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Album Review: Upnorth Trip Vo. 2 Canadian Hip-Hop masters the fundamentals. International Hip-Hop has always played the role of an earnest rural cousin to the boom-bap made in the States. Their heart is in the right place, but their clothes and slang are usually several seasons out of date. And it makes sense -- the diaspora of rhyme schemes, tilted caps and frosty Jesus-pieces has always spiraled outwards from its origins in urban America and eventually drifted into the globe’s hinterlands. The arrangement isn’t likely to change much on the platinum level any time soon, but albums like Upnorth Trip Vol. 2 prove that cagey foreigners can carve out a nice niche for themselves by focusing on the fundamentals of Hip-Hop. Like the album’s Mobb Deep-inspired title, the army of frostbitten Canadians featured on Upnorth Trip Vol. 2 primarily leans on the sensibilities of rap music’s past for direction. Lessons from Hip-Hop’s Golden Era have been learned by the Canucks; most of the compilation’s material beckons back to the era when groups had DJs, producers used SP-1200’s instead of Tritons, and rappers challenged each other to freestyle battles instead of threatening to send slugs through their offspring’s cribs. Contemporary American Hip-Hop has sent the nimble-fingered DJ the way of the wooly mammoth and the $10 lapdance at Wild Wild West in Sunset Park. Artists like Dilated Peoples and DJ Premier endure, but long gone are the days when scratched hooks and flare-filled bridges were frequent. To ears acclimated to current Hip-Hop, the prevalence of turntable tactics throughout Upnorth Trip is a dramatic and refreshing change of pace. From the vicious cuts on the intro to the turntable treachery on the outro, it’s apparent that our Northern neighbors not only enjoy spinning wax, but they’re also damn good at it. The chintzy keyboards that have plagued American Hip-Hop since the emergence of Swizz and his pre-programmed Casio crescendos are blessedly absent from Upnorth Trip. Like the presence of skillful DJ handiwork, the album’s nicely butchered loops are a welcome throwback of the non-Fabolous variety. And to be honest, some of the sample-based production contributed by dudes like Simahlak is on par with the work currently being done by underground favorites such as 9th Wonder, Alchemist and Hi-Tek. It’s admirable that the international community has embraced the “skills” element of Hip-Hop as a formative trait, but, like their true-school counterparts in the United States, their rappers still spend way too much time rappin’ about rappin’. Perhaps cowed from true tough talk by their nation’s sluggish murder rate, these Canadian emcees exhibit varied degrees of talent bound together by a common denominator of freestyle battle-oriented material. One humorous track details lusting after greasy fast foods, but, for the most part, most of the songs can be filed under non-topical. Perhaps the third installment of the Upnorth Trip series will focus on highlighting the distinctions between Canadian rappers and their Lower 48 forefathers. The Upnorth Trip series proves that talented Hip-Hop artists dwell outside the borders of the United States. Next time let’s here about some snow-shoe-by shootings, eh? Upnorth Trip is available with Under Pressure Magazine in association with Urban Freakout and Root Troop. Read more articles in Arts » |
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