Matthew
by Kool Keith

Kool Keith - Matthew may not be his best album, but it could very well be his most powerful, simply brutal -while keeping a sense of humour. This is how dissin' is supposed to be done, guys like Eminem should have taken some notes. There's no point even mentioning a quote or two, the whole album attacks relentlessly with line after line. The production goes again for the cold, minimal, almost too empty approach that fits the overall theme of the album like a glove (though I have to say I view this aspect of the album as slightly inferior to Dr.Octagon). But production is kinda secondary anyway, the absolute main focus of the album is obviously Kool Keith himself, a real madman. On the other hand, the thing with this kind of albums is that they apply not only to a particular taste, but to a particular mood as well (meaning even if you on general principle like it, it's not an album you can listen to everyday, it is far from an easy listen, you need to be in a specific mood to enjoy it). This makes the task of properly assessing it a rather tricky challenge.