Mic Geronimo - Scars And Stripes Vol.1 EP

This past 4th of July holiday, while we were all out enjoying BBQ and good company or perhaps being stunned by the news of Steve Mcnair's tragic murder, a true veteran of the 90's dropped a new project for free download in the midst of the celebration....

Mic Geronimo was one of my favorite hardcore rappers back in the mid and late 90's who's first album "The Natural" defined an era....Although his sophomore album "Vendetta" featured a host of big names like Jay-Z, Cormega, Tragedy and The Lox the flailing follow up to his near classic debut marked the beginning of a major decline for the Queens MC. After it's release he went on a 5 year hiatus from recording.

Geronimo attempted rallying back in recent years and released a pair of new LP's, but unfortunately much like "Vendetta", they received very poor reviews, with many critics citing his incessant "shiny suit syndrome" as the main culprit for them being busts...It's just crazy to me....Mic was churning out bangers like nuthin' on that first album; "Masta I.C.", "Time To Build", "Train Of Thought"....but has never been able to make anything ever again that would come close to rivaling his earliest work.

So, here we are, July 2009 and he has once again pushed forward a new effort, that despite a lot of recent hard luck and mis-direction in the booth I know everyone from my generation yelled "Mic Geronimo?!?! No way....Lemme see what this is about" upon viewing it on many a blog and website. Ahhhh what a difference one great album can make for an artist...14 years after bursting onto the scene Mic is back....

"Scars And Stripes" is a 20 minute mix of new joints from The Masta I.C. that finds him taking a much harder line in his verses, but still abandoning the tried and true tactics for new, much less allegient practices. As a whole it seems Mic has turned in the services of guys like Buckwild and Da Beatminerz for synthy, radio primed and formulaic beats. Sorry, he was never a 5 star lyricist and when you combine that defect with weak production the shortcomings can become glaring.....

It hurts me to say it, but it's just more of the same from Mic on "Scars And Stripes". There are a few bright spots (see the 8 min. mark, the 13:30 min. mark & the skits from many an iconic gangster movie) but this just isn't a head turner and it would seem he'll remain on this horrid 12 yr. slump...

-BIG D O









http://www.mediafire.com/?kgzxd1mk2jm