For most hip-hop fans the mainstream mixtape has been a constant source of disappointment. Whether the cover says DJ Clue, Funkmaster Flex or any other name, we know what to expect. A host of fake freestyles, very simple remixes and hype joints off of wack LPs that will be topping the charts in a few months. What is interesting about this, is the fact that the underground mixtape is one of the cherished fixtures of our backpacker world. Also some of the biggest mixtape DJs (even Clue) received props all through the hip-hop world for their lesser-known tapes, that circulated by word of mouth.
One of the recent graduates of this group is legendary turntablist Tony Touch.
Touch’s first major label offering, The Piecemaker, attempts to buck the trend of awful major label mixtapes, and for the most part, it succeeds. Touch is able to accomplish this for a few reasons. The first of these is that he didn’t fall into the typical trap of trying to cram as many of the hottest stars in music on the tape. This usually results in long impressive lists on the covers of the albums, and less than impressive appearances inside. Touch avoids this pitfall by selecting a roster of talented but not necessarily chart-topping guests for his project. Basically it feels like Touch called all of his favorites for the album rather than the best sellers. This comes off very effective; GangStarr provides the very dope title track. Wu-Tang shows up with perhaps the best posse-cut since the double LP, a dark lyrical adventure laced most profoundly by Gza who spits, “The sound came out a rusty crate/ Surrounded by cobwebs/ Beats smooth enough to slide through like bobsleds/ On a cold white snow.” Rza, Ghost, Masta Killa, and Inspectah Deck all bless this joint which is called “The Abduction.” Likwit Crew blesses the fun but less than perfect “West Coast Rhyming,” and even Greg Nice shows up to provide his unmistakable style on “Pit Fight,” another dope joint featuring Psycho Les.
Another characteristic that separates Tony from the typical wackness is that he injects himself into the album by rhyming instead of the traditional high-pitched shrieks between tracks. Also Touch is not that bad at all on the microphone - while he never really impresses, he never makes you hit the skip button either. Finally, he doesn’t lie and call the prepared written verses spit over instrumentals by Cormega, Agallah and Royce freestyles. Instead the more accurate term “interludes” is used.
All in all The Piecemaker is very consistent. Other than “The Abduction” none of the joints will blow you away, but the whole album if full of solid joints, with dope beats and rhymes. Of these Prodigy drops my personal favorite joint, “The Basics.” At first you might feel this is little more than the typical Mobb shit but P comes a bit more satirical then you’d expect saying… “…Grime rhyme/ My story too foul for prime time/ So I don’t give a fuck about MTV/ Or any radio station that won’t play me/ Their own kids give me spends on tapes and CDs/.” If you do as he says, and cop this CD, I could not imagine you would be disappointed. The album packs nice joints for every type of hip-hop listener. Tony does this the same way he blows away all the mainstream mixtape competition, by packing as many ill rhymes and beats into the album as possible.
-Sayre Piotrkowski
