O.C.

As the author of "Time’s Up,” the classic reality check for fake emcees, O.C. is forever revered in hip-hop circles. But when his third LP Bon Apetit dropped after a lengthy absence from the scene, the word of mouth was that O.C. had traded in his purist persona for materialistic excess. Thankfully, there’s no trace of O.C. straying from his roots on Starchild, which sees to function as his reintroduction to the game. Seemingly cognizant of the fact that a full decade has passed since his first single, O.C. devotes a lot of his lyrics to re-establishing his credentials. Aided and abetted by low profile yet more than capable boom bap providers such as Soul Supreme and Locsmif, O.C. fashions some impressive heavy rotation bangers like "Who Run It?” and "Everidae” with Pharoahe Monch crooning the hook. Sporting a calm and wizened flow, O.C. sounds as good on the mic as he’s ever been. However, the main weakness of the record is its lack of topical diversity, because despite the couple of "back in the day” joints, O.C. spends a little bit too much time telling you that he’s back. Ironically enough, heads couldn’t be happier.