It’s not easy for two solo MCs to come together and record a cohesive album, especially when the age and style difference is as drastic as it is between these two, hence the album title. On one hand, Chubb Rock hasn’t lost an ounce of lovable charisma. His cartoonish flow is just as tight as ever, even though the lush organic production doesn’t compliment it the way it should.
Instead of attempting to find common ground, the pair seems comfortable dwelling on adjusting the contrast between the new and old school. It works on the title track, where the two MCs actually compliment one another over the soft chimes, soaring strings, and relaxing thump and clap beat. Wordsmith going in full force behind the laid-back nostalgia of Chubb’s introductory verses makes you realize that the lesser known MC can hold his own just fine with a legend on the same record. The problem is that this dichotomy of old vs new gets old quickly. Bridging the gap. Old school is different from new school. Fine. We get it. Tracks like “Old Skool Flava” and “Old 2 the New” continue to drag the theme on for no other apparent reason than the fact that Chubb and Wordsmith have no real chemistry on wax. In fact, there are times when the two MCs are on the same track sounding like they’ve recorded two separate records and mixed them together. They even go so far as to each make a solo record over the same beat and place them consecutivelyin the track sequence as ‘Chocolate City Part 1′ and ‘Chocolate City Part 2.’
Even though it sounds more like a mixtape than an actual album, Bridging the Gap is a strong showing from both the old timer and the newcomer. Both dudes are at the top of their spit game and the production is top notch. It would have been nice to simply see a solo album from each MC, however the decision to make a tag team album might have been a shrewd financial move to cut production costs in this weak economy. The shortage of concepts and shaky cohesiveness really hurts an album that could have easily been exceptional.
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