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Album Review: The Bedford Files

Ese and Hipsta's debut compilation make you feel dirty.

by Douglas Passion | 2002.10.19

With radio waves and SoundScan charts trumpeting saccharine and synthesized hiphop, the search for old-fashioned grittiness takes one to the depths of the underground. The Bedford Files, the debut effort from Brooklyn-based DJ’s-cum-producers Ese and Hipsta, is a welcome return to the griminess that much of current hiphop sorely lacks. As a matter of fact, this is an album that encourages the listener to bring out the girls and have a mud-fight.

Seeking to create a lineup consisting of the underground’s cream of the crop, The Bedford Files has assembled many of the usual indie darlings. Def Jux is well represented as Aesop Rock and Cannibal Ox’s Vast Aire each appear twice and the album concludes with an RJD2 remix of the album’s lead single “Tippin’ Dominos”. Freestyle champion Breez Evah Flowin, poet Mike Ladd and West Coast representative Zion I also add their subterranean name recognition to the mix. While few of the featured guests are household names, The Bedford Files wasn’t created for the typical household.

The major strength of Ese and Hipsta’s compilation is the consistency of their production. Despite the album’s plethora of cameos, the music succeeds in binding each track to its predecessor without becoming monotonous or making the vocalists seem out of their accustomed element. The overall atmosphere of the album is fairly dark, but it’s not dark in the Mobb Deep “I took his life but all I wanted was his chain” way. The aura of grunginess is the result of the producers’ predilection towards aggressive drums and hacksawed samples, not because of the orators' tough talk (barely a lyrical firearm is discharged over the duration of the 14 songs and two skits).

Although the album’s theme is that of a police investigation into Embedded Music, few of the tracks really reflect the gumshoe saga. Including several performances that first appeared on Ese and Hipsta’s “Two 45-Minute Sets” series of mix tapes, most of the songs focus on either hometown-repping or esoteric battle rapping. Several songs stand as notable exceptions to the conventional underground themes. At times humorous and at times grisly, Lodeck’s “Today” is an engaging peephole into the artist’s daily activities. “This is a perfect today,” he exclaims over an 808ish kick-drum and melodic piano tinkles. “I found all type of perverted new shit to say.”

“Inner City Hustle”, featuring Aesop Rock and L.I.F.E. Long, transports the listener to the corner of West 4th and 6th Avenue, complete with the obligatory “I was just going to check out what was in Fat Beats” shout-out. Backed by murky yet infectious bass plucks, the duo describes their routine Gotham experiences. “Inner City Hustle” also contains one of the album’s strongest hooks: “Sliding through the jungle, where everybody mumbles/ I keep to myself and walk that inner-city shuffle/ through these concrete streets we creep sightseeing/ vibing to beats…we just trying to eat.”

C Rayz Walz contributes one of the more bouncy numbers with the eponymous titled “Crazy”. Utilizing a rambunctious off-key piano riff reminiscent of Busta’s “Woo-Hah” and a nicely-carved up “craaaay-zah” from Old Dirty Bastard, the production creates an ideal backdrop for Walz’ ramblings.

The Bedford Files is not without a few faults. Although the tracks are all solid, having two songs bigging-up Brooklyn and another track devoted to Manhattan was probably a little hometown overkill. The pair of tributes to the Borough of Kings (by Tes and Blowout and both entitled “BKLYN”) should have been fused together into a single track instead of separated into unique songs. And although the lyrical performance on Hangar 18’s “A Slice of Heaven” is nothing short of exceptional, the noisy production doesn’t really fit the song’s topic of chasing tail.

Despite the mentioned shortcomings, The Bedford Files provides a lungful of dank subway mildew that feels like breath of fresh air. After this solid debut, don’t expect Ese and Hipsta to stay hidden beneath the surface for too much longer.

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