and drugs. The somewhat unholy marriage is now decades deep. Not surprisingly, the conjunction has produced some dynamic musical results that have been readily smoked, ingested, and snorted by the mainstream music listening public. Back in the late '80s, was one of the first rappers to blur the lines between the world and the underworld. On his single which tastefully sampled 's compared his whole album ( , 1988) to drug weight, proposing that his music would be something fans would fiend for the same way a smoker fiends for nicotine. In the early part of the 21st century, after the Virginia-based production team ' had splashed their -synth beats everywhere, from songs with hardcore rapper to sensation , and partner created their own label, . The first act signed to the label was a pair of cohorts known as , a sibling duo of highly skilled VA transplants (by way of the Bronx) with some obvious nefarious connections to the world of drug hustling. and rocked the world in the summer of 2002 with their first single, a dark and gritty tale of the street pharmacist's everyday strive to make ends meet. Over a thunderous throwback knock from was one of the summer of 2002's most prolific anthems and transported to the realm of overnight success. is an oft-scary trip down the backstreets of Tobacco Road as recount the trials and tribulations of the drug trafficker-turned-MC. Following in the footsteps of such criminologists as , and offer the Virginia hustler's viewpoint with clever, hard-hitting lyrics like: "...I'm from Virginia where ain't s**t to do but cook/pack it up, sell it triple price/f**k the books..." and "Virginia's for lovers but trust there's hate here...." While the two MCs' presence is invariably formidable on virtually all of the tracks, ' pop-ish turn in their beatwork doesn't always do justice to the depths that MCs wish to plunder. ' synth-gloss production style, while generally soulful and rarely without edge, misses the mark in case of the crossoverish featuring , as the MCs seem thoroughly out of their element. The album also has a slapped-together, non-cohesive feel that detracts from its more enjoyable aspects. On the flip side, the follow-up club-banger is a catchier alternative to the crew's lead single and tracks like of are also a cut above run-of-the-mill. ~ M.F. DiBella