Kozmonautz

The introduction clues us in to the fact that Key Kool and DJ Rhettmatic are going to be operating on a higher level on this album, actually "through infinite galaxies of thought and planetary systems." Not hard to believe, considering they operate on the Up Above label, and when remembering that these two come from Los Angeles, they might as well be aliens when compared with their gang-bangin' peers. They come from a very strong but commercially unknown group of Californian rap artists that have thrown away the traditional West Coast sound for an intelligent and often times very trippy hip-hop experience. Kozmonautz is a prime example of the quality of underground music emerging from Los Angeles, and although it takes a bit of getting used to, it's not that much different from, say, the Hieroglyphics, Del the Funky Homosapien, Grouch and the whole Living Legendz crew, or Aceyalone. Tossing out the commercial imagery, marketing gimmicks, and everything else used to trick the masses into buying albums and being cool, Kool Key and DJ Rhettmatic are a small piece of a large movement giving it their best to keep a part of hip-hop subterranean. There's a notable introduction to a group called the Visionaries on a track called "Stop Actin Scary" and an appearance by Saafir of the Hieroglyphics.