Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Quick Hitters:: Dan-E-O - Dilla Pickles

I'd love to sit here and tell you that the main reason I downloaded Dan-E-O's new free album/mixtape Dilla Pickles and gave it a listen is that Dan's a well-respected veteran of the Canadian hip hop scene and that his seminal tune Dear Hip Hop is a Canrap classic. Or perhaps because the album's beats are all bangers from J-Dilla, and the record serves as Dan's tribute to the late great Detroit producer. Those would be good reasons, but I'm afraid my main motivation was something different: track 8 on Dilla Pickles, Hoodafukayoo features a truly mythic Canrap figure: Kish.

Yes, Kish, aka Andrew Kishino. The man behind the much-beloved I Rhyme The World In 80 Days, is brought out of retirement by Dan-E-O to kick a verse and let the doubters and scoffers know he's still around. So yes, I was dying to hear this song, and you can't blame me, as the amount of comments on the post I wrote about this song can attest, Canadian dudes my age, who love the hip hop, still have a lot of fond memories where Mr. Kishino is concerned.

But what of the rest of the album? As you might expect from an album (as mentioned, Dan-E-O is giving this album away, both in album & mixtape format) that uses Dilla beats exclusively, it sounds pretty damn good. I'm a little chagrined to admit my knowledge of Dilla's beat canon isn't nearly up to snuff, and so I can't identify the original usage of the beats themselves but Dan has done a good job picking beats to fit his style.

And it's style that pretty much dictates my favorite songs on the album, as Dan-E-O is at his best on the energetic, up-tempo tracks like Break It Down or Lose Your Mind, which prove Dan hasn't lost a step as a battle rapper. The jazzy, Adrock sampling Check The Grind is a pretty fun tag-team between Dan & the Canadian king of the annoying PR email, FAMOUS. The aforementioned Hoodafukayoo has a real throwback beat for Dan to big up the voice-over success of Kish, and I have to say, Kish sounds pretty decent on his verse. I do have to say, as much as I love bringing Kish back (and hopefully it isn't only a temporary thing), Dan's verse, the whole "Tom Green and Kish are the biggest successes to come out of Canadian rap" thing, will likely inspire more skepticism than respect. The light, soulfull beat for Haterz is opposite in mood to the diss-fest brought on the song by Dan & Marvel, but it does include a line that shall bring a smile to the Ack's face: "I hate that Master-T ain't on Much Music no more". The album closes with some interesting tracks, as Mice To Men has a really cool sound, almost sounds like the beat was recorded live somehow, and the off-kilter The Factory uses a classic Kool Moe Dee reference on the chorus, and shows how diverse Dilla could be.

So, here's the heart of the matter at hand: good Canadian hip hop & great Dilla beats - at a price you can't beat. Oh, and Kish is involved. Seems like something one shouldn't pass up, so reach in the jar and get some Dilla Pickles for yourself.