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Oh No, "The Disrupt"
Longtime hip-hop journeyman Oh No's long awaited debut full-length isvibrant, musically diverse, and best of all refreshingly-gimmick free.The son of a jazz trumpeter and a soul/jazz composer, Oh No was signedto Stones Throw nearly five years ago, in no small part due to hisprolific older brother Madlib (of Madvillian, Jaylib, Lootpack,Yesterday's New Quintet and Quasimoto fame).Stones Throw Records
To date his resumeincludes production duties for MURS, Mr. Lif, Wildchild, CL Smooth andDeclaime, and has dropped many a verse on records produced by Madlib,Stones Throw patriarch Peanut Butter Wolf, and others. The reason forthe debut's delay is unclear; he's been signed for a while and has beenrecording even longer—he did his first demo at age eleven, was foolingwith production equipment in Madlib's room long before then, and in hisadult years put out a slew of singles in addition to his guest spots.The favor is returned on The Disrupt:Jay Dee provides a heavy Detroit club banger, Madlib gives brotherlylove on six eclectic tracks, and other members of the extended StonesThrow family also lend a hand. The foundation for a great debut isthereby laid, but something seems to be missing. Oh No is supposed tobe the star, and the veteran of one too many a guest spot and 12" can'tseem to carry the load through the admittedly solid seventeen trackswithout the help. The album teems talent and creativity but at thesacrifice of cohesion, balance and continuity: the heavy hitting TheRide (with samples pulled from Nintendo classic Ninja Gaiden) is followed up by mellow, soulful thought-provoker Getaway. The years that Oh No spent creating snippets of material rather than longplayers are evident on The Disrupt.It works two ways: he's clearly picked up nearly all the tricks of thetrade, and provides nearly everything the hip hop listener could wanton the multifaceted Disrupt. But in the end, the record feelshewn together, an amalgamation of otherwise worthy parts but not aperfect whole. That in turn raises the question of whether or not hiphop is an album-oriented genre—and if Oh No has picked up anything fromMadlib, he should be advised to follow up The Disrupt withsomething more cohesive. This is the only complaint, though, and it's aminor one. Oh No's talents as producer, MC and DJ are evident. Thesecombined with the guest spots make what might be slapdash patchwork forsome a delicious rap smorgasbord for others.
To date his resumeincludes production duties for MURS, Mr. Lif, Wildchild, CL Smooth andDeclaime, and has dropped many a verse on records produced by Madlib,Stones Throw patriarch Peanut Butter Wolf, and others. The reason forthe debut's delay is unclear; he's been signed for a while and has beenrecording even longer—he did his first demo at age eleven, was foolingwith production equipment in Madlib's room long before then, and in hisadult years put out a slew of singles in addition to his guest spots.The favor is returned on The Disrupt:Jay Dee provides a heavy Detroit club banger, Madlib gives brotherlylove on six eclectic tracks, and other members of the extended StonesThrow family also lend a hand. The foundation for a great debut isthereby laid, but something seems to be missing. Oh No is supposed tobe the star, and the veteran of one too many a guest spot and 12" can'tseem to carry the load through the admittedly solid seventeen trackswithout the help. The album teems talent and creativity but at thesacrifice of cohesion, balance and continuity: the heavy hitting TheRide (with samples pulled from Nintendo classic Ninja Gaiden) is followed up by mellow, soulful thought-provoker Getaway. The years that Oh No spent creating snippets of material rather than longplayers are evident on The Disrupt.It works two ways: he's clearly picked up nearly all the tricks of thetrade, and provides nearly everything the hip hop listener could wanton the multifaceted Disrupt. But in the end, the record feelshewn together, an amalgamation of otherwise worthy parts but not aperfect whole. That in turn raises the question of whether or not hiphop is an album-oriented genre—and if Oh No has picked up anything fromMadlib, he should be advised to follow up The Disrupt withsomething more cohesive. This is the only complaint, though, and it's aminor one. Oh No's talents as producer, MC and DJ are evident. Thesecombined with the guest spots make what might be slapdash patchwork forsome a delicious rap smorgasbord for others. samples:
