Post by Admin on Dec 12, 2008 11:08:59 GMT -8
Magic Heart Genies :: Heartifact
M9 ent.
4 out of 5 stars
Reviewed on Saturday, December 06, 2008 by Jason Kordich
The two great linguist shamans, JtheSarge and Myka 9 (Freestyle Fellowship) join lyrical forces as the Magic Heart Genies for their debut effort: Heartifact. Built around the concept of these two MCs restoring the magic to the art form, this album takes listeners through a diverse soundscape grounded in positive energy. With the help of Myka 9, Sarge, DJ Fat Jack, and GMG, L.A.’s DJ Drez serves as the conductor of this underground opus. In addition, Shannon Ivey provides back ground vocals and various drummers, guitar and horn players add an organic touch to this project. From soul and funk to more dance hall oriented tracks, the 18 cuts on this album embrace music from all over the world. Myka 9 and JtheSarge seamlessly move from their smoothed out delivery on the laid back party cut, “Get Together” to the up tempo drum and horn driven “Multicultures”. These lyrical shaman demonstrate the boundlessness of their styles as well as the expansiveness of hip hop on an album that appreciates its culture without coming across like a martyr. By taking a proactive approach on the tracks such as the bass knockin’ “Save My Soul”, where the duo proclaims “Give me a beatbox to save my soul” and “Yes Y’all”, which is a classic cut directed to bboy/bgirls of the world, this album doesn’t fall into the “remember when” mentality but embraces their positive outlook best stated in this line from “Preach”: “If you want good things to happen to yourself; if you want good things to happen to others, you have to have a good heart.”
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