Claiming inspiration from
Public Enemy and releasing a debut under the moniker
Symbionese Liberation Album, one expects
Third Sight to craft a fierce, maddening affair here. Indeed, the liner notes link a Symbionese Liberation Army food giveaway to the hip-hop crew's childhood. But the album's title has little to do with the 17 largely interchangeable tracks Jihad, DJ Dufunk, and D-Styles offer. It's a red herring that covers up the fact that the threesome is merely dropping slightly above average indie hip-hop of a self-aggrandizing, sometimes scatological, and misogynistic nature. Musically, the samples and beats are what one would expect from a cut-rate video game basketball soundtrack. Over these beats, Jihad raps in an unmemorable spoken word style about pop culture and commercialism. His voice sounds disconcertingly like ESPN's Stuart Scott, which doesn't exactly bode well for cred or conviction. If he's to be believed, the world is a bad place, especially the entertainment industry. It's hardly a refreshing or original stance. He does occasionally get on a roll and offer some wiry rhymes, but it's not enough to beg repeat listens. Overlong, smelling of assembly-line production and writing, and mostly uninteresting, this is an album whose title provokes a picture its songs can't paint. ~ Tim DiGravina