Customer Reviews

Dangerous Connection

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is amazing both lyrically and musically. 7L is amazing; every beat is dope. Stoupe, Beyonder, and KutMasta Kurt also produce, but only one track-a-piece (not counting Beyonder's skit), which are just as good.

The Album has good lyrical variety, including songs about 9/11 from the terrorists' point of view (Terrorist's Cell), a psycho-analysis of Es (Word Association), and stalking (Stalker).

Hands-down the best line of the album is on The Way Out:
F*** battlin' cats / I'm Jim Abbottin' cats
Which means I'm single handedly embarassin' cats

Just in case you're like me and don't follow baseball to much, Jim Abbott was a one handed pitcher who pitched a perfect game, thus 'single handedly embarassin'' them. It's crazy punch-lines like that, that just make me wonder why Es hasn't blown up yet. I guess folks just aren't ready for this kind of thing.

The bottom line is this album is definitely worth picking up.

Esoteric is back with another classic that easily holds up nice next to the Soul Purpose.Only 13 songs though as opposed to like 17-18 on S.P. , but its more like they focused on cutting off some of the filler (guest list,etc.) to make for a lyrically perfected album. The production is held down single-handedly by 7L (who also laced most of the best tracks on S.P.(Operatin' Correctly w/ Lif ,etc.) besides exceptions like Stoupe(jedi mind..),Beyonder, & Kutmasta Kurt. This whole c.d.'s tight but my favorites would have to be 'Terrorist Cell'(some serious stuff),Precision (some serious skills) and really slick tracks w/ both J-Live(one of the illest) and Apathy (who's about to blow up). Don't sleep on 7L & E.S.

The Soul Purpose was good, as was DC2:Bars of Death, but Dangerous Connection is better than both.any find Esoteric's flow awkward,monotonous, and one-dimensional, and sometimes, they are right. But just listen to the first 8 tracks on Dangerous Connection, and you'll find the Esoteric is a clever MC who just happens to sound like Kermit the Frog. The intro, "One Six" is just that, an intro. Esoteric drops about 16 bars to get you ready for what's to come. "Watch Me", which samples Ghostface Killah's "Apollo Kids", opens up and Esoteric lays down 3 excellent verses. "Warning" is a great track, dark and ferocious. It shows Esoteric's abilty to really get into his tracks. "Terrorist's Cell", which is essentially Esoteric breaking down a terrorist's motives. Produced by Stoupe (Jedi Mind Tricks), it gets better the more you listen to it. "Precision" is a track that I didn't like when I first heard it, but after a few more listens, I began to appreciate it. The beat is alright, but Esoteric's writing skills really shine here. "Word Association" is a great overall track, and Esoteric once again shows off his lyrical skills. "Stalker", my favorite track, is a clever track where Esoteric eloquently tells of his obsession with a girl. The beat on this track is my favorite on any 7L ES cd, and 7L really does a great job with the horn samples. "Speak Now" is an overall good track as well, with guest spots from Jedi Mind Trick's Vinnie Paz and Apathy from the Demigodz. A good track, but to me it seems like it would be better on a different cd. "Rules of Engagement", my least favorite track, has a mediocre beat, but the vocals aren't bad. "Riccardi Man" is a pointless skit, but it is kinda funny. "Herb" a quick track dissing losers (herbs). Esoteric does a great job with a great beat. "Know What I Mean" which features Beyonder is a great song, and Beyonder's production is stellar. Both MC's do a great job on the track. "Rest in Peace" is good, but some of the lyrics fall a little bit flat. "No Way Out" is a good way to end the cd, and Esoteric drops some great punch lines (nice Jim Abbot reference here).
Overall, Dangerous Connection is a very nice cd with only one or two bad tracks. Esoteric's constant references to sports sometimes get annoying, but that's just a minor thing.
Beats:9/10
Lyrics:9/10

I've been into these two for a little over 8 months now, even though I've known about them for years when 88.9 was GOOD, but I'm not sure I heard anything by them before. Just heard the name dropped and decided I should see if I could find their music online when their name suddenly popped in my head.

Anyway, when I stumbled upon tracks like "Murder-Death-Kill", "Terrorist Cell", "Word Association", and "Operating Correctly", I knew I was onto something. Nasty production, sick lyrics and tight flow. Esoterodactyl even channels Jay-Z at times, but don't worry; it's just the sound of his voice. His ability shames Jigga and you wonder how that fool even got big.

Just don't sleep on these guys like I did. I had A New Dope (along with 3 other 7LES joints I had bought and listened to) for SIX MONTHS before I opened it (musical disinterest), but once I did, I couldn't get enough of these guys. Tracks like "Feel the Velvet" and "Play Dumb" are why I can't get enough. After I finally listened to A New Dope, I bought DC2: Bars of Death, Too Much Posse, and Moments of Rarities. I'm usually focused on drums and melody, but Esoteric got me listening. And that's sayin' something.

