Reviewed by Steve Hayes

Established as one of the class acts on the hip-hop scene, LA Symphony comprise FLYNN, CookBook, Joey The Jerk, Sharlok Poems and UNO Mas. This is an album of mostly new and unreleased tracks, rarities, mixes, demos and more. Absolute classic stuff from start to finish, with the very distinctive LA Symph sound and beats. The project cranks up with DL Drop, with a very crunchy break. "All We Know" continues along the line of old skool rolling beats. There are some tracks featured elsewhere, just with different mixes, such as "Universal" but we don't mind. Smooth delivery pervades the album, such as the underground sounding "Chocolate City Drop" where commercial tracks "take over and obliterate, an expression that suggests it ain't all great." So true and so unlike this project, where depth and insight take over. Humour comes as ever, this time in tracks such as "Tour Bus". The newest song on the set showcases a more up to date sound from The Symphony, "Love For The Art." In an album full of colour and flavour, one of my favourite tracks is "Soul Bros" where the funk shines through; play it and discover for yourself. We end with "Global Takeover", where brilliantly cut up and mixed TV samples sit under humour - as LA Symph discuss their evil plans for global domination, "LA Symphony is now in control"! An album of fun, depth and variation - everything you need for a classic LA Symphony project.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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