Customer Reviews

Pangaea

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the past decade the West Coast Hip-Hop scene has had a strong movement away from all the gangbanging and pimpin' producing a strong a strong centre for progressive, alternative, and true school minds to gravitate to. Several West Coast crews became prominent in leading that front: The Hieroglyphics Crew, Likwit Crew, Qunannam & Living Legends Crews. The recently reunited Visionaries are another such group. It has an interesting quality to it in the fact that they are a multicultural outfit. 2Mex (Mexican), DJ Rhettmatic & Dannu (both Filipino), Zen (Black), LMNO (White) and KeyKool (Japanese) make up the group. They all have their own style on the mic with 2Mex and LMNO really standing out to me. They also have interesting in-house production from KeyKool & DJ Rhettmatic. You get the sense these dudes know how to craft an album well. They have great collaborators Babu, J Rocc & Melo D of the Beat Junkies as well as a couple of others help with the beats. Fellow West Coast undergrounders Living Legends stop by for a song as well adding their vocals. The Visionaries keep the raps interesting with kold B-Boy lines as well as sharp socio-political commentary. Their album name is also of interest because it is the name of the great continent that was the Earth before it was broken up into the different ones we know today. To me this speaks of their intelligence as well as their pride in the unity they have. Now I'll talk about the stand out moments...

Strike ~ This song is sort of a struggle against oppression in the type of world we live in today dealy. How it is very real and its hard to stay true in what you do. Babu & Rhettmatic drop an ill beat. It's a key driven number with understated drums, siren sounds and thumping bass interjected. It has a busy nature to it but a sanity in chaos type business, not just noise. They also touch on some social issues in their lines such as American imperialist ministate, Palestine and natives. 2Mex opens things up the best in my opinion.

DoMakeSayThink ~ Visionaries come with another interesting cut about being an individual and standing up and being counted with actions as well as being well informed. They also talk about how they actually have something to say with their music. They have a pretty catchy chorus and all come correct with the raps. KeyKool does the production on this one. It is an acoustic guitar based loop with some pounding percussion and well suited scratching

Believe It ~ So fuI<in' tight is really all I have to say. It has an upbeat fun vibe that anyone can enjoy. This is just some B-Boy dropping knowledge and bombs. KeyKool does the beat once again. It utilizes a laid back guitar loop that is pretty funky and some interesting drum patterns to spice things up. On the vocal tip they all represent dopeness to me.

If You Can't Say Love ~ J Rocc laces the dudes with a warm string looped production along with some fresh cuts and sped up vocals on the hook. This is essentially a joint about spreading joy, love, peace and brotherhood. Fresh ish with some great wordplay amongst the lyrics. Zen & KeyKool have the best verses in my opinion check out Zen's:

"/Patiently taking all day waiting for the confrontations to cease
/and the nations to do as we've done
/replacement killers LOVE a good fight/
/a goodnight kiss takes the queen but protects the king's life/
/while worldwide peace is just a figment and now is where we're livin'/
/we can hold on to the vision/
/do our ancestors right by our decisions, thanks givin'/
/to the most for the host of believers/
/and this ghetto child's achievements/
/to all the bereavements we are.../"

Meeting Of the Minds ft/ Living Legends ~ To me this could become a definite West Coast underground classic. Essentially the guys are just in a cipher dropping battleish verses. DJ Rhettmatic and KeyKool come together to produce a different beat for each MC. For me Eligh, KeyKool, Sunspot & 2Mex bust the freshest (especially Sunspot). It's just straight up dope hip hop.

Visionaries craft an album with eclectic beats, words of wisdom and a refreshing consistency. They have catchy hooks but they could perhaps use a hook sung by West Coast songstress Goapele (see Planet Asia, E-40, Hieroglyphics, Zion I) or someone of the like for a bit more variety but it's all good. As long as they keep speaking the truth and KeyKool & Rhettmatic keep scoring interesting production the future looks bright. 4 stars. Peace love & soul

I copped this album over a 1 1/2 years ago, after hearing it in my homies' ride. This homie loves underground hip hop, and I didn't know too much about the underground.

When I started listening to the album, the first 8-9 tracks were very accessible, even to the novice underground listener, but I remember thinking it gets a little shaky once the track count hits double digits.

Infact, since I didn't even know about the Living Legends, "Meeting of the Minds" sounded ok, but really long at the time. However though, after a year and a half, that's probably my favorite track on the album. (As the reviewer 'A music fan' mentions, this track 'pretty much pays for the album' ...I agree...)

Even after owning this album for a while, I still love listening to "Strike" and "DoMakeSayThink."

Overall, I believe the album is solid and very accessible to people that's never heard of the Visionaries. I would suggest this over 'Galleries' or 'Sophomore Jinx' if you are contemplating about getting their work.

i love this album, its one of the best albums ive heard along with sage francis and atmosphere. but visionaries stand alone when it comes to their music. this album sends a clear messege of love, truth, peace, humanity etc... the beats are tight, the rhymes are dope, and messege is right. this album is for everyone and anyone who loves music. even if your into that greedy materialistic mainstream hip-hop, this is a fresh breath from the poisoned mainstream. its "feel-good" music for evryone, buy this album you wont regret it ever.

