Ill Poetic

Click link above to read a list of reviews, interviews & general press. - Ill Poetic

Click link above to read. - Passionweiss.com

Click link above to read. - MTVHive

THE WORLD IS OURS

"his introspective-gazing-but-outward-reaching lyricism is appreciated, but it’s his beats that really shine"

www.okayplayer.com

ILL POETIC PRESENTS BUDDEN MEETS PORTISHEAD: MOOD MUZIK'S THIRD

"At long last, someone saw fit to fill the iPod of the ghoul in Edvard Munch's The Scream. It's like, he's scary, but he needs to work out, too. This mash-up of Joe Budden and the new Portishead record should be just the thing."

www.rollingstone.com

- rollingstone.com

Ill Poetic Sit Down
Written by FullMetal
Thursday, 12 April 2007
FullMetal gets to sit down with the rising midwest artist and gets in-depth on the music and how he got into it.
In a time where Hip-Hop music sounds commercial, formulaic and blatantly manufactured, what place is there for a Real MC? That's where Ill Poetic ( IP ) comes in. Brought up in Cincinatti, OH he intends to bring respect to his hometown, and do it on his own terms.

I had a chance to interview Ill recently, and he shared his thoughts on himself, and his upcoming album, The World Is Ours in this Q & A session.

FM: What was the first Hip-Hop album you fell in love with?

IP: The first album I fell in love with wasn’t necessarily the first one I had ever heard, but probably somewhere between Doggystyle, Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik, Enter the 36 Chambers, and Bone Creepin on ah Come Up. There were tons of others, too, but those hold the most memory.



FM: What inspired you to make music? You seem to have had a good background in it.

IP: I remember the first album that got me interested in rhyming and in hip-hop in general was Ice Cube The Predator. I think I was in the fourth grade, and a friend brought the CD over to my house. We had to play it really low so my mom couldn’t hear it. We were listening to “gangsta fairytales”, and I remember writing a rhyme a couple days later…oh, and Kris Kross.

FM: Kriss Kross? HaHa. I guess they were a good influence then. What could you describe your style as?

IP: I don’t really know how to define it…to me, I just write what I think belongs over a certain piece of music until it all comes together. Currently, flow and lyric wise, I get A LOT of inspiration from Andre 3000, Elzhi, J.dilla, Jay-Z, Nas, Lil’ Wayne, and the folks around me in the city that rhyme.

FM: That's a good line up of artists. Variety too. It seems you draw inspiration from everywhere, but how can you manage to make such thoughful music in such a degrading time in music? It must be a process.

IP: I never really thought of my music as thoughtful. I think what I produce or write is usually an extension of me. I usually just try and let my personality bleed into a song, because that’s what instantly separates it from anyone else’s music. So, I guess it’s thoughtful because my mom thinks I’m thoughtful..(Laughs)

FM: I've been listening to your tracks, and the production is outstanding. Who is/are your producer(s)?

IP: I did all the production on the record, except Inside Lookin Outside (the first half of the last song), which was produced by Kried, who’s like this cool-ass Cincinnati production legend…but you’d never know it if you met him.

FM: Seriously? So you can rhyme AND make your own track. That impressive. When did you get your start?

IP: I started rhyming in the fourth grade, started battling in high school, and linked up with my friend young zone (who I’m in the group Definition with) in the late 90’s. We performed and dropped an album in 2002, and I stayed busy producing and battling around the Midwest (Scribble Jam, etc.)

FM: I've noticed you don't really follow a lot of trends in your music, so what do you feel you bring different to the table, that you feel other artists don't?

IP: The only thing I can bring to the table is my sound and perspective. It used to get to me that my shit didn’t sound like the usual shit, just because sometimes it’s tiring to get this outcast label put on your music, or you. But as soon as I really embraced the differences, I got really comfortable in who I was and where my sound could travel. I kinda recognized that when you can hit someone in the soul with music or words, all the other shit is obsolete, and since we all go through similar shit, I just tried to personalize it, but make it relatable to the ‘average person’.

