Customer Reviews

Vol. 1-Underground Tapes [Vinyl]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This kid is on it! The long awaited full-length from Saukrates will have your head nodding so much it's liable to fall off. Saukrates combines the dopest, truest beats with the illest and smoothest lyrical style to hit your ear in a long time. His professional delivery and mastery of the art make him a prime candidate for the riches the sick side of this industry has to offer, and after one listen to this classic you'll be begging Saukrates not to sell out. This album is so good Saukrates manages to rescue the careers of notrious sell-outs due to their guest appearances on this CD. I almost refused to listen to it when I saw that Helta Skelta (aka money chasin fools claiming to rep the unda) appeared on a track. Xzbibit's on another as is Pharoah Monche, whose recent solo album has left a sour taste in the mouth of true heads who understand the difference between work and pleasure, money and love. Saukrates says he's not sure, and that has me believing he'll be the next to chase the papers. The moral? Enjoy Saukrates while his material is still pure, undaground, ill hip hop made for you and me, and not all them.

There is no doubt that Saukrates is one of the illest underground emcees out there. It's the return of hip-hop as we know it, straight from Canada!

Mark my words, Canada is about to blow up, and Saukrates will be the spark. With this album, he holds it down nicely in both the beats and the rhymes catagory, without slipping into the motonous feel that too many underground releases have. He keeps it fresh, with the help of guest appearances by Common, Xzibit, Pharoe Monch, OC, Heltah Skeltah, Choclair ect. This will probably only help Saukrates gain some recognition, since some people will pick up the album for the sole reason that so many good emcees are featured on it. Needless to say, this isn't a revolutoinary album that will push the limits of hip-hop, but it's still better than most of the underground records being put out today.

I gave one star to this album, but it's nothing personal with Saukrates. He is a fine underground mc and The underground tapes
is a 4 star release... BUT BEWARE , THE U.S.A. RELEASE OF "THE LOST TAPES" HAS 6 TRACKS LESS THAN THE CANADIAN VERSION SO ,[...]!!!
IT'S A SHAME THAT THE LABELS ARE TRYING TO SELL SOMETHING LIKE THAT !!! THE CANADIAN VERSION IS LIKE BUY THIS VERSION PLUS A FREE 6 SONG EP !! SO REMEMBER: D-O-N-T B-U-Y- T-H-A-T- S-*-I-T

Dam..Saukrates reps canadian hip-hop and he reps it well with this album.
Dope Guest appearances as well.

A great representation of Canadian hiphop. The beat and rhymes are tight and Saukrates shows that he can rhyme as well if not better with some of the industry's best (Common, Xzibit, Pharoah Monch etc). If you are still doubtful about Canadian hiphop then check out Swollen Members, Mathematiks, Choclair, Rascalz, Citizen Kane and other Canadian artists. You won't be dissapointed.

give us some sounds samples please!!

Canada and rap are normally not synonomous or hardly fall together in the same sentence but Saukrates is an definate exception to the rule. America isn't the only place where good rap is being born and this compilation of some of Saukrates greatest hits is definately better than most of the new rap CDs I've seen. This is a must buy for ANY hip-hop head. I was at first skeptical about a Canadian rapper but once you hear him you'll be convinced of his greatness. So, stop reading this and put this in your cart, and you WILL NOT be disapointed.

Ahhhh nothing more ghetto fabulous than an album cover proudly displaying Canadian money on it. Who's ghetto fabulous album cover is this? Saukrates that's who. Who's Saukrates? Big Sox is an MC/Producer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada and if Toronto is to Canada what the New York area is to the U.S. Saukrates is to Toronto what Mos Def or Pharoahe Monch( who actually shows up on the album) are to New York. Those comparisons are only in position of underground status and not in style. Saukrates is truely an individual in the realm of hip hop, he has a butter smooth flow, a deep authoritative delivery and lyrics for days. He is also an accomplished producer developing his own style of raw funky production. He has been paying his dues for years with handling production and sharing the mic with other Canadian emcees such as Choclair and Kardinal but southern counterparts as well such as Nas, Redman, Heltah Skeltah & Masta Ace to name some. Most recently he was signed to Def Jam Records and appeared with a bonus solo cut on their 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack. He has also been putting in work for hsi side project Big Black Lincoln. With thsi album Big Sox shows why he is one of Canadian hip hop's key players as well as one of north america in general's finest. He produced all but one of the 17 tracks on the album and even that he co-produced. He sings a lot fo the album's choruses (yes sings not sing-song raps). He also shines bright lyrically against such lumiaries as Xzibit (before he went commercial), Pharoahe Monch and Common (before his large yoko influence). If your looking for one of true hip-hop's future stars look no further, Big Sox is the answer. Now for the breakdown...