I first heard of this act when i was listening to jedi mind tricks and heard this kid esoteric spit a verse on violent by design. i first picked up DCII which is a great album then i got this one. WOW that intro gets things going, just like eso says, "something bout the way i use breaks and loops" it is incredible that 7l and eso have. 7l is definately one of the best producers in hip hop, better than 99% of these commercial producers and esoteric is a lyrical monster. The best tracks are: One Six (the intro), Watch Me (has a great hook), Precision (great beat that eso flows nicely to), Word Association (eso is being interviewed by a psychologist and has to say the first thing that comes to mind when he hears a word, this song is hilarious), Stalker, is a cool song with so much imagery that you wonder if he really does stalk girls, Rest In Peace is a good track in which eso raps about what it would be like if he were dead and the last track Way Out is amazing, my favorite track the beat is a perfect finale track with trumpets and eso spits two hot verses to it.

Overall this album is hot and it shows you why the best hip hop comes from the northeast. Philly to Ny to Boston is where the best rap acts come from especially underground and 7l and esoteric repping beantown are proof.

One of the best battle-rap era 7L & Esoteric albums. Good production by 7L and some pretty fierce emceeing by Eso.

These guys just don't have a bad record.

I heavily recommend this CD. Eso's flow is very different but once you get used to it, he's one of the best in the underground as far as I'm concerned. The beats are absolutely banging and don't get old. They perfectly set up Esoteric's flow. My favorite songs include Watch Me, Terrorists Cell, Precision, Rest In Peace, and Rules of Engagement.. but man.. there's not really one weak track on this CD. Buy it, and listen to one of the best CDs of 2002.

"Dangerous Connection" is 7L and Esoteric's followup to 2001's "The Soul Purpose", which ... well, it didn't live up to expectations.

One very noticeable thing on this album is the improvement of Esoteric's flow. On "The Soul Purpose", all of his rhymes were very simple and his flow was as generic as you can get. He shines the most on tracks like "Watch Me", "Terrorist's Cell", "Precision" and "What I Mean".

The album starts off very strongly but dips slightly into mediocrity towards the end of the album. The beats, provided mostly by 7L but also some by Stoupe (Jedi Mind Tricks), Beyonder and Kutmaster Kurt, are nevertheless tight but they may mislead you. For instance on "Rest In Peace", which has a very dope beat by Kutmaster Kurt that would be great for straight hip-hop track, Esoteric turns it into a concept track about how he is dead and it gets very boring, especially with his boring flow on the track.

The concepts, however, do work on other tracks. On "Terrorist's Cell", Esoteric pretends as if he was one of the 9/11 hijackers. "Word Association" and "Stalker" are both pulled off very nicely.

'The Soul Purpose' was an exceptionally good release from 7L & Eso that was really unfairly hated upon. It was a 20 track CD filled with a lot of good songs ("Speaking Real Words" "Jealous Over Nothing", accompanied by some average tracks ("You Know The Concept" "Mic Mastery"), and a few that didn't come all that well ("Guestlist")... It probably was hated upon because of Eso's previous cyborg-android scientific type of material switched over to a cocky arrogant battler with simpler rhyming schemes.

Where ever there were mistakes on 'The Soul Purpose', 'Dangerous Connection' not only corrects them, but PERFECTS everything on the album! Every single track is banging on this album!! 7L's mediocre production has improved exponentially and Esoteric's flow just compliments the beats even more. Plus if you felt that there was too much battle type of material on the last album, 'Dangerous Connection' comes with a bunch of good conceptual songs...

"Terrorist's Cell" - first off ANYTHING produced by Stoupe (jedi mind tricks) will have an off the wall type of beat. Esoteric's lyrics explain the mind of a 9/11 terrorist going through with his crusade... but after finally seeing his wrongdoing it's too late... This is not only a controversial song, but it is executed INCREDIBLY well (the re-play button will be on this for a few times)...

"Word Association" - another creative track where Esoteric raps about being a psychotic patient rapping 'word association' with a doctor. A very humorous track...

"Stalker" - a hilarious tale about a guy who stalks teenage girls that he has fantasies of... this runs along the same type of humor "Jealous over Nothing" had...

"Herb" - along with teenyboppers and Nelly fans, herbs are something else I detest. Esoteric arrogantly defines the term herb all throughout the track ...

"Rest In Peace" - a clever concept song where Eso rhymes about himself passing on and how his music ALL OF A SUDDEN is known, and how there are album profit problems among his family and friends...

And the rest of the tracks are the usual Esoteric battle/android type of material... NOTHING on this material is WEAK by any means (there are no blunders like Guestlist)... The ONLY thing that annoyed me about this CD is that it was kinda short in comparison with Soul Purpose. But the REALLY hot beats and rhymes make up for the length... remember its QUALITY folks not QUANTITY

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I'm out... Mind power!!!

when listing the top albums of 2002, dangerous connection must not be passed up. esoteric aged lyrically since his debut and brings clever raps that will keep your attention and keep you listening. 7L's beats stepped up a few nothces since soul purpose, and provide the perfect production for esoterics verbal attacks. After hearing this, i have been thirsting for dangerous connection 2, which we should be hearing about soon enough. FOr any hip hop fans:buy this.