IP: My friend once asked me, who do you speak for? Because every memorable artist speaks for a group of people who don’t really have a proper voice, but need it. So I feel like I speak for the person who has to work a 9-5, hop the bus to work and try and catch a ride home. Someone who’s not the flyest mufucka in the club, but just goes to have a good time. The group of college kids/weedheads/high school kids/factory workers/street kats/parents that sit in the house with their friends bullshittin around smoking, and watching anchorman….and mainly I would like to speak for people that actually give a shit about the things and people around them…Not all super-politically-socially aware and shit, but just cats that care.

FM: That's inspiring man. You actually have a purpose, and dont seem to be just out here for the money. What can fans and new people alike expect from your album?

IP: It’s funny, because this album kinda came about by accident. It was an EP that Dove Ink (the label along with mine that’s releasing the record) convinced me to turn into an LP. So my little mission became to give people a - www.hiphopremix.com

There's something about Ohio, that makes this place be host to a remarkable amount of good music. And while many of the names are already known, talked about and carried into the world, it's getting even more remarkable, when suddenly out of nowhere there appears a group that you can only praise in an abundance of ways. And the crew that demands this is going by the name of Definition. The two members call Cincinnati their home, and with they Zone Ill and Ill Poetic is meant. They are also part of the Cosmic Souls collective, and believing the inside of their cover, there will be a Cosmic Souls compilation coming up, along with several other projects from the clique. But we are talking about thing that shouldn't be relevant right now, because this moment belongs to Definition, and us paying tribute to their incredible EP.

"What Is Definition?" is opening the EP with words that are of a spoken word kind. The poet is Huntor Prey, and he speaks on the shackles that the word 'definition' carries in its core, what then however gets twisted to a pointing out the chances. And while the very first few seconds belong to plush strings, it's a plucking piano that picks up the remaining seconds. Already on the second cut we need to take a deep breath, because the enormousness of the beat is filling the available room, and may it only be the space between the headphones and your ears. This cut is "Definition", what obviously operates as the introduction, that allows us to draw the first conclusion: the two cats are dope behind the mic as well. Cause their flows are proper, the topics they chose to talk about are not always of the stereotypical clever cats type rhetoric.

The piano is still present on "Analysis", but it's combined with a reggae-ish guitar. The title of the cut is consisting of the word, that describes the action that these cats are doing on this song. They are however not opening their eyes to look into the world, but they are pointing it onto themselves, as they are trying to explain and explore their inner talents, as well as the products that make it to the outside. "Amina" is going the story telling route, as we are listening to the two cats meeting an impressive lady at two different occasions, with the climax of the story being rather obvious, while the two Ill's are still able to keep the progress to end entertaining.

What then leads us into the solo track "Reason" by Zone Ill. And he's flowing over a self produced beat, that is giving us another incredible piano, that is perfectly fitting the more poem like verses. They are intending to expose all the reasons behind the hard to understand. Ill Poetic then somewhat goes for dolo, as he does the beat, as well as the lyrics on "Reflection". And together with the previous track, this allows you to hear the differences in styles and deliveries these two cats have. Moving on we get the rather content and happy "To The Beat...", where the paper with the changing the world rhymes is being put to the side, and the sheet with the straight flowing is picked up. What then leaves us with "Wake Up". And unlike you should do with a demo (put the best cut first), Definition put the best track last. Ill Poetic once more dug up one incredible sample, that consists of one of the most beautiful pianos that we've heard in a minute. Things then change for a break and are even flipped towards the end of the cut, proving that Definition is too cool to overloop this sample. The lyrics have to be overshadowed by this bliss, but with them being conscious and willing to say something of relevance, they are completing one amazing track.

