Muneshine

Having proved himself with a well-received instrumental album, as well as creating beats for a variety of underground hip-hop heroes, rapper/producer Muneshine concentrates on just rapping with his latest album. Well, there is one beat contribution: "Love You More" is an up-tempo, jazzy number about artistic integrity that ends the album on a positive note. At the other end of the record, Muneshine puts a novel spin on the second-person hype track most non-rapping producers resort to by making it about himself. The song is soulful and jazzy, much like the rest of the album, but without the boom bap drums. While Muneshine mostly prefers concepts, staying on topic with detailed imagery and witty lyrics, it's the two posse cuts ("What Now," with Sean Price and Termanology, and bonus cut "It's Mine," with the odd mix of Little Vic, Emilio Rojas, Skyzoo, Kenn Starr and D-Sisive), and party track "Liquorhound" that are the standouts. A throwback to mid- to late '90s NYC hip-hop, Status Symbol should appeal to fans of Native Tongues, Pete Rock and Jay Dee.