The Push

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A rapper who shows sincere respect for God and for women is rare enough. One who is capable of humorous self-deprecation, whose flow is both dense and inventive, and who can ride hip-hop, reggae, soca, and soul-jazz rhythms with equal facility may be too good to be true. (Don't worry, Raashan Ahmad does have feet of clay, which he shows us on "Yusef," a charming ode to his infant son that is ruined by the sampled sounds of the child's mother screaming her way through the final stages of labor.) Ahmad has spent the past eight years as an MC in the Crown City Rockers, a live band with a broad palette of beat-based sounds. Although he characterizes The Push as a "return to basics," in fact it's anything but a basic hip-hop album: each track is a wild variation on a traditional theme, and each differs markedly from the other. This is due in large part to the fact that every track has a different producer, and those producers themselves are a wildly disparate bunch: they include DJ Vadim, Eligh, several members of Crown City Rockers, Ahmad himself, and Descry, among others. The result is a startlingly satisfying album. Highlights include the dark-hued "The Crush" (which includes sly shout-outs to both N.W.A. and De La Soul, which is probably a hip-hop first), the eerie and soca-flavored "City Feel Proud," and the sharply funky "Fight," which features some virtuosic turntablism. Only "Close" disappoints somewhat — Ahmad isn't entirely convincing as a high school loverman. Highly recommended overall.