Daily Operation
On their third outing, Guru and Premier continue to deliver intellectual hardcore, mixing deft rhymes with serious beatology. Premier continues to mine the jazz vaults, uncovering some seriously dusty grooves, with which he concocts some of the best minimalist hip-hop to ever be committed to wax. Just listen to "The Place Where We Dwell." Made up of nothing more than a looped drum track and scratching, it illustrates the less-is-more aesthetic to a T. Guru once again lets loose with the monotone flow that is his trademark--a flow that tastes like slow-roasted butter. Furthermore, jams like "Ex Girl to the Next Girl" prove that there is such a thing as a good hip-hop love song that exudes street cred rather than syrupy wackness. The album is especially noteworthy for containing the progressive "I'm the Man," which marked the recorded debut of bothJeru the Damajaand Little Dap. Plus, "Soliloquy of Chaos" not only gets the Mensa award for word choice but also serves as an eloquent condemnation of the violence that had become de rigueur at hip-hop shows.--Spence Abbott