Album Ratings
This album gets started off strong with two dope songs "ad X 2wice"
and "since volume point 5". From these two songs you can really
here the potential this group has to offer to the world of hip hop.
The only problem with side A of this tape is that ofter these two
hard hittin' songs, the rest of this side lags a little. It lags
because the next song "...at the Revolution" is a solid song, its
just that the constant yelling of revolutionary ideas by Carl Pinkston
kind of wears thin on you. Then, after this song is a nice turntable
exhibition called "Turntable Intercourse" which is dope, but then is
followed by a freestyle interlude called "beat street". After this, the
next song is only one verse, a dope verse at that, called "Constipation"
which leaves you wanting more, but then ends into another interlude song
with samples from Dr. Cornel West called "Call Into?". During this section
of the album, you wish that there were more songs to fill in the gaps
with all the interlude type songs.
But don't worry about that because side B turns up the heat. The Bangin'
songs that really caught my attention were "illdotfreez", "Be like us", and
the extrodinary title track song "Progression of struggle". This is arguably
the best song on this album which tackles various issues of daily struggle and
how to rise above it mentally and physically. All I got to say is that you
cats out there need to put down that overly negative hip hop, and pick something
up like this that attempts to go beyond what is expected of a hip hop group!
