eMC – The Show
Rating: 
Review Date: April 17, 2008
Website: eMC Website
Label: Traffic Entertainment
eMC “The Show” Album Review
“The Show” by EMC is dope, point blank. I don’t normally start my reviews as simple as such, but at times simplicity works best. Honestly, the EMC crew (made up of Masta Ace, Punchline, Wordsworth and Strick) should have called this album “The League of Extraordinary EMCs” or something equivalent, because the combination of styles, beats and guest appearances are indeed extraordinary – especially the way they all come together and mesh on this album.
With a sound that will instantly take the hip-hopper back to the golden era of hip-hop, “The Show” is indeed just that, a showcase of brilliant lyricism over mid-tempo-head nodder beats. Every emcee does his thing without one weak track on the album. Though in my opinion there are too many skits, the flow of the songs connect like chain links from beginning to end.
With surprising appearances from Little Brother, Sean Price, Ladybug of Digable Planets and Money Harm, “The Show” is an album full of wit with clever punch lines, wack-emcee-dedicated messages, and simply music “bigging-up” the hip-hop culture and movement. Each emcee seems to have genuine respect for one another as they all share equal amounts of the spotlight throughout the album.
Out of the 23 tracks on this project, its hard to pick just a few songs as being “the best” on the album, but my personal favorites are Who We Be: the intro track to the album where each emcee introduces himself to their respective audience over a laid back piano beat; Leak It Out: I love the smooth jazz sample with the rhythmic congas and the heavy horn breaks; Make It Better: the beat reminds me of some Dilla production, the drums are sick and the message is not echoed enough.
This is truly a solid and memorable album. I believe not only that fans of the individual emcees will love this release, but anyone who loves golden era-inspired music with a blend of new school flavor will love it as well. Add it to your collection.
- ScholarMan
Album Track Listing:
- Who We Be
- The Airport
- Leak It Out
- The Check In
- Traffic feat. Little Brother
- Say Now
- The Message
- Don’t Give Up On Us feat. Adi
- Git Sum feat. Sean Price
- We Alright
- The Interview
- EMC (What It Stands For)
- The Angry Merch Guy
- The Grudge
- Make It Better
- The Lobby
- Winds Of Change
- The Show feat. Ladybug Mecca
- The Backstage
- Borrow You
- Once More
- U Let Me Grow
- Feel It feat. Money Harm
Nathaniel wrote:
Word. I agree 100%. This album is off the hook!
Posted on 17-Apr-08 at 6:22 am | Permalink
Miles wrote:
I second the guy before me. I’ve been playing it on loop nonstop for a day now.
Posted on 18-Apr-08 at 8:32 pm | Permalink
The Relic wrote:
eMC!
I can honestly say this album is just “…cop 2, keep one wrapped in plastic…” material like Punchline put it in ‘what it stands for’
when I get a stack of albums I normally give a 1 time listen to all of them then go back over them starting with the one that caught my attention most.
With ‘the show’, I got to it after listening to a number of stuff- mentioning them would be sort of a diss- and I got stuck, looping it for 3 straight runs before finishing the stack of 12 albums!
that joint is too addictive for sure.
Posted on 24-Apr-08 at 3:58 am | Permalink
stan theo wrote:
yo i always loved ace but neva thought he wud kill it like he did on dis ulbum,iwud say dis project z 1 of da best since “makaveli”
Posted on 25-Apr-08 at 1:19 am | Permalink
DJ ROCK DEE wrote:
WHAT can I say BUT I agree 100% … BIG UP 2 STRICKLIN representing MILWAUKEE & the Midwest. WE ALL GET YA BACK BOYEE … so them emcees what lyrics r. MASTA ACE=classic, WORDSWORTH=classic, PUNCHLINE=classic, and STRICKLIN=classic. WHAT more can B said, can we get some TV press-so the masses can know about it & it really sellout! REAL HIP-HOP gettin that MONEY!
NO STRESS-GOD BLESS
http://www.djrockdee.com
Posted on 28-Apr-08 at 2:34 pm | Permalink
psy wrote:
so after 5 listens your still thinking it the best thing since the mid 90s?
i thought it got old quickly. has its moments though, and stricklin is a beast.
Posted on 16-Jun-08 at 12:48 pm | Permalink
kevin wrote:
I got this album day 1 and still listen to it. I think I listen to this album once a day. No joke. I haven’t bought an album that I could listen to everyday in a long time. In my opinion, album of the year so far.
Posted on 10-Jul-08 at 9:39 am | Permalink
JBrin40 wrote:
best cd of 2008..i just got it on itunes an its better than this lil wayne crap thats sold 1 million copies,keep real hiphop alive bcuz i love it
Posted on 24-Jul-08 at 2:46 pm | Permalink
Novel(south afrca) wrote:
1st of all,i wanna say GOD bless masta ace,strickln,wordz worth,punch lyn.When i die i wanna take this cd along,im sure GOD will lsten to it!
Posted on 27-May-10 at 5:59 am | Permalink