If its release date had been delayed by just one day,
Diesel Truckers
would've followed the lackluster
Kool Keith Presents Thee Undatakerz
album by exactly three months. Fans are approaching with caution due to a more than spotty track record, but
Keith
has gone from lukewarm to on fire, and if his followers catch one whiff of the
"Break U Off"
single, they'll be feelin' it.
is tight enough, driven enough, and slick enough to get
something he hasn't been graced with in quite some time: radio and
BET
spins. Why it has to be this way is anyone's guess, but
KutMasta Kurt
is the only producer outside of
DJ Q-Bert
who really seems to "get"
. The duo's work on
is a step above what they did on 1997's
Sex Style
, with the same
funk
but more ideas.
"Mental Side Effects"
is the catchiest track
has unleashed since
"Earth People"
and the flattened-tuba-through-a-filter
Kurt
lays on the cut shows
Q-Bert
isn't the only sidekick who can get wild. He's given
his bounce back on the ridiculously fun and bright
"I Love You Nancy,"
with the rapper swaggering like a lover from another planet. The "we're thugging truckers" concept rears its head here and there, but it's dropped when not needed, something the
Undatakerz
album refused to do.
is hardly the stunning revelation
Dr. Octagonecologyst
was, but it is
's kicking and purposeful return to being a player in the game. For his quality-starved faithful, that's revelation enough. ~ David Jeffries