ICON THE MIC KING FEAT. CHUM- MIKE & THE FATMAN LP UPRISING RECORDS
Being the mic king in many various battle contests, has allowed Icon to be well known in the Underground Hip Hop scene. Since his retirement from battling, he took his skills to another level by releasing 2 EP’s, a couple of singles and appearing as a cameo in many other projects. Basically, he’s shown that Icon the Mic King is not one-dimensional. On this effort, Mike & the Fatman, Icon teams up with a virtually unknown in Chum the Skrilla Guerilla who impressively handles the production on this LP.
The album opens with “Modus Operandi” which is a fast paced introduction to the characters Mike & the Fatman. This is just a glimpse to what the rest of this album will throw your way. Next is the smooth, laid back steez of “Speaks for Itself” where the drum programming is masterful, the sample is proper and Icon really carries the tune philosophizing about his superior skills. We then roll into “Born Alone, Die Alone” containing a dope Nas sample. The track is just as laid back as the track before it with a little more attitude. “Madman” returns to Mike’s vitriolic ways, verbally and aurally. You then find yourself passing over the interlude “All Points Bulletin” to get to the sick upbeat self titled track “Mike & The Fatman”. “Master of the Universe” though, is where everything comes together. This track has the lyrics and a simple but addictive soundscape. Here Icon gets open the most then on any of the 12 tracks on this LP. Fantastic wordplay!
The rest of the album starts to fade a little until you get to the song “Poverty” featuring Blue Raspberry and ends strong with “Law & Order” where both Icon & Killah Priest gives an impressive lyrical performance. Chum comes thru again with a sick track!
The combination of Icon and Chum, is impeccable and showcase that there still is creativity in hip hop. Icon proves that he is much more than just a battle emcee. For his partner Chum, this will be the album that catapults his career upward! Actually, this is one of those albums that might slip through your fingers if you don’t give it your full attention. Give it just that and you will see this album grow into a tantalizing entity. Please support Icon and Chum by hitting them up @ http://www.myspace.com/mikeandthefatman or http://www.iconthemicking.com/ Thanks CyPhEr777
