LORD 360-THE ANOMALY LP (THE BATTLE CRY) CIPHER INFINITUM
Back in the days when I was a backpacker (don’t laugh!) digging for the most obscure Hip Hop, I came across a crew from Chi-Town named “The Slaughterhouse V”. More notably though, I came across an emcee named Lord 360. After digesting the “Pentagon Destructo Factor EP”, the crew disbanded and I was pissed. But all wasn’t lost as sometime later on a solo project named “Scattered Patterns”, Lord 360 appeared showing that didn’t need a crew to shine. Now the name might sound familiar to some but that’s because he has appeared on many various mid-west projects making cameos with artists such as the OPUS, Maker and ATMA to name a few. But if you’re not familiar with the name, acquaint yourself ASAP or you’ll miss something great.
360’s newest weapon is called “The Anomaly LP” and what you will hear is an artist that rhymes with passion, tightness, and conviction. In other words, he’s damn good at what he does. Right from the start, “Twisted Smiles” kicks one in the face with his thick, rubbery, and lockstep delivery while incorporating some clever stylistic and textural variations as its chock full of flavor, a sampled chorus, and a bobbing bass and drum. There’s another version of this track out there but this one seems like it was re-mastered and sounds more menacing.
Without a break, things continue with “Playful Jab” where straight battle rhymes are exchanged with complex patterns and outer world content. It’s heartfelt, deep and eloquent writing at its best. The track that garners the most attention though is “Previously Pillaged” featuring the vocal stylistics of Blueprint. It has a sick whining type voice sample, a staggering drum, and voices that know how to ride this track. And while there are so many gems on this LP, it has to be one of the best tracks on here. My review of each track stops here as I don’t want to tell you the whole story.
Vocally, 360’s style is somewhere between Mr. Lif and say, a J-Live. I mean this in the sense of clarity and conciseness of his delivery. Each word is clear and is delivered with much conviction as I stated earlier. He had me hang on every one of his words dissecting and deciphering his thoughts.
On the production tip, Lord 360 has skills too. He provides the perfect audible background like on tracks “Death to Ingsoc”, “Last Go” and the previously mentioned “Playful Jab”. Other beatsmiths who contributed were Overflo, OPUS, Japan’s Nejel Mongrel and Maker. But, I can’t leave out the mechanically inclined beat made by ScanDLS on the Def Jux like “How Much Longer”. Amiss all this is the hidden classic “Hail 2 Da Profit” at the end of track 13.
One thing about this album is that it brings back a touch of the ‘no-nonsense’ approach that got lost somewhere in the nineties. What I failed to mention earlier is, the first thing that immediately jumped out on this album to me was how consistent the album sounded as far as vibe and intended sound is concerned. Even the artwork on the CD cover is tight! The Anomaly is what it claims to be; a battle. It’s a battle in life, the industry, government, society and the battle with oneself. Support Lord 360 by visiting http://www.myspace.com/cichi or http://www.cichi.com/ . Thanx CyPhEr777
