"Oh Shit!" This is good. Raw, hard, sharp, tight, intelligent hip-hop with a vibrancy rarely heard in the genre these days. Recalling a combination of Group Home, Jeru, DITC, Mobb Deep, AG and underground acts like Frankenstein. In fact, on tracks like '4U', Encore sounds uncannily like Jeru, but Jeru at his very best – so no harm there.
The punchy, inventive production of the Architect is worthy of the beats that DJ Premier put together on Jeru's first two classic albums and the quality control is impressively tight throughout.
Hailing from Palo Alto in California, Encore still manages to sound like he's lived in Brooklyn his whole life. His simple musical philosophy: "If I can get someone to listen to my music and say 'Oh shit!' or to have them emotionally affected by my words or how I say them, then I have accomplished my goal." Job done – run out and buy this album kids!
by James Poletti