Following their reggae flavored collaboration
Lightning Strikes, The Lonely Ones finds cutting-edge rapper
Aceyalone and producer
Bionik absorbing Motown, soul, and doo wop, creating a dressed-up, jump-jive style of hip-hop that's so vibrant, it's like that
Afrika Bambaataa and
James Brown cut "Unity" but written by
Smokey Robinson with production from
Fatboy Slim. So distinct it'll wreck any mixtape it lands on, the brilliant "What It Was" puts a whole new spin on the "back in the day" cut with '60s background vocals and a fingersnap beat. The very
Supremes "Step Up" with Treasure Davis is equal shares b-boy and beehive while the raised fist "Power to the People" features a
Chambers Brothers-styled backbeat as it protests "The TV got me like Poltergeist" like it was
Gil Scott-Heron for the Urban Outfitters crowd. If it all sounds too contrived and clever, but everything here sounds surprisingly natural, leaving only the 33 minute playing time and the lack of liner notes -- where did all these horns come from? -- as things to complain about. ~ David Jeffries