But it's not just this one cut that has us be enormously happy about this record. While at the same time we have to acknowledge that the eight cuts on here are very much focusing on one style, that has us wonder about the versatility and even universality of their appeal. What once more is a ridiculous statement in the face of dope rhymes and dope beats. We probably should just be happy with being given something as nice as this, and halt our bickering.

review: tadah
- www.urbansmarts.com

Ill Poetic gives a sneak peek into the forthcoming reissue of his debut, Illumination

Interview By Mildred C. Fallen



Photo By Dale M. Johnson
Ill Poetic
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I haven't had a chance to eat all day," MC Ill Poetic says. "Do you mind that I'm fixing something to eat?"
It's 4 in the afternoon, and clearly he's famished. Haphazardly dumping powdered cheese and milk into the pot, he's playing beat-the-clock before a Greyhound ride to his hometown of Dayton. But when he finally gets to relax and talk about why he's re-releasing his CD, Illumination, and how he transitioned from battling regionally to negotiating a national distribution deal, Ill Poetic's hunger seems synonymous with perseverance.

"I'm a lot more confident (with the new version) because with any album, it's supposed to capture a moment in time," he says. "Most of the original songs on the album were written in 2003, and 2003 was a fucked up year for me, and a lot of those songs reflect that fucked-upness. 2004 was a better year, so the newer material came from '04 and '05, which has been really cool ... so far."

So far, so good. Two days before, a phone call offered a distribution deal.

"It's such fresh news that I don't wanna say, 'Aww, I got a label,' " he says. "It took me to hell and back to get there, and I'm not even all the way there yet."

Illumination is a rite of passage that freed his stream of consciousness, which he poured into free-written compositions drawn from gazing out of bus windows.

"I do much of my songwriting on the Metro, and it feels like I go through damn near half the neighborhoods in Cincinnati," Ill Poetic says. "Looking out the window, you see such a wide spectrum of people and places, and daily it changes."

An example of his open window introspection is "Cinciluminati," a cozy cut of cryptic metaphors compiled off the head, all capturing snapshots of Cincinnati like a roving reporter. While riding buses, he envisioned the entire song and completed it before he reached his house. Lines like "turning churches into Urban Outfitters" and a reference to Price Hill as a "melting pot" when Queen City Barrel burned chronicle local infamy and irony.

That track will be marketed separately from Illumination, but the cuts on the album also have cryptic messages he says even his closest friends can't always encode, some spawned from personal pain and an unforeseen recording sabbatical away from his Hip Hop duo, Definition, with regular co-conspirator Zone Ill. These factors helped Ill Poetic define identity outside of the battling ciphers. For him, weekly battles became passé.

"Battles got so big when 8 Mile came out, you had articles about it, battles on 106 and Park, Ricki Lake battles and all this bullshit, and everyone got so overexposed on it," he says.

Still, his attention-grabbing appearance at Scribble Jam 2004 exposed Ill Poetic's music to a wider audience, which he realized when a kid at a show in Evansville, Ind., recognized him from the most recent Scribble Jam DVD. For him, the experience was surreal.

"I've had artists I looked up to for years who were more local then moved to national, who metaphorically passed the torch to us, like, 'Y'all are next up,' " he says. "You had the Mood/Wanna Battle/Five Deez generation in Hip Hop, and then you have the next generation in Hip Hop that comes after them, like Piakhan, King Solomon and Holmskillit. When I came here in 2000, those were the names locally who were doin' it. I don't see us at that position yet."

Since he self-manufactured, wrote and produced Illumination, Ill Poetic is glad the painstaking process finally brought distribution. But he reiterates that he's broke.

"Shoot, I'm probably broker than you are," he says, scraping the remainder of his noodles. "As far as they know, they just think, 'They're onstage, I really like their shit.' But when I come off, I'm trying to plan my next move ... to not have a part-time job anymore and be able to live off this."

- citybeat magazine

Ill Poetic - The World is Ours
Written by FullMetal
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
Cincinnati, Ohio has Chad Johnson and the Bengals. Hip Hop has Dj Hi-Tek, now enter in Ill Poetic in the same category.

Most of the underground releases thrown my way have the same similar, worn out sound, and bring absolutely nothing new to the table. In fact, most of them are just pointless. So when my boss handed me Ill Poetics' The World is Ours, I wasn't expecting much, but as soon as I pressed play, I was blown away.

