24 Hour Karate School

iTunes Review

A stellar producer from North Carolina, Ski Beatz may not be a household name (yet), but serious devotees of sample-based hip-hop have been digging his music for many years now. Though he got his start as one-half of the group Original Flavor, Ski is best known for his classic beats on Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt, as well as Camp Lo's Uptown Saturday Night. On his first official solo album, he connects with a diverse assortment of rap V.I.P.s, including Jim Jones, Jean Grae, and Jay Electronica, plus fast-rising younger artists like Joel Ortiz, Wiz Khalifa, and Curren$y. Loaded with thick drums and unpredictable samples, the tracks here blend obscure jazz riffs with hard-rock snippets, murmuring organs, and bubbling bass lines, and, like many "producer albums," the beats occasionally outshine the rappers, but when they're both on-point, it's perfect. Highlights include the mellow, horn-laced "Nothing But Us," posse cut "Prowler 2" (unfortunately missing the Mos Def verse), and the two instrumental joints "Cream of the Planet" and "Taxi."