You remember the last time listening to an album like Group Home? Y`know, the type of album which displayed fascinating reciprocity between the vocalists and the production? Take an album such as Group Home's "Living Proof," dissect it, marinate with it and vibe with it; you will find an album that is perfected in it`s totality. Ahhh, a rare feat in Hip hop. What Premier accomplished with those cats was succeeding in utilizing the raps as complimentary assortments to accompany the production, resulting in the voices, delivery and subject matter of Lil Dap and Melachi the gonad smasher meshing with Premo`s grand boom bap funk. In a world in which many rappers flow OVER beats, the New Yorker-by-way-of-Texas producer extraordinaire had Group Home rap WITH the beats, resulting in a production masterpiece that stands on it`s own in the pantheon of urban folklore.

Slum Village`s "Fantastic Vol. II" carries commonalities with Group Home`s debut that should be commended, especially in the age of albums that lack consistency and contain obvious blunders in production vision. (Ahem, "Canibus" ahem.) First off, the obvious highlight is Slum Village producer Jay Dee, 1/3 of The Ummah and 100% talent. Keeping consistent with his melodic inventions not unlike his earlier efforts with De La Soul, Tribe and The Pharcyde, the album is a sultry invitation into sensuous musical innovation. Jay Dee sprinkles warm fender rhodes keys, melodic baselines, bouncy rhythms and handclaps that result in an atmosphere that is simultaneously lush as well as booming. When a producer displays an understanding of creating a groove by maximizing the reciprocity between the baseline and drum kicks, you can`t help but be automatically locked within the tracks forward movement. In this case, Jay Dee`s got the shit covered like Dolemite does his block.

What`s equally impressive is how the voices and delivery of rhymers T3, Baatin and Jay Dee himself fully compliment the beats. Similar once again to Group Home`s debut, the vocalizations make themselves out to add texture to the sounds, giving the tracks a breath of life. While they aren`t the first rappers to be conscious of this approach, the end result works splendidly. Sure some of them sound like they`ve been getting private lessons from Q-tip, but so what? A unique voice is a unique voice.

However, may I add that in terms of lyrical stylings, content and cadence, they aren`t exactly the most complex rappers in the world (aha! another similarity with Lil Dap and Melachi the testicle destroyer). Although they display competency on tracks such as "Fantastic," some of the misogynistic elementary rhyme schemes may perpetuate a hasty push of the fast forward button. (Peep "Players" for a good example. Better yet, a great description of sticking di&%ks between a girls tits on "Fall In Love" is kinda grand as well.) But hey, for anybody that`s interested in hearing a post "Love Movement" sound laced with some border line 2 Live Crew lyrics, this project`s for you. In actuality, it`s the gap between the sultry feel good sounds and SV`s rated X lyrics that make a hilarious contrast worth experiencing. Man, now if only they`d drop a double vinyl instrumental album........