SomeOthaShip

Album Review

Titled SomeOthaShip but not issued on husband-wife duo Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley “Declaime” Perkins' label of the same name, this disc was issued only two weeks after Muldrow’s Kings Ballad. Unlike Kings Ballad, Umsindo, and Perkins' Holy Smokes, which were either mostly or entirely produced by Muldrow and contained no guests in a featured-vocal capacity, SomeOthaShip involves a wealth of collaborations. Muldrow produced seven of the 11 principal tracks (tracks 12 through 14 are remixes) with Black Milk, Oddisee, and Flying Lotus providing the remainder, and the same number involves guest MCs and vocalists, led by legend Kool G Rap and Big Pooh of Little Brother. While it would be understandable for the average Muldrow/Perkins follower to approach this guest-heavy set with some apprehension, having been spoiled and overwhelmed by the duo’s rapid rate of high-quality output across late 2009 and early 2010, SomeOthaShip is no leftover affair made of substandard beats and scrap-worthy rhymes. Both Muldrow and Perkins deliver some of their most halting, brain-stimulating rhymes — on “Heaven or Hell” especially — and they make an ideal match for Flying Lotus' knocking, mystical “Mages Sages” beat, previously an instrumental. Another standout is a lighter moment, a loose shout-out to Zapp, their honorary West Coast heroes.