TNT

No matter how many years one's endured, it's nearly impossible for at least little rays of wisdom to shine out of the old memory bank. Queensbridge, New York City rapper Big Twins (previously Twin Gambino) of Infamous Mobb, not Mobb Deep mind you, has been working with L.A. producer Twiz The Beat Pro lately for his biggest solo album statement since The Project Kid (2009). Their album, TNT, obviously plays with the alliteration of their names in the title but doesn't play around inside, maybe outside, but not inside. The new project, released April 1st on Sound Unity Entertainment, is a traditional hip-hop album. Twins describes and decries the horrors of the hood, and Twiz's music respirates and mobilizes the original style of sample loops and strong beats, almost the opposite of floating up-in-the-air cloud rap, but what's wrong with that? It's some real authenticity, and though it's more or less typical if you put it side by side next to New York's greater hip-hop rap sheet, it's the messages in it that light the wick. At the very beginning at least, TNT starts like a normal Big Twins rap album, with gritty lyrics from and about the hood. In comparing his situation today to how it was when he was a kid, Twins "goes hard" and "grinds" in his growing rap life, repping the Queensbridge Houses at all times. At about "Twin City," we see that it's about time for Twins to talk about something else, and sort of telepathically, he answers that call in "Straight Face" advocating for "rap sh--" over "crime sh--." As you can see, the best influence of this tape is in the underlying subtle notes and values. Twins depicts and portrays the shady parts of the ghetto in his lines but doesn't encourage or agree with its ugly character. It's a pleasure listening to Twins' stories of hood plagues. As an observer who hates what he sees, his goal is to make it through the storm of violence and the hair-trigger, hand to mouth lifestyle. Like Jay once said, he brings the suburbs to the hood, precipitating a revelatory sense of awareness and humility in comfortable listeners. Among many other things, we get to hear about how Twins lost his mom at an early age and how he discovered a mangled dead body once as a curious child. The climax comes at the end in "Feelings" where Twins nicely delivers a jeremiad dredging up wars, oil, no gold backing the money supply, bad water, guns, no bees, Mike Brown, and our twisted economy and corrupt government, all commencing in Twins' imperative warning that "they wanna keep you high and control your mind." There's no question Twins has an accurate judgement of the world, and his raw rhymes combined with Twiz's fine beats that never get overwhelming make for a good music treat for any mood anytime. If by now, you're not sold on what's on the marquee for TNT, then know that the bill also includes Ras Kass, Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Alchemist, Evidence of Dilated Peoples, Twins' Infamous Mobb mate Godfather Pt III and others. The gang life and crime life have always been subjects in Twins' writings, but he also knows they don't mean a thing if they miss the main point, that they must report, inform and protest the evils of their source topics. TNT does that and more.