Trying to find middle ground in hip-hop right now (as far as sustainability goes) seems to be pretty tricky. Iif an artist's sound & style is "too underground", they'll never get past 500 cap venues, and if it's "too mainstream", their career will be on that J'Kwon status within a year. Emerging as the exception to this rule hasn't been impossible (The Roots, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Common, etc...) but it has been one exceptionally difficult to crack; we don't see too many acts coming up these days that immediately reach such levels. One good song or a 30-track mixtape with 3 good tracks simply isn't going to cut it. To reach such a lauded status, the quality has to jump out of the speakers, smack you in the face and implore you to listen. And with the debut collaborative album from Minneapolis rapper/producer duo, I.B.E. & Benzilla, we have a feeling you're going to be feeling the burn from that aforementioned slap. This, That And The Third is what happens when you combine the sensibilities of stabilized rapping and production skills that foray into that "real hip-hop", and at the same time, appeal to that other end of the mainstream-leaning, listening base who pass on those "lyrical, spiritual, miracle" type-raps. And with standout tracks like, "POW", it's easy to hear the appeal that I.B.E. & Benzilla have together. This, That And The Third has been out since June, so we definitely slept on this album, but it's better that we listen late than never, right? Our favorites are below and the rest of the album is available on iTunes now.
I.B.E. & Benzilla