MUSIC REVIEWS
Jedi Mind Tricks - Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell
Jared Wade
For hip hop acts like Jedi Mind Tricks, sometimes the hardest thing to do is live up to your own past.
It isn’t that the underground duo has fallen off. In fact, between the critical acclaim and street anticipation of both this spring’s Army of the Pharaohs collaboration project and their last two feature albums, most would argue precisely the opposite.
But it was starting to seem that Vinnie Paz and Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind may have set the bar too high on 2000’s Violent by Design. Even with continually solid efforts, questions began to arise as to whether or not JMT could ever recreate something on par with that masterpiece, especially minus sidekick Jus Allah.
Consider those questions no more.
More so, their latest album, Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell, may have even raised the bar once again.
As always, Jedi Mind brings a style that no other crew can duplicate. Between the cryptically impassioned venom of Vinnie Paz’s lyrics and the melancholy concerto of Stoupe’s production, there’s no mistaking the “torture rap” pioneered by of these Philly natives.
Straight out the gates, Paz shows his evolution. “Put Em in the Grave” is an ideal entry into the world of JMT where Pazienza speaks on “everything from war to how the ocean is vast,” compares himself to “Mark David Chatman with a Salinger book” and let’s us know that his “only problem is that I think too much.”
“Suicide,” builds on this momentum and, later, “Serenity in Murder” showcases classic verbal sparring with Vinnie throwing jabs involving Napoleon Bonaparte, ruthless Chinese dictators and scriptures from the books of Maccabees.
Along long-time cohort and Non-Phixion vet, Ill-Bill, “Heavy Metal Kings.” Stoupe sets the stage with some Hitchcock-esque strings that build towards a third verse that is utterly destroyed by “Louie Dogs, the fucking genocide general,” a reference to Paz’s newly preferred moniker.
“Outlive The War” and “Gutta Music” represent two other well-crafted collabo cuts. Featuring Sean Price and Philly natives Reef the Lost Cauze and Chief Kamachi, respectively, both offer good examples of how much better compilation tracks are when you bring together compatible, like-minded artists rather than the ho-hum, 16-bar assemblies dominating the industry.
In fact, the highlight of the entire album probably doesn’t even come from Vinnie Paz. “Uncomon Valor: A Vietnam Story” features an inspired RA the Rugged Man who spits straight napalm as the most unapologetic war vet since Tom Beringer in Platoon while “Living every man’s dream, why would I wanna go home where I’m just a normal human being.”
Louie Dogs more than holds his own by himself, however. “Black Winter Day” and “Razorblade’s Salvation” show an introspective Vinnie Paz re-evaluating his past and speaking on the increasing importance of his family as he gets older on top of Stoupe’s understated beats.
That’s not to say that Servants/Kings is without its flaws. “Shadow Business,” while a good comment on the tragedies of third-world slave labor, is ultimately an uninspired effort. And “When All the Light Dies” comes off as lackluster attempt to add one more soft track to an album that doesn’t need it.
True to the signature Jedi Mind Tricks style – and possibly even more so here – the lyrical delivery throughout is jarring, esoteric and, at times, uncomfortable. And Stoupe’s multi-layered production remains as relentless, methodical and haunting as ever.
Understandably, that may not sound like a ringing endorsement to some. But for Jedi Mind Tricks, that’s the recipe for a classic.
