LMNO

A portion of the Visionaries branches out on his own with an all-star supporting cast, but something was fudged in the blueprint and Economic Food Chain Music fails to hit its potentially great target. LMNO (Leave My Name Out) doesn’t exactly have the nicest flow and sounds like a cross between Son Doobie and Vanilla Ice. Yes, that sounds harsh, but his lack of impressive skill and overall vocal tone sticks out like a sore thumb with lacklustre production to back him up. This is incredibly surprising seeing as half the beats on this joint were developed by Madlib’s up-and-coming brother Oh No. Economic Food Chain Music isn’t a total lost cause though as Oh No drops some mad sitar vibes for "Moves Don’t Make You” as LMNO has something to say and brings knowledge, as he does on most tracks. The best moments come from Oh No and Rhettmatic’s productions and sadly they’re spoiled by lyrical nonsense on the microphone, such as Duran Duran and Psychedelic Furs references over an otherwise fantastic video game-inspired beat on "[More] Pawns [Than] Dawns.” Economic Food Chain Music isn’t a horrible record, but when you have Stones Throw affiliates like DJ Romes and Wildchild dropping by on your effort than you better come out swinging for the fence rather than squaring up for a bunt. Cop the instrumental version.