Billed on the CD case spine as a "Mixtape Hosted By Kanye West", this debut from east coast rapper Consequence probably shouldn't be taken as too definitive a musical statement. Arriving a whopping eight years after he first appeared on a record, it's more a catch-up exercise, re-introducing the guy who guested on A Tribe Called Quest's "Beats Rhymes & Life" before his album proper appears later in the year. And, as re-introductions go, it's hard to fault. Not only hosted by West, the lion's share of the tracks are produced by him, some of them having appeared online and on his own mix tapes prior to the release of his rightly lauded "The College Dropout" album earlier this year.
In fact, the only real problem with "Take 'Em To The Cleaners" is that there's so much Kanye, and so many other great guest rappers (Common and Talib Kweli join West for a verse apiece on "Wack N*ggas", Little Brother take mic time – again alongside Kanye – on "I See Now", and Tribe's Q-Tip pops up on the uncredited hidden closer, "The Consequence") that it's difficult to get to the parts of the record that its supposed maker was responsible for. There are, in fact, only two full tracks where the guests are given time off and West's allowed out to produce for other people, and what you're left with inevitably isn't as impressive as the rest.
Still, when the quality as high as it mostly is here, that's just nit-picking, and for fans of "The College Dropout" this should be considered an essential next purchase. "03 'Til Infinity (Freestyle)" is a ribald reworking of Souls Of Mischief's "93 'Til Infinity", West and Consequence trading some smutty lines that directly pastiche the rhyme schemes and metre of the beautiful West Coast original.
"The Incredible Hulk", featuring newcomer John Legend, finds 'Quence dipping his stylistic toes into OutKast-like stank, and "Wack N*ggas" breathes new life into the tired formula of non-specific brag rapping. Best of all is "Getting Out The Game", a sex-obsessed conversation between Consequence and Kanye burblingly delivered over a gorgeous Al Green-type track.