From the first track, Home, Ill Poetic shows us exactly what he's made of, weaving in out of bars over an old-school track, that if you aren't bouncing to, I'd think you didn't have any soul. Fortunately, the entire album shares a cohesive sound similar to this, bringing it back to a time where producers were into making an experience, not just an LP filled with random tracks.

Ill Poetic is a capable MC, and his style works well within the complex system of George Benson-like sampled production, instantly reminding you of Nas' opus Illmatic. Cincilluminati shares the same hook as the aformentioned's The World is Yours, but gives it a fresh sound, instantly bring it to 2007. The most amazing thing about this album, is the way it flows, and segues into every track, making the album feel like one big band session. Ill brings the heat again on Common Knowledge, giving us witty line like:

"Ya'll fools rap, and I'm an illusion, Rap wolverine Hugh Jackman- I jack Humans"

What Ya'll Want is an interesting track, as it samples a booming church choir, which sounds a bit off at first, but somehow Poetic manages to make hot what a majority of artists would have failed at, riding the beat almost too easily, all while keeping your attention with on-point lyricism. It's safe to say I'm impressed. He keeps up the vibe on So good, allowing you to almost get lost in his words, as once again, the production is top notch, featuring inward claps, and an ambient sample that needs to be heard to understand.

Soul Electric is another incredible production, and while Ill lets us down a bit with a lazy hook, his tale of being with the perfect woman is very well detailed, perfectly meshing with the albums relaxed mood. The Beautiful picks up where the last track left off, with IP dropping thoughful rhymes on a track reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest. As the LP goes on, it's easy to guess where he gets his inspiration from, as every song shows such a personal part of himself, without coming off as corny, or "soft".


Sugar Shack makes it case for best track on the album, with Ill giving us an example of a doubletime flow,rivaling some of the best that do it. The beat alone makes you want to dance, but the way he flips words throughout is equally hot. One More feat.Young Zone, and Wordsworth is a banger, with fast hitting drums, and an adequate hook. It's an accomplishment alone to not be overshadwed by Words on your song (something he's known to do) showing that Ill can hang with the best. As I See It feat. Piakhan, Huntor Prey, and Illogic, is a dope posse track, with no weak verses, and one of the best productions on the album. The hook is catchy, and will get stuck in your head for a few days easily.


"Move" is just as hot as any other track, except that this is one of the rare times during the album where the beat almost outshines IP's lyrics, but dope nonetheless."City Of God" feat. Young Zone, Cj the Cynic, and Prose can even make a reggae-hater like me get into it, with the faint background rhythms driving the song, and everyone dropping hot content, it's definitely a run back. On the other hand, it did take away from the genuine feel of the album, as it felt like a bump in the road.

The Last gets the proceedings back on the right path however, featuring Ill spitting over a bounceably piano sample, and sharing his thoughts on the rap game: "FUCK ya pretty image, FUCK ya shitty gimmicks, and most of all, FUCK these city limits". He actually manages to seem genuinely concerned, and not just bitter, like most of his underground peers. If you thought it couldn't get any better, Ride Thru It affirms Poetics ability to make you not just want to listen, but get out of your seat and groove to his music, an effect that rarely happens when listening to this kind of Hip-Hop. Inside Lookin Out/Shinin is another solid track, and serves as a hot outro, but I wished he would have made them separate songs, as I felt cheated out of two wonderful tracks.

In the end, Ill Poetics The World Is Ours is an experience in Hip-Hop that I recommend everyone should listen to.Showing everyone that if you put effort, and thought into you music, it could capture everyones attention. He breaks down the wall or boredom that most people perceive Underground Hip-Hop to be, and brings us a soulful, nearly classic album, with very few missteps.


Fullmetal Rating: 4.0/5.0

- www.hiphopremix.com

Ill Poetic - The World is Ours
Written by FullMetal
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
Cincinnati, Ohio has Chad Johnson and the Bengals. Hip Hop has Dj Hi-Tek, now enter in Ill Poetic in the same category.

