Psychoanalysis (What Is It?)
Prince Paul has already proved himself as one of the best producers in hip-hop (De La Soul, Cypress Hill, Dr. Octagon, Chris Rock).Psychoanalysisproves he's also totally ill. (Er, that's a good thing.) The disc is more of a producer's sketchbook than a reliable album and is composed of scratches and skits mingled around a bizarro-world mimicking of nearly every style of urban music you can imagine, from Miami Bass ("Booty Clap"), Delta Blues ("The Bitch Blues"), and R&B; ("You Made Me"). Tracks like "Beautiful Night" are so deeply twisted that it might take repeated listenings before you're in on the joke.Psychoanalysisfeels familiar all the way through but is also deliberately alien, perhaps recorded just so Prince Paul can imagine the expression on your face during playback.--Todd Levin