99th Dimension, Z-Man

Editor's Review:

Mystik Journeymen once rapped, "Hip-hop, I love it to the truest / but too many wack motherfuckers wanna do it." That line runs through my head every time I buy a tape from an underground hip-hop crew because sometimes, you just don’t know what you’re going to get. But when it came to 99^th Dimension, I felt pretty confident in buying the product simply because I have seen one member rap on two separate occasions, and have been duly impressed both times. That’s all it took. 99^th rapper Z-Man sits in with fellow Bay Area hip-hoppers, Sacred Hoop now and then, and I figured anyone with skills like that wouldn’t run with a wack crew. I was right.

The 99^th Dimension Tape is a shining example of what underground hip-hop posses can do with a little vision and a lot of talent. With eight flavorful tracks, this six-man crew—Z-Man, King Maz, Young Slim, Rated R, Rev Cope, P.B.F.-1—breakdown their sound and their philosophy succinctly, and take no prisoners. Slow, fat beats are masked with fresh jazz samples, occasional electronic beeps and tweets and other melodic additions that make the overall sound smooth and funky, without drawing the pat, instant comparisons to crews like Tribe Called Quest. Lyrically, it is obvious that these guys got skills, either rapping out stories, or sticking to the tried and true, diss-wack-MCs-and-hype-yourself style. With the right skills, the latter subject can be imparted without much pretense (any more than usual, that is), and can make for some super fresh flows and innovative rhymes. It is, simply, the essence.

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Record Label 99¢ Records Released April 2001

Tracks