The Formula (The Clean)

We Say...

Review by Jayson Greene

A solid, back-to-back-playable rap LP? Like, put on track one and leave the iPod unmolested in your pocket all afternoon? Nah, right? A thing of the past, we tell ourselves, and though we steal the occasional forlorn glance back at our copy of Liquid Swords, most of us are learning to move on. In this age of “ft. Lil Wayne,” we have assumed the responsibility for assembling twelve or so consecutive jams from the wreckage strewn across the hip-hop landscape. Rap has always been ground zero for sound scavengers anyway, so why not? Cheer up — there are even a couple of good treadmill tracks on the new Rick Ross album! (The trick to this one: pick the one featuring the most guest rappers. It’s mathematics: the more other rappers, the less Rick Ross).

Still feeling a pang? Well, 9th Wonder and Buckshot’s The Formula, a follow-up to 2005’s Chemistry, is here, and the album practically serves as Chicken Soup for the Okayplayer’s Soul. “Plug your headphones into slot two,” Buckshot rhymes early on in “No Future.” The message? Welcome home, rap nerds; you’re in a safe place now. Throughout, 9th Wonder’s reliably breezy soul-rap beats provide a unified sonic backdrop for Buckshot’s gruff but thoughtful musings, which range from admonishing reminders to stay focused (“Whassup with U?) to pondering how he can stay clear of the sudden violence plaguing his neighborhood (“One for You.”) Indie-rap stalwarts like Talib Kweli drop by, a jazzy hook or two is sung — the warm throwback-rap vibe isn’t disturbed. If you know Buckshot’s work already, either as half of the ‘90s rap duo Black Moon or with New York’s indestructible Boot Camp Clik, than this should be just your plate of beat-and-potatoes.