Most of the underground releases thrown my way have the same similar, worn out sound, and bring absolutely nothing new to the table. In fact, most of them are just pointless. So when my boss handed me Ill Poetics' The World is Ours, I wasn't expecting much, but as soon as I pressed play, I was blown away.

From the first track, Home, Ill Poetic shows us exactly what he's made of, weaving in out of bars over an old-school track, that if you aren't bouncing to, I'd think you didn't have any soul. Fortunately, the entire album shares a cohesive sound similar to this, bringing it back to a time where producers were into making an experience, not just an LP filled with random tracks.

Ill Poetic is a capable MC, and his style works well within the complex system of George Benson-like sampled production, instantly reminding you of Nas' opus Illmatic. Cincilluminati shares the same hook as the aformentioned's The World is Yours, but gives it a fresh sound, instantly bring it to 2007. The most amazing thing about this album, is the way it flows, and segues into every track, making the album feel like one big band session. Ill brings the heat again on Common Knowledge, giving us witty line like:

"Ya'll fools rap, and I'm an illusion, Rap wolverine Hugh Jackman- I jack Humans"

What Ya'll Want is an interesting track, as it samples a booming church choir, which sounds a bit off at first, but somehow Poetic manages to make hot what a majority of artists would have failed at, riding the beat almost too easily, all while keeping your attention with on-point lyricism. It's safe to say I'm impressed. He keeps up the vibe on So good, allowing you to almost get lost in his words, as once again, the production is top notch, featuring inward claps, and an ambient sample that needs to be heard to understand.

Soul Electric is another incredible production, and while Ill lets us down a bit with a lazy hook, his tale of being with the perfect woman is very well detailed, perfectly meshing with the albums relaxed mood. The Beautiful picks up where the last track left off, with IP dropping thoughful rhymes on a track reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest. As the LP goes on, it's easy to guess where he gets his inspiration from, as every song shows such a personal part of himself, without coming off as corny, or "soft".


Sugar Shack makes it case for best track on the album, with Ill giving us an example of a doubletime flow,rivaling some of the best that do it. The beat alone makes you want to dance, but the way he flips words throughout is equally hot. One More feat.Young Zone, and Wordsworth is a banger, with fast hitting drums, and an adequate hook. It's an accomplishment alone to not be overshadwed by Words on your song (something he's known to do) showing that Ill can hang with the best. As I See It feat. Piakhan, Huntor Prey, and Illogic, is a dope posse track, with no weak verses, and one of the best productions on the album. The hook is catchy, and will get stuck in your head for a few days easily.


"Move" is just as hot as any other track, except that this is one of the rare times during the album where the beat almost outshines IP's lyrics, but dope nonetheless."City Of God" feat. Young Zone, Cj the Cynic, and Prose can even make a reggae-hater like me get into it, with the faint background rhythms driving the song, and everyone dropping hot content, it's definitely a run back. On the other hand, it did take away from the genuine feel of the album, as it felt like a bump in the road.

The Last gets the proceedings back on the right path however, featuring Ill spitting over a bounceably piano sample, and sharing his thoughts on the rap game: "FUCK ya pretty image, FUCK ya shitty gimmicks, and most of all, FUCK these city limits". He actually manages to seem genuinely concerned, and not just bitter, like most of his underground peers. If you thought it couldn't get any better, Ride Thru It affirms Poetics ability to make you not just want to listen, but get out of your seat and groove to his music, an effect that rarely happens when listening to this kind of Hip-Hop. Inside Lookin Out/Shinin is another solid track, and serves as a hot outro, but I wished he would have made them separate songs, as I felt cheated out of two wonderful tracks.

In the end, Ill Poetics The World Is Ours is an experience in Hip-Hop that I recommend everyone should listen to.Showing everyone that if you put effort, and thought into you music, it could capture everyones attention. He breaks down the wall or boredom that most people perceive Underground Hip-Hop to be, and brings us a soulful, nearly classic album, with very few missteps.


