Brownstone Magazine
The Sickness is not all that sick
Cali rapper Planet Asia gets his latest effort reviewed by Brownstone
Will Johnson
February 14, 2006
Every music collection is broken into two sections: albums that you can listen to at any given moment and albums that you only want to hear when you’re in a certain mood. For example, Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers of Death falls into the first category, while Ill Bill’s What’s Wrong With Bill? fits in the second.
For the most part, Planet Asia’s newest release The Sickness belongs to the second category. Now, this is not to say that Planet Asia isn’t a creative MC or that he doesn’t command his flow and cadence, but if I was going on a subway ride from Brooklyn to the Bronx and could only bring one CD, chances are I wouldn’t choose this one.
If you’re from the East Coast you might remember Planet Asia as one of the Bay Area pioneers who drew you away from Company Flow and directed you to Zion I. In The Sickness, the veteran lyricist from California teams up with Amp Live, Jake One and Khalil to further extend his discography. While Planet Asia has been featured by artists from Talib Kweli to Linkin Park, his effect is much different as a stand-alone MC.
The Sickness is filled with verses that are independently solid, but lack cohesion in forming songs. On “Baby Food” — a title with clever potential — I expected the song to be about rapping as a means of meeting child-support requirements, but Asia delivers boastful raps that have little to do with the track name. While rappers like Ghostface Killah and MF Doom are masters of this technique, Planet Asia is not ambiguous enough with his lyrics to draw in listeners with off-kilter wordplay or subject matter. Instead, Planet Asia’s content is straightforward and battle-oriented. Based on his lyrics, you’ll never ask yourself why he chose the titles for his songs, whereas you might spend an entire evening with a friend arguing about the implications of a song titled “Fancy Clown” or “Titty Fat.” Planet Asia’s individual verses could appropriately fit onto almost any track off The Sickness. Each verse floats about freely, providing evidence that Planet Asia is probably pretty deadly in a smoked-out cipher.
Despite Planet Asia’s free-floating verses, his beat selection and production are solid overall. The Sickness contains a healthy balance of keyboard-based and sample-based beats, all of which compliment Planet Asia’s commanding delivery. The song “Potency” particularly stands out in its ability to make synth presets sound dirty and execute the EQ on snare-replaced handclaps. The same exact presets are used on “Gold Chain General” with less success.
While The Sickness doesn’t quite live up to it’s title, I wouldn’t say it’s not without some symptoms of illness. If you’re playing video games, pre-gaming before going to the LES or you just simply love California hip-hop, then this album deserves a place in your collection. I guarantee at least a few rotations before being placed alongside M.O.P.’s The Warriorz in your Case Logic.
The Sickness is not all that sick
Cali rapper Planet Asia gets his latest effort reviewed by Brownstone
Will Johnson
February 14, 2006
Every music collection is broken into two sections: albums that you can listen to at any given moment and albums that you only want to hear when you’re in a certain mood. For example, Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers of Death falls into the first category, while Ill Bill’s What’s Wrong With Bill? fits in the second.
For the most part, Planet Asia’s newest release The Sickness belongs to the second category. Now, this is not to say that Planet Asia isn’t a creative MC or that he doesn’t command his flow and cadence, but if I was going on a subway ride from Brooklyn to the Bronx and could only bring one CD, chances are I wouldn’t choose this one.
If you’re from the East Coast you might remember Planet Asia as one of the Bay Area pioneers who drew you away from Company Flow and directed you to Zion I. In The Sickness, the veteran lyricist from California teams up with Amp Live, Jake One and Khalil to further extend his discography. While Planet Asia has been featured by artists from Talib Kweli to Linkin Park, his effect is much different as a stand-alone MC.
The Sickness is filled with verses that are independently solid, but lack cohesion in forming songs. On “Baby Food” — a title with clever potential — I expected the song to be about rapping as a means of meeting child-support requirements, but Asia delivers boastful raps that have little to do with the track name. While rappers like Ghostface Killah and MF Doom are masters of this technique, Planet Asia is not ambiguous enough with his lyrics to draw in listeners with off-kilter wordplay or subject matter. Instead, Planet Asia’s content is straightforward and battle-oriented. Based on his lyrics, you’ll never ask yourself why he chose the titles for his songs, whereas you might spend an entire evening with a friend arguing about the implications of a song titled “Fancy Clown” or “Titty Fat.” Planet Asia’s individual verses could appropriately fit onto almost any track off The Sickness. Each verse floats about freely, providing evidence that Planet Asia is probably pretty deadly in a smoked-out cipher.
Despite Planet Asia’s free-floating verses, his beat selection and production are solid overall. The Sickness contains a healthy balance of keyboard-based and sample-based beats, all of which compliment Planet Asia’s commanding delivery. The song “Potency” particularly stands out in its ability to make synth presets sound dirty and execute the EQ on snare-replaced handclaps. The same exact presets are used on “Gold Chain General” with less success.
While The Sickness doesn’t quite live up to it’s title, I wouldn’t say it’s not without some symptoms of illness. If you’re playing video games, pre-gaming before going to the LES or you just simply love California hip-hop, then this album deserves a place in your collection. I guarantee at least a few rotations before being placed alongside M.O.P.’s The Warriorz in your Case Logic.
