Review: Skyzoo - The Salvation

After capturing Hip-Hop heads with his extensive work on the mixtape circuit and a monster of an EP with 9th Wonder, Brooklyn's heir apparent to masterful storytellers like Masta Ace and illustrious hustlers like Jiggaman bursts onto Hip-Hop's consciousness with his full length debut "The Salvation". Armed with a robust assemblage of the game's brightest producers and a dense lexicon of penned compositions we're taken on a journey through the complex and observant world of Skyzoo as he joins the fight to restore good music to the culture.

Wasting little time warming up, Sky immediately pushes the pedal to the floor with his sharp wordplay, layering rhymes and chaining them together forming non-stop caravans of weighty adages over soulful, well-picked beat selections. The Bed-Stuy product fuses his words like a master welder binds metals, displaying those ever impressive flashes of intellectual acumen, but connecting with his audience via the on-going theme of struggle and "coming up". "Under Pressure" and the final (and perhaps best) track "Maintain" find him sort of presenting a mentality of a young, hungry kid that has the brawn and the brains to go all the way, but finds himself on the outs and a permanent underdog nevertheless. A captivating, affecting storyline indeed.

lifelike and natural themes on tracks like "The Opener", "Penmanship", "My Interpretation", "Dear Whoever" and "The Necessary Evils" add a fine polish to an already amazingly cultivated album, which by the way, only has a couple guest features on it. The fact that Sky didn't cave in and use what I'm sure are extensive connections within the Hip-Hop community to flood "The Salvation" with interloping excess is a sign that he truly does get it. His understanding that an album is supposed to be an artist's vision and not one long glorified posse cut demonstrates creative maturity and a commitment to long extinct, yet winning formulas that should appeal to older heads who came up in an era when MC's could easily hold down albums dolo. Sky emits the same command of ship as his forefathers and makes it abundantly apparent that this LP isn't some weak 12 track excursion flooded with a who's who of NYC mixtape personalities. Instead, he Hands us 16 full solo tracks that are all at least two minutes and fifty seconds long, making a strong statement about his abilities and work ethic.

The good bulk of the LP remains on course through a terrain of challenging subject matter, but Sky does take some time to show that he can appeal to the fairer sex (and bore the hell out of the other), crooning it up on the 9th Wonder laced "Easy to Fly". Featuring the sultry vocal backing of another Justus League affiliate, Carlitta Durand, Sky ditches the witty metaphors and indulges the ladies with tales of extravagance and high end getaways. Despite a winning beat from 9th I was left feeling a little indifferent toward the track. "Popularity", one of the singles released for the album and one of Nottz's two production contributions, sort of emanates that same stale aloofness unfortunately and I'm unsure why Sky felt that among the rest of the stellar work these two joints were suited to be included.

By the end of the record there should be little doubt left about who the future of the game should be. Skyzoo is as capable and versatile as any new face and a whole lot of the older ones too. "The Salvation" is a triumph and instantly registers as one of the best albums of 2009. Maybe it's not enough to completely save the game, but it definitely just gave it some much needed mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions.....

A Purehip-hop pick at 8 out of 10.

-BIG D O