Rimming
Longshot
Civil War, Pt. 2
(EV/Risky Bizness)
Chicago MC rounds up the city for ambitious documentary/ mixtape/manifesto.
The intent of Civil War Pt. 2 is to highlight Chicago hip-hop, aka “Haterville,” and provide astonishing results when the cliques drop their poses. So it’s not really a Longshot album inasmuch a party featuring almost as many MCs (including Diverse, Psalm One, Mic One) as DJs (Copperpot, PNS, Overflo). Scattered? You betcha. Fun? Yup. Unfolding more like a chronologically non-specific history of hip-hop, the city jumps from RZA-sharp Wu-isms (“Clik Clak”) to Tribe Called Quest university courses (“Space”) to, since he doesn’t show himself, Kanye West (“Strapped”). While 31 tracks and 79 minutes is too much, gems come in the form of the bulldozing “What U Think” featuring Vicious and the Philly jam “Goin Up.”
Steve Forstneger
