Camp Lo Black Hollywood

Hard to believe over a decade has passed since the Bronx duo Geechi Suede and Sonny Cheeba blessed the rap game with the cult classic Uptown Saturday Night, an exercise in Blaxploitation-flavored braggadocio that secured their spot as innovative and original wordsmiths welcomed by an across-the-board demo; De La Soul was onboard early as well as unofficial third member Ski Beatz of Jay-Z fame, and the likes of both Big Willie Smith and Aesop Rock have since recruited the duo for guest appearance spots. But, dropping an album every five years in the rap game is grounds for dismissal, particularly with their sophomore-stinker Let's Do it Again, scattered with some uninspired rhymes atop often disastrous dancefloor beats (the single Glow was one of the few shining moments), but luckily Camp Lo make a solid return to form on Black Hollywood.

The 12-track, 35-minute platter (imagine- a rap album sans skits) follows the same blueprint as Uptown, initially enticing the ear with the decidedly gully Posse from the Bronx into the fiery 82 Afros. Similar to Uptown's opening Krystal Karrington, these two tracks pounce with big bass while slick-witted, gun-slinging wordplay comes in droves courtesy of a grittier Geechi Suede (years of cannabis smoke must've sandpapered his larynx), whose flow is equal parts fluid and fragmented with lines like "nickels out the window they squeezin' and breezin' past me," and "short snub nose/foes oppose and leave holes up in they clothes," Suede fires off again on 82 Afros with an uber-confidenet, monotone delivery: "I'm on the corner of Valentine/a forty of Ballantine/ them niggas can't battle mine/my Ruger just rattles fine" and "Keep a Mac muffled up/my sub-woofers is crushin ya/Just some phony zirconias disguising as hustlers."

The current bevy of shirtless, cock-diesel rapper shitheads please take note here. Posse from the Bronx and 82 Afros represent Camp Lo at their gangster chic finest, then gives way to the fun, FM-ready single Soul Fever.

And for all the talk of Jay-Z beatminer Ski Beatz behind the boards here, he's been there all along and on Hollywood, Ski makes his presence felt throughout, from a nice snake-charmer flute loop on Suga Willie's Revenge to the hands-up percussion of Pushahoe, while Ganja Lounge coasts with warm island rhythms. In fact the second half is a more mellow affair more or less devoted to girls and ganja (mediocre cuts like Material and Zoom come off a bit flat), that is until the big, neck-throbbing horns burst out on the title cut and will no doubt bring a smile to rap's sentimental sect who have been anticipating the proper return of Sonny Cheeba and Geechie Suede. The closer Sweet Claudine is a complete 180 from the roughneck opening tracks, and similar to the now-classic Coolie High which closed out Uptown Saturday Night, it goes down smooth and begs for a full repeat spin.