Despite a rabid cult following, prior to "Pangaea" I always thought the Visionary Crew was a bit of an enigma. Granted they did some nice things on "Galleries", their follow up effort "Sophomore Jinx" was mediocre at best, and their subsequent breakup I figured meant curtains for this talented but inconsistant west coast group. I was somewhat skeptical when they reunited and dropped Pangaea, but copped it anyway mainly to support my man LMNO. My impressions after bumpin it for about a week now is that these guys have really worked hard and developed some serious chemistry. Lyrically, it is very detailed and insightful, with each member holding it down and not relying on Rhett and LMNO to carry the project. Although consistant throughout, 'Meeting of the Minds' w/ the Living Legends Crew pretty much pays for the album on its own as 2Mex absolutely MASSACRES the track with one of those verses that made you like hip-hop in the first place. Good stuff..purchase with confidence.

this is more like a 3.5 star release there are mostly good tracks and then there are some tracks that are just plain bad lyricly this touches on many topics mostly political and is closer to LMNOs Economic Food Chain Music with the lyrics. On past efforts the production was handled by dj rhettmatic but its good to see that all of the visionaries are involved on this one I enjoyed some of the tracks on this CD such as Cant Say Love and a few others. if you are a fan I would deffinitely recomend this. otherwise I would say start with the World famous Beat Junkie series and work your way up from there. this was an above average album but I would not go as far as to say it was great.
3 and a half mics.

This is the group for the people, of the people.
Pick up this album, as a hip-hop fan, a music fan, and a good hearted person, you will feel the humbleness and sincerity of the group, as well as the strength and energy captured within the music and lyrics of the record.

Pangaea is symbolic of the group's "coming together" as well as how the hip-hop culture brings together people from around the world.

Visionaries is:
DJ Rhettmatic (Beat Junkies/Kozmonautz)
Key-Kool (Kozmonautz)
LMNO
2Mex (SonGodSuns)
Dannu (Writer's Block)
Zen (Writer's Block)

Pick up Visionaries solo works:
Key-Kool & Rhettmatic "Kozmonautz" (UP ABOVE RECORDS)
LMNO "Leave My Name Out" (UP ABOVE RECORDS)
Writer's Block "En Route" (UP ABOVE RECORDS)
2Mex "B-boys in Occupied Mexico" (UP ABOVE RECORDS)
SONGODSUNS "Over the Counter Culture" (UP ABOVE RECORDS)
LMNO "Economic Food Chain Music" (UP ABOVE RECORDS)
LMNO "This Ep Reminds Me of 93" (UP ABOVE RECORDS)
Visionaries "Galleries" (UP ABOVE RECORDS)
Visionaries "Sophomore Jinx" (UP ABOVE RECORDS)

These cd is excellent! Fresh, inspiring, and fun. These guys are definitely taking a different rode in hip hop. Meeting of the Minds is awesome.

Tracklisting:
01 Intro 1:32
02 Pangaea 5:11
03 Strike 5:17
04 DoMakeMeSay 4:14
05 V-Peat 3:15
06 Believe It 4:37
07 If You Can't Say Love 3:52
08 6 Ring Circus 3:29
09 Nine Eleven 3:21
10 Broken Silence 5:21
11 Lacerations (feat DJ Melo D) 2:51
12 Momentum 4:45
13 Starchaser 4:48
14 Timeline 5:19
15 Meeting of The Minds (feat The Living 7:42
Legends)
16 Good Things 4:18
17 Sight For Sore Eyes 4:32

Well, I LOVED Galleries, didn't care too much for Sophomore Jinx, but this LP is just a MUST HAVE! I was swept off my feet while listening to this one for the first time and the CD has been on heavy rotation ever since. Some samples sound a wee bit too familiar though (the one in "6 Ring Circus" has been used by the German DJ Roey Marquis II 4-5 years ago, hehe) but all after all, tight production and lyrics aren't an issue with MCs like LMNO in your team. :)

New album drops October 3rd, and before then I thought I should review this album. Yeah. This album is great, and Visionaries are nothing but sheer bliss. The music. Everything. 2mex, LMNO, Key Kool, Dannu, Zen, DJ Rhettmatic all of them the perfect flawless harmony of each other. Another great aspect is that the central theme of the album is brought together from many cultures, such as Japanese, Puerto Rican and others. Anyways, if you are getting to Visionaries or whatever this is a great place to start because everyone in this album truly shines, alright everyone. Take care. Peace.

Stay underground 4 life and be true and love everyone and everything.


When October comes you better go out and buy the new album, and I bet that you won't be disappointed because the first single sounds really chill and until October 3rd, later. If you are from LA, and you like this you better be going to Rock The Bells.

Modern day west coast Wu-Tang? I think so. The Visionaries are 5 emcees and 1 DJ. They come back strong for their third album. A vast array of west coast producers create the musical backdrop for these guys to spit their lyrics. They are solid all the way through. "Nine Eleven" is one of the best songs about 9/11 with lines like "The only enemy is evil/Not other countries, races, colors, or creeds" they are socially conscious and still bangin. They come with some good party tracks like "Strike" & "Momentum". This is a great album be sure to check for it.