With Perestroika, Apathy and OC aren't "rebuilding" (the literal of translation the Russian world used in reference to Mikhail Gorbachev's ill-fated Soviet Union) or reinventing the wheel so much as bringing out the best in each other.
Time and again, Ap has gone bar for bar with language-bending stalwarts that made their names before him, and this 12-track LP is no exception, as he yanks the curtains back guns ablaze with an airtight, internal rhyme-heavy verse on "Live From the Iron Curtain." Never one to be outdone, OC matches his cohort's lyrical exploits — you know, as he's done more than a few times before — whether he's recounting his reckless days of old ("Tomorrow Is Gone"), lamenting all too familiar global horrors ("Perestroika") or simply boasting and bragging.
For all the first-rate craftsmanship they bring out in one another, the MCs don't quite forge enough of a bond to transcend; this record's more of a lyrical exercise than the fruit of a partnership destined to pass the test of time, a la Demigodz or DITC. That said, the pair set and maintain a high lyrical bar over samples that — in all likelihood — reach as far as Perestroika's birthplace for over 40 minutes, a feat well worth the price of admission.
(Dirty Version)Time and again, Ap has gone bar for bar with language-bending stalwarts that made their names before him, and this 12-track LP is no exception, as he yanks the curtains back guns ablaze with an airtight, internal rhyme-heavy verse on "Live From the Iron Curtain." Never one to be outdone, OC matches his cohort's lyrical exploits — you know, as he's done more than a few times before — whether he's recounting his reckless days of old ("Tomorrow Is Gone"), lamenting all too familiar global horrors ("Perestroika") or simply boasting and bragging.
For all the first-rate craftsmanship they bring out in one another, the MCs don't quite forge enough of a bond to transcend; this record's more of a lyrical exercise than the fruit of a partnership destined to pass the test of time, a la Demigodz or DITC. That said, the pair set and maintain a high lyrical bar over samples that — in all likelihood — reach as far as Perestroika's birthplace for over 40 minutes, a feat well worth the price of admission.