Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
FLAC via Mega (Link)
© 2000 75 Ark Records
Review by Noxie for RapReviews.com
My first exposure to Encore was "Waterworld" off of the Handsome Boy
Modeling School project. Between the eerie Automator/Prince Paul beat
and Encore's stellar performance, I figured there was no way I could
possibly go wrong with an entire album from this guy. (To this day,
"Waterworld" contains one of my favorite lines: "my scripts consist of
H20/hip-hop and oxygen.") So next time I found myself at my local
record spot, I couldn't help but cop it. "Self-Preservation" greatly
dissapointed me when I first picked it up, but grew on me quickly.
I immediately got annoyed with Architect's first two beats. For some
reason, the strings in the intro just grated on me, and the synth horns
behind "For You" made me want to punch the wall. Because of the
annoying beat, I slept on "For You" for a long time. The third track,
"Esoteric (Exec Anthem)" brought a nice flow, but Encore's lyrics
didn't really impress me, as the only line that caught my ears was "my
shit is crack rock held over volcanos," and his delivery seemed too
distant to hold my interest. The beat was atmospheric and interesting,
so Architect did some good work, finally. However, yet another strike
against Core is that his crew turns out to be named The Executive
Lounge, and a really awful verse by someone who sounds like a very
drunk Sir Menelink gave me my introduction to the kinds of guest spots
I could expect on the rest of the album. The only thing I was happy
about was the inclusion of Dr. Octagon's "Blue Flowers" video (Encore
is on 75 Ark, the Automator's label), so I copied that onto my hard
drive and prepared to sell.
Three songs into it, I felt like my purchase had been a big fat waste
of cash. However, being a lazy, broke college student, I never really
got a chance to get back up to Vintage Vinyl and I was determined to
not have wasted fifteen bills. I put it on random and hoped that the
streak of obnoxious beats, dissapointing lyrics and wack guest rappers
would end. Track 4 showed up, "Love and Hate (The Mellow Drama)." I
clenched my jaw, all ready for piercing horns or some other obnoxious
to open the track, but, much to my surprise, I heard a very sweet piano
loop and nice and minimalistic cuts. By bar four, when the beat
switches up, Architect was my hero. Encore's flow still didn't
particularly move me, but his delivery seemed to compliment the beat,
and he did serve up a few gems, such as "so whether you clever or
not/the emcee who rhyme tougher than leather plots/be blowing up the
motherfucking spot." You really can't go wrong by saying you blow up
the mufuckin spot. So, yes, we have a solid track, at long last.
The next track that came up was number 6, ".084." The beat was nothing
special, but much less obnoxious than the first two, so I was content.
As Encore told a story of drunk driving and redemption, I finally was
feeling his lyrics. Core is much more interesting when he's actually
saying something, I found out. Track 8, "E. T." brought another
annoying Architect beat, but I gave it a chance. I'm not sure about
the first verse, but I'm sure the second verse is, I would assume,
another member of The Exec Lounge, who pretty much redeems the whole
crew. His name is Holocaust and he has just enough of an El-P
influence to keep his style interesting, but not enough to bite. "We
can go vocal to vocal plus two vocals/so I can put two swords in your
head like the Oakland Raiders logo/who's loco." Very nice. The last
verse, from Encore, is the best yet, and I realize that he sounds like
what I wish Rasco sounded like.
So, at this point, I am actually feeling the album, and I try going
back to the beginning. "For You" turns out to be an absolute gem, as
Core spits some lines about all the people he appreciates in the world.
The beat actually begins to grow on me, and I find myself humming the
piano line, which sneaks in later in the track, the rest of the day.
Granted, "Self-Preservation" still has its faults. The beats aren't
all on point, especially "It's Going Down," produced by Joey Chavez.
Architect goes wrong on "The Bio" (the introduction--I *still* can't
even listen to that) and sometimes his beats are some simple and airy
that too much relies on the vocals to keep it interesting. And Encore
does not always keep it interesting. Also, Exec Lounge seems to
overlap into Heiroglyphics, and one would think that this is a good
thing, but Pep Love's guest spot on "The Situation" is really wack as
all hell. I haven't heard his new single yet--I hope he redeems
himself.
But this is a solid debut, reminding us of the strength of the west
these days. If nothing else, pick up the "Love and Hate" 12", just for
the instrumental.