Fullmetal Rating: 4.0/5.0

- www.hiphopremix.com

www.rapreviews.com review


http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2007_05_worldisours.html



Ill Poetic :: The World is Ours :: Definitive Music Group
as reviewed by Jordan Selbo

Who's your favorite MC-producer double threat? Mr. West, Dilla, Edan, or the Green Eyed Bandit (for all the geriatrics out there) are all great choices, but inevitably, it's almost impossible to love both sides of these artists output equally. No matter how slightly, I still prefer Kyane's beats over his boasts and Dilla's drums over his disses, as is the case most of the time; producers who rhyme are just that—producers, rhyming for whatever reason (and not ill MCs who also make hot music).

Ill Poetic, from the curious land of Ohio Hip Hop, may prove the exception to that rule. Showcasing skillful craftsmanship in both constructing dynamic beats along with thoughtful lyrics, Poetic almost single-handedly carries his newest LP "The World is Ours" to an elevated height of freshness. Tony D, hold ya head.

Poetic showcases his production virtuosity with the haunting "What Y'all Want" and the sweet and slow "Soul Electric," along with a handful of other true underground bangers. He owes a heavy debt to both Hi-Tek and Dilla, but those aren't bad fellas to draw inspiration from, dig?

He proves himself equally comfortable with the crate digging and with original compositions, and the versatility allows the disc to breath and flow by with ease. Slowing it up plenty between hi hat masterpieces, Ill the two-headed monster marries his tone between vocal content and sonic atmosphere masterfully.

On the mic, he's just as assured, mixing nuanced and sober observations about the city and Hip Hop with straight-up dope wordplay. He's definitely a lyricist as opposed to just a producer fucking around in the vocal booth, as his love of words and their sounds is obvious; recalling both Juelz Santana in his playful contortions and G. Rap in his machine gun rhyme schemes, Poetic plays not only with the meaning of words, but also their tones and pronunciations, playfully wrestling with phrases to fit them into funky rap structures.

Mostly spitting on the positive tip, Ill stays refreshing without being corny, an everyman that observes rather than preaches. And having uniformly rock-solid guests (including underground heroes such as Blueprint and Wordsworth) only makes "The World is Ours" more satisfying, as the few posse cuts recall classics of yesteryear such as "The Symphony," where each artist rips even harder than the last.

The only missteps here are a few corny R&B (rhythm and bull...) choruses that interrupt the tight wordplay, as well as a lack of presence in Ill's voice, leaving him occasionally buried under his own excited drums and horns. But in the end, Ohio Hip Hop can be so effective because it surprises us in its effective eclecticism and true-to-self stance. Ill Poetic continues in this tradition valiantly, showcasing both unashamed individualism and universal dopeness. The only debate you'll have here is a welcome one: what's hotter, his beats or his rhymes?

Music Vibes: 8 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 8.5 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 8 of 10

- www.rapreviews.com

new citybeat article for "the world is ours"


http://blogs.citybeat.com/spill_it/

I dream bigger than I reach," Ill Poetic told me once, and I only half-believe him. In some ways, this 25-year-old MC reminds me of Peter from Office Space; either he's frantically biting his nails over his work or he's found true Zen instead of just pretending everything's all good. For example, when his notebook of unreleased rhymes got rain-soaked, he thought it (and he) were ruined. A litany of other misfortunate events made him want to put the mic down altogether. Instead, he turned to friend and poet, Fatal Prose, who told him, "God doesn't hate you. He won't give you a gift then chastise you 10 years later." Ill Poe says he realized his friend was right. "Man, I can't really complain about shit!" he thought, as he lay in the sun and cooled his feet in a pond.

It's moments like these that finally push him beyond his insecurity. As heard on "Ride Thru It" from his new, self-produced CD, The World is Ours, he makes distinction as an MC wanting to be relevant: "I ain't worried 'bout the 'Snowman'/I'm worried 'bout this young kid whose thinkin' he's a grown man." Maybe you've seen him, slack-faced, boarding the No. 33 to his gig as a telemarketing manager and wondered, "God, when's this kid gonna get signed?" But judging from his seamless production on The World is Ours and beat contributions to other spit-kickers, including Punchline, Wordsworth, Piakhan, Illogic and Living Legends' Aesop, the Dove Ink artist already works like a major label is telling him, "Uh … today is not a half-day."

