The food-related concept works better than you might expect, particularly when DOOM uses it as a means to cleverly diss other emcees. Mm… Food is kind of a concept album, as every track is compiled primarily of food-related subject matter. Don’t sleep folks, this truly is a landmark album. Standouts tracks aplenty, but cuts like Brain Cell and Nothing To Give especially shine. APOS wasn’t meant to teach faith-infused lessons necessarily, but simply to deliver a story.”Ī Piece Of Strange offers excellent production and clever lyrics – the whole album is as good as it gets. Deacon’s life growing up as the son of a preacher definitely led us to some of the insights and story molding that went on when we were making and recording the album, but as most moderate Christians will tell you…you have to relate the material as generally as possible without preaching and talking down to people. “This album is not meant to be overtly Christian in theme or presentation, but more so delivering an amoral slant to a storyline communicated through Hip Hop. Much darker and denser than their more light-hearted and fun first two albums, A Piece Of Strange takes us on a journey following the story of a man and those closest to him in their struggles with right and wrong, love and hate, while at the same time exploring the religion and racism that were (and are) so prevalent in the south. The 16 songs contain loose connections with certain defined Biblical numerics and their interpretations. The third album from the underrated CunninLynguists is a masterpiece from start to finish. Stress: The Extinction Agenda is an all-around brilliant album that should not be overlooked.ĬunninLynguists – A Piece Of Strange (2006) If you’ve ever wondered why many consider Pharoahe Monch a GOAT emcee – study this album and you will know.

Stress: The Extinction Agenda is one of the most underrated albums released in the 1990s – this truly is a one-of-a-kind kind of album. The mostly self-produced beats on Stress: The Extinction Agenda are dope as f too – dark and menacing, but jazzy at the same time: musically this album comes off as a hybrid of the sounds of A Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang Clan – combining the best of both worlds. Some of the tightest and most inventive rhymes you’ll ever hear are on this album, with the conceptual gem “Stray Bullet” being a particular lyrical highlight. Whether they are storytelling, philosophizing, joking, bragging, being conscious, or simply throwing out battle raps – their lyrical performances are top-tier in every aspect – there is NOTHING cliche or run-of-the-mill about the lyricism on Stress: The Extinction Agenda. Both emcees manage to step up their already considerable game from their debut, they come with phenomenal rhymes and complex flows – bar for bar lyrical Hip Hop doesn’t get much better than this. Pharoahe Monch is and has always been the better rapper of the two, but Prince Po is perfectly able to hold his own – which is incredible enough. In terms of wordplay, flow, delivery, AND content – this is the gold standard. Some albums from this era sound dated now but Stress: The Extinction Agenda sounds as fresh today as it did on the day it was released – the mark of a true classic. This album was way ahead of its time in vision and execution. Prince Po and Pharoahe Monch come with unparalleled lyricism on this dark, dense, complicated, and intellectual album. They admirably succeeded in creating an album with similarities to the first album, while doing something completely different at the same time. Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda (1994)įollowing their eponymous debut LP, Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po had a lot to live up to.

Soundbunny classic hip hop