Haiku d'Etat
Haiku d'Etat is a hip-hop revolution from within. With a combination of lush live instrumentation and lacerating lyrics, they're refreshing like a cool glass of lemonade. Longtime Los Angeles MCsAceyaloneand Mikah 9 (of the fabledFreestyle Fellowship) and Abstract Rude (ofAbstract Tribe Unique) are among the best in the biz, flipping effortlessly from abstract poetics to battle rhymes, altering their cadences with ease, and generally ennobling the microphone with their superior skills. Yeah, MCs talk about sex all the time, but when was the last time a rapper was actuallysexy? Mikah 9's raw, rapturous rhymes on "Pro Tool Robots" are. On the outstanding "Los Dangerous," Haiku d'Etat kick outlaw flows over a percolating, sax-laced beat. They make fun of rap's screw-faced status quo at the end of "West Side Slip and Side," then return to their laid-back selves on the cheeba-lacedBob Marleyremake, "Kaya." Instead of getting mad at the state of the hip-hop nation, Haiku d'Etat defy the mind-numbingnormwith their dangerously good music.--Lizz Mendez Berry