the kid bumping Jay-Z or Eminem, to the backpacker deep into Anticon. Slug has immense undergound appeal already, but Overcast is the type of album any head would love. If the white hip-hop community really wants it’s own torchbearer, forget Em, someone tell Slug to hold his cigarettes vertically.
-Sayre Piotrkowski>
