Beatmonstas - Beats N Rhymes

Straight outta the Windy City, the Beatmonstas are here to remind us that hip-hop’s much more than just Beats N Rhymes; as Booth newcomers Therapy, Noble Dru and Phashara demonstrate on this newly-leaked LP cut, the genre is also a window into the streets and a vital channel for sociopolitical criticism.  Kicked off with a jarring (but definitely attention-grabbing) vocal sample from blaxploitation film Boss N*gger, the track finds the former Columbia College students delivering shotgun-bursts of revolutionary rhetoric over Dru’s staccato-brass boardwork, mixing fiery commentary on race, foreign policy, and economic issues with sinister lyrical imagery and… did I just catch a Bohemian Grove reference?  Sure to get heads bobbing and minds thinking (as well as, perhaps, raising a few eyebrows), this cut is a banging introduction to a trio with plenty to say.  For more politically-charged rhymes and beats informed by the Golden Age greats (the ‘monstas cite Pete Rock and A Tribe Called Quest as major influences), check out the group’s Bomb Til’ We Hit Em LP, set to drop on the 22nd.