Rob Swift - "The Ablist" (1999)

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DJ Robert Aguilar, working under the pseudonym Rob Swift, teamed up with a number of rappers and a slew of live musicians to record The Ablist, a journey through stylistic variations on hip-hop that is truly focused on the music. This is rare on the rap scene, to see an artist bent on laying down the tastiest grooves or the cleverest rhymes rather than using the album as a vessel for their culture and political views. Swift and his crew succeed in making a thoroughly satisfying auditory experience. Swift himself specializes in the craft of turntablism, sampling voices and instruments in a smart way, not to mention performing on the “wheels of steel” with a style that augments the flow of the beats.

Phone messages from Swift’s friends and snippets of in-studio brainstorming constitute eight spoken-word interludes, which are included in the interstices between the songs. These add a feeling of the work and enthusiasm that went into the album’s creation, and they include. Every MC featured has both chops and lyricism, whether on the true posse cuts (“Modern Day Music,” “Turntablist Anthem,” and “Musica Negra [Black Music]”) or on the solo and duet tracks (“I’m Leaving,” “Night Time,” and “Gangis Khan”). On an interesting side note, Swift proves his authenticity with “Gangis Khan,” as it was recorded acapella, on speakerphone, and live from federal prison. Every other track on the album is an infectiously laid-back instrumental groove in which vocal samples play an important role. The Ablist is a compelling hip-hop album and has a profusion of genuine musical energy.

tl;dr: An excellent experiment in hip-hop. Recommended.
Best Songs: “Dope on Plastic”, “Modern Day Music" and “All That Scratching Is Making Me Rich”

~Nilla

1. Day One
2. Dope On Plastic
3. What Would You Do?
4. Night Time
5. Modern Day Music
6. Two Turntables And A Keyboard
7. Fusion Beats
8. Alma's Message
9. Turntablist Anthem
10. Let's Talk Relationships
11. I'm Leaving
12. Brainstorming
13. All That Scratching Is Making Me Rich!
14. Ben Fee The MC
15. Musica Negra/Black Music (Remix)
16. Gangis Khan
17. This Is Our Day
18. The Will To Do Something Different
19. Something Different
20. Gangis Khan Returns
21. The Ablist
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