Jedi Mind Tricks - Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell (2006)
Jedi Mind Tricks is a group that can be hit-or-miss for me, with the misses making me feel like "Damn, this had potential" and the hits REALLY hitting the target on the mark, because I love aggressive, lyrical hip-hop with great beats, and that's what JMT tends to succeed at. However, their rampant and unintentionally hilarious homophobia takes away from their music. They must've realized that, maybe due to a shitload of fanmail, or even due to mature growth, because this album.. Shit, man. They did it again.
The group had felt like they were trying to walk without a limb ever since Jus Allah exited, and for the first time, it doesn't feel like Vinnie Paz is compensating for the lack of Jus Allah. Vinnie Paz is at his absolute strongest (up to this point in his career, anyway) here, flow-wise and even lyrically. Vinnie still does that whole battle-rap shit, and I'm glad because it'd be weird if he stopped it entirely, but he's now rapping about a lot of serious shit, too!! After all of the times he's been calling people faggots and queers and whatever else shit, it's really weird to hear him tackle serious subjects such as slave-labor in "Shadow Business" and moving on from depression, self-harm, and thoughts of suicide in "Razorblade Salvation", a sequel to "Before the Great Collapse" from "Legacy of Blood". That, to me, is some real artistic growth.
And if you wanna talk about art in general, look no further than the LEGENDARY "Uncommon Valor (A Vietnam Story) (Feat. R.A. the Rugged Man)" in which Vinnie Paz raps about being an American soldier in the Vietnam war, absolutely terrified out of his mind while there, and showing a distrust for America, stating "I don't know why I'm over here, this job is evil, they sent me here to Vietnam to kill innocent people", later saying he just wants to go home and see his mother again, before R.A. the Rugged Man comes in with "You fucking kidding me?! Don't be a pussy! Don't you love your country? I like being here, I'm ready..." and then launching into an absolute tongue-blistering verse taking up the rest of the song, in which he tells the (real) story of his father being in the Vietnam war, as he delivers verbal and lyrical gymnastics, taking you absolutely everywhere and giving off many different vibes throughout it, such as adrenaline, rage, loss, depression, and regret. His verse is absolutely nothing less than perfect and I'd even say it's possibly my favorite hip-hop verse of all time. I can't even describe it here properly because if by some way you haven't heard it, PLEASE go look it up right fucking now. No words from ANYONE will be able to do it the proper justice that it deserves.
When Vinnie isn't rapping about some of the shit I listed above, it's back to the battle-raps, but dammit, they're FUCKING GOOD HERE!! Vinnie's delivery and voice are much more aggressive than before, and his flow has gotten a lot more solid, which combined with some of Stoupe's beats on this album, which are arguably his best up to this point (Just TRY to tell me that "Heavy Metal Kings (Feat. Ill Bill)" isn't a fucking BANGER), they become a deadly duo where they're actively building off of each other, be it through aggressive or more conscious songs. Stoupe is able to perfectly soundtrack what Vinnie is talking about in the serious songs, and able to deliver bone-crushers when need be. "Suicide", "Serenity in Murder", and the previously mentioned "Heavy Metal Kings (Feat. Ill Bill)" are all fuckin' GREAT and DESTROY YOUR ASS!! CRANK 'EM UP LOUD!! YOU WILL NOT HAVE AN ASS!! YOU'RE GONNA SWEAT YOUR OWN SHIT OUT OF YOUR PORES FROM NOW ON!!
It's admittedly still hard to find too much to say about Jedi Mind Tricks' music up to this point that hasn't been said before, or creative ways to say it, but just let it be known that on this album, they bring the heat, they bring the "open your third eye" knowledge, and good God do they bring some fucking fire beats.
8/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
