Soundsational

A nice throwback to the days of backpack rap, 2013's Soundsational draws entirely from the catalog of underground singer Mike James Kirkland, a Mississippi soul artist who recorded two albums for MCA before fading into obscurity. Interest was rekindled in 2011, when his recordings resurfaced on CD as a two-disc compilation titled Don't Sell Your Soul. Assumedly, the five-piece group of rap veterans Soundsci worked out a tidy deal for sampling rights, and with that, producers Jonny Cuba (of Dynamic Syncopation) and Ollie Teeba (of the Herbaliser) made ten songs' worth of beats that flip Kirkland's Curtis Mayfield/Marvin Gaye style of funky soul music into a pretty close replication of '90s hip-hop. The rhyme style of MCs Audessey (MassInfluence), U-George (Hemisphere), and Oxygen (Sputnik Brown) also pays homage to the rap style of this time frame, as the three trade off rhymes in a playful fashion that would make the Native Tongues proud. The laid-back feel of the breakbeats, scratching, and dusty bassline and horn samples tied with the rappers' upbeat style of delivery gives the sense of a Jurassic 5 or Hieroglyphics outing, circa 2000. Rap purists may notice that the album is far from progressive, and there's no chance of the group pushing boundaries or adding futuristic elements. That noted, the golden age of hip-hop was called that for a reason, so it's tough to fault a group for imitating the masters. As the title track explains, "This is for the fans of the simple boombap," and those fans will probably appreciate the warm, easygoing vibe of Soundsational.