Rating:
  Review Date: April 8, 2008
  Website: Anti Citizens Website
  Label: 2012 Dynasty

Anti Citizens “Tunnel Visionaries” Album Review
When I first saw the name “Anti-Citizens,” I braced myself for another Immortal Technique experience — fiery political harangue and a long enumeration of toxic chemicals that were sure to kill me (no disrespect to Immortal Technique, he just scares the crap out of me sometimes.) What I got instead from their album, though, was stories about ordinary lives and perspectives of ordinary citizens, and none too nihilistic.

In fact, if they don’t mind me saying so, their album portrayed them as everything but anti-citizens. The tales woven through brash drums and haunting melodies struck me as raw and real. Take Awakening, for instance. Over an eerie-sounding flute, Anti-Citizens explore the following parallels: “first came the God, then came the Jesus…first came life, then came the purpose…first came the father, then came the son.”

What’s also noteworthy about the track is its changes in pacing. Awakening features an interplay of two rappers: one who spits on beat and hits the lyrics hard, and another who raps twice as fast with sudden accompaniment of an ambience. This repetition of highs and lows is faithful to the swelling of emotions through the course of a lifetime.

Indeed, I came to realize that Anti-Citizens had carefully orchestrated their work to give the raw feel. No Grudge opens with a contentious face-off with a former lover, and then floats the indignant and confident persona of the rapper over a classical string solo. The beat seems to both console and tease him as he talks about his lost love. Then there is Nowhere Fast, which stops on the dime of soft drums and delivers this soliloquy:

I met a man with no arms playing the guitar with his toes/
Taking requests - hitting every note/
Full on solos brought chills to my soul/
Had a smile on his face like life was so wonderful/
It made me think about how I have it now/
All that I lost - how pissed off I got when shit didn’t work out/
It made me feel shallow/

But by far the most impressive track on the album is Asshole Anonymous. The keyboard is as chilled out as they come, and the Pharcyde-inspired flow is simply beautiful. In the chorus, Anti-Citizens creatively speak to “ladies,” “MC’s,” and “hip-hop,” expressing their concern for the state of all three. And then they caught me by surprise. They appeared to be talking about their past before their rapping careers in the following verses:

Now in my younger days I used to sport a sag/
When I went to school I carried weed in my lunch bag/
No apple for my teacher cause that lady was a bitch/
I couldn’t wait for the bell and class to dismiss/
So I ducked down quick/

Then they subtly drop this in just to make sure that I am listening:

I got 4 million metaphors that don’t mean shit/
They just sound cool enough to pass through your intellect/
I’m like Pootie Tang - I ain’t said nothing yet/
You were imagining that I am rapping - let me start my mic check/

From a production standpoint, Anti-Citizens don’t perform as well on the second-half of the album. Still, their earnest appreciation for hip-hop and their unaffected commentary on the world as they see it is refreshing.

- Min Lee

Album Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Awakening
3. Tunnel Visionaries
4. Amerikas Finest (feat. Teal)
5. 10 Times and MC
6. Asshole Anonymous
7. Cyborg Metropolis (feat. Formula Abstract / Rinasanz)
8. Who R We
9. No Where Fast (feat. Teal)
10. No Grudge
11. Filthy Criminals
12. Revolution Ignite (feat. Rinasanz)
13. Hold it Steady
14. Now You Love Us
15. Dance to the Sound
16. Mic Fight (feat. Tu-Krazy / Orko Eloheem / Brova Bey / Toch of Cas / Teal / Dizzy / Graffik / Audios / Koncept Lost)
17. Chosen Ones
18. 12 Mile Rd.
19. Mic Fight (remix)
20. Amerikas Finest (remix)