Recently, he booked a no-frills tour to push The World is Ours (which meant driving a rental car cross-country, National Lampoon's Vacation style, minus a mutt and dead aunt) with labelmates Illogic, Young Zone and Green Brothers. The road trip left him feeling initiated into a higher echelon of indie MCs.

But while he's telling himself, "Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta;" he ain't trippin'. He's too busy obsessing over the next show.

Listen to Ill Poetic's "Cincilluminati" from The World Is Ours:


Ill Poetic celebrates the release of The World Is Ours this Friday at Annie's, with special guests Illogic, Young Zone, a live backing band, The Nati Kid and others. Their will also be a fashion show, a Cincy Soul/Funk history showcase and the event also serves as the release party for the new DVD documenting last year's immensely popular Hip Hop summit, Scribble Jam. Cover is just five bucks and the show is open to those 18 and up. (Read Mildred's 2005 interview with Ill Poetic here.)

— Mildred C. Fallen

- citybeat

www.rapreviews.com review


http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2007_05_worldisours.html



Ill Poetic :: The World is Ours :: Definitive Music Group
as reviewed by Jordan Selbo

Who's your favorite MC-producer double threat? Mr. West, Dilla, Edan, or the Green Eyed Bandit (for all the geriatrics out there) are all great choices, but inevitably, it's almost impossible to love both sides of these artists output equally. No matter how slightly, I still prefer Kyane's beats over his boasts and Dilla's drums over his disses, as is the case most of the time; producers who rhyme are just that—producers, rhyming for whatever reason (and not ill MCs who also make hot music).

Ill Poetic, from the curious land of Ohio Hip Hop, may prove the exception to that rule. Showcasing skillful craftsmanship in both constructing dynamic beats along with thoughtful lyrics, Poetic almost single-handedly carries his newest LP "The World is Ours" to an elevated height of freshness. Tony D, hold ya head.

Poetic showcases his production virtuosity with the haunting "What Y'all Want" and the sweet and slow "Soul Electric," along with a handful of other true underground bangers. He owes a heavy debt to both Hi-Tek and Dilla, but those aren't bad fellas to draw inspiration from, dig?

He proves himself equally comfortable with the crate digging and with original compositions, and the versatility allows the disc to breath and flow by with ease. Slowing it up plenty between hi hat masterpieces, Ill the two-headed monster marries his tone between vocal content and sonic atmosphere masterfully.

On the mic, he's just as assured, mixing nuanced and sober observations about the city and Hip Hop with straight-up dope wordplay. He's definitely a lyricist as opposed to just a producer fucking around in the vocal booth, as his love of words and their sounds is obvious; recalling both Juelz Santana in his playful contortions and G. Rap in his machine gun rhyme schemes, Poetic plays not only with the meaning of words, but also their tones and pronunciations, playfully wrestling with phrases to fit them into funky rap structures.

Mostly spitting on the positive tip, Ill stays refreshing without being corny, an everyman that observes rather than preaches. And having uniformly rock-solid guests (including underground heroes such as Blueprint and Wordsworth) only makes "The World is Ours" more satisfying, as the few posse cuts recall classics of yesteryear such as "The Symphony," where each artist rips even harder than the last.

The only missteps here are a few corny R&B (rhythm and bull...) choruses that interrupt the tight wordplay, as well as a lack of presence in Ill's voice, leaving him occasionally buried under his own excited drums and horns. But in the end, Ohio Hip Hop can be so effective because it surprises us in its effective eclecticism and true-to-self stance. Ill Poetic continues in this tradition valiantly, showcasing both unashamed individualism and universal dopeness. The only debate you'll have here is a welcome one: what's hotter, his beats or his rhymes?

Music Vibes: 8 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 8.5 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 8 of 10

- www.rapreviews.com