Money or Love ~ A song that was serviced as somewhat of a single. It's talking about issues of money and struggling and not selling out. It has a koldass hook by Big Sox himself singing in his deep soulful boom like this:

"/for worse or better is it money or love?/
ridin' out together is it money or love?/"

The production is by Saukrates himself based around something that sounds like carnival music but is funky and dark and acctually works very well add to is a knockin' funky bassline. Makes a great underground struggling rapper anthem.

That's Action (only on canadian version) ~ Saukrates straight rips the mic up on this one. Droping knowledge and bombs on whack emcees and employing a chant-like hook. The beat by Sox again uses a head nodding twangy guitar loop and some pounding drums.

Innovations (remix) ft/ Pharoahe Monch ~ After a dope collabo with Xzibit one would think it hard to match, but Pharoahe steps up. The production by Saukrates gets even more interesting using deep bass and a quick paced kee loop. Lyrical wise it's another b-boy track but with a mic assasin like Pharoahe Monch, sox had to turn up his already sick battle rhymes a notch, Pharoahe stiil outsines him. Normally it's a bad thing when an MC gets ripped on his own ish by a guest but when the gues is Pharoahe Monch it's understandable. It's ahrd not to look like a bum next to Pharoahe but Saukrates acctually comes off extremely hot and has one of his best efforts. (Nice sung hook on a side note)

Play Dis 99' ft/ Common Sense ~ Well here comes another winning combination. On thsi track Saukrates and come equally fresh on the microphone. Common comes conscious and brings Sox on that tip too but whatever they talk about it always sounds good. The beat is very funky by Saukrates, this will be a must listen for any Common fan who misses hearing him over soulful production.

Vietnam (only on canadian version) ~ This track shows Big Sox using his versatility, at it's best. Although he touchs on many topics and flexs his battle muscles, he doesn't really get into full blown story mode, that is til now. Essentially he deals with a day in the hood and how different folks act out vengence including him. He flips his delivery over the track to sing-song at certain points which makes for a kool change up too. On the prodution tip he makes a basis for the beat out of a funky electric organ loop with some hi hat heavy percussion.

Seeing as how this album is only a collection of songs rather than a proper LP the album does lose soemthing. Still for a collection of songs it is an extremely good collection with awesome lyrics, tight beats, catchy hooks and solid guest appearances. This isn't a classic album because of the incohearant but it does have a classic moment or too. Great slice of rap music, an introduction to what I see as a future hip-hop star if the label will quit sitting on talent and Canadian rap legend regardless. 3 and half stars in my book, worth a look. Peace, love & soul.

Saukrates or Big Soc has been around awhile now and his flow has always been tight as a facelift. He reminds me a little of Jeru The Damaja, in the way his delivery is intelligent+his voice is very very similar. Although he's probably not as intense+complex he is certainly more funky+charismatic on the mic. When you consider he handles all the production bar 2 tracks this makes this even more impressive. The only thing that took abit from this was b'cuz it was a collection of tracks rather than a studio album, there wasnt enough variety of subject matter. Apart from that minor complaint its excellent, with lots of dope guests, great production and skills on show from start to finish. There's a perfect balance with 6 solo tracks and 6 with guests on them so you get plenty of Saukrates to savour. Tracks like "Money or Love" (pitfalls of life+money), "Bag da Biscuit" (v.funky), "Da Professional" (6min tale about an assassin), "Keep it Movin'" w/Xzibit, "Play Dis" w/Common (mellow+jazzy), "Ultimate Rush" w/Heltah Skeltah (unbelieveable beat+rhymes) and "Rollin'" w/O.C.+Masta Ace make this what it is. The remaining tracks are also at a very high standard but I vibed to these few more than the others. This is literally an album you can play from start to finish without skipping one track. Top notch hiphop.