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Soundbombing, Vol. 2
Soundbombing II, the Beat Junkies-hosted sequel to the ’97 Rawkus mixtape that set the stage for Mos Def and Talib Kweli’s imminent underground stardom, is as definitive a snapshot you can get of the indie-rap canon as it existed on the cusp of Y2K. It might be a solid hunch to deduce that it sold a bit extra thanks to an appearance by Eminem at the next-big-thing dawn of his career, whose young-and-hungry “Any Man” still hits because he raps like controversy’s more a side effect than a motivating force. And there’s further doses of the Black Star alumni’s continued excellence (Mos Def’s intense-to-the-point-of-joy shit-talk session “Next Universe”; Kweli flowing like he’s pulling off blindfolded brain surgery on Reflection Eternal’s “On Mission”) to capitalize on the lingering glow of their ’98 teamup. But its breadth is impressive amidst the underground claim-staking — this is an underground with enough room for R.A. the Rugged Man as gravelly dirtbag beat poet from your nightmares (“Stanley Kubrick”), Common and Sadat X coming across like resilient conscious-rap scholars-turned-teachers (“1999”), and Bahamadia’s hushed cool glimmering icily in Reflection Eternal teamup “Chaos.” And some of it’s aged so well — like Pharoahe Monch masterfully concoting the scenario of a certain unnamed NYC politico’s downfall (“Mayor”) and El-P’s furious embodiment of America’s sadistic cruelty on the fresh-for-202X “Patriotism” — that it makes Soundbombing II less a time capsule than a time-release.