Statik Selektah - The Thrill Is Gone ft. Styles P. & Talib Kweli

Though Statik Selektah‘s latest single sees the Lawrence, Massachusetts DJ/producer using a classic Biggie sample to express his disenchantment with today’s hip-hop, The Thrill Is Gone isn’t as pessimistic as its title implies—actually, it seems more like a challenge than a dour indictment of the game.  Guest artists Styles P. and Talib Kweli prove determined to rekindle that spark; the Ghost acknowledges that simply looking back isn’t the answer, and suggests emcees, “rap about a thought that you had on your mind” rather than falling back on overdone topics like “swag” and “the grind,” while Kweli elects to show rather than tell, expressing his passion for the genre in a poetically allusive middle verse.  Statik accompanies his collaborators’ deep thoughts with a jazzy, sampled instrumental sure to have old-school heads bobbing.  Those who like what they hear can look forward to an unusually pleasant Hangover this summer, when Selektah’s latest LP hits stores.