Strong Arm Steady

A long-time staple in L.A.'s underground scene, Strong Arm Steady, or S.A.S. (Phil Da Agony, Mitchy Slick and Krondon), are back with their official full-length debut, Arms & Hammers, hot on the heels of their excellent 2010 collaboration, In Search of Stoney Jackson, with pothead/uber-producer Madlib. It may not be "the best album coming out of the West Coast since The Chronic," as label boss and homey Talib Kweli was recently quoted as saying, but it is a slamming piece of California rap music that begs to be bumped out of quality speakers. The grimy guitar lick dished out by DJ Khalil on "Klack or Get Klacked" provides the soapbox the MCs require to vent their venom at the LAPD, while Madlib returns to help smoke out the booth on "Chiba Chiba Pt. 2," the sequel to the original joint on Stoney Jackson. It may have been five years in the making, but the wait for Arms & Hammers was definitely worth it, as S.A.S are definitely keeping the West Coast resurgence steady with this release.