What do you get when a Japanese beatsmith and an emcee from Chicago meet in Los Angeles through the celestial power of hip-hop music? You get a versatile and aurally delicious hip-hop record much like The Succession, a hard-hitting, timely album from TRES Records integrants E.S.Q. & Chikaramanga. The flavors sprinkled throughout this debut showcase the talents of E.S.Q. as an artist of the spoken word as well as TRES co-founder Chikaramanga’s skills with the technologies of the MPC (especially the MPC60 and the S3000). Their musical chemistry is unquestionable; E.S.Q. and Chikaramanga shine on tracks such as “My Intellect”, “All City,” and the funky trumpet-driven feature “Out of Sight.”  A backpack hip-hop record at heart, E.S.Q. and Chikaramanga showcase a unique philosophy to hip-hop music through their distinctive sound by taking cues from the raw lyricism of Big L, Percee P, Aceyalone and the rich sample-based heritage of production as expounded by The Large Professor and by acts like People Under the Stairs.

Evidenced in the single, “My Intellect,” this track begins with a distinctive East Asian style beat, coupled with a clever hook sample from “Rock Dis Funky Joint” by one of the forerunners and fathers, the Poor Righteous Teachers. My favorite sample, however, would have to be Lil’ Dap and Baby Pa sampled from Group Home’s “Two Thousand” as accurately placed on the joint “Mad Love.” The samples are the most foundational of blocks to building a successful hip-hop track, and at this level, DJ Chikaramanga does not disappoint. E.S.Q, much like the raw lyricists of his tradition, raps over the track in a rapid-fire, multisyllabic, and energetic mode, touching on a multitude of topics synaptically connected through the mechanics of the rhyme. While at times E.S.Q’s a hard act to follow, when one connects the dots—the whole of the meaning is illuminated.

Chikaramanga and E.S.Q

While this is their first record as a duo, both E.S.Q. and Chikaramanga are anything but newcomers to the game. They have both released work in the past as solo artists and are established through their previous work as both DJs (E.S.Q. goes by the name DJ Wax1Da) and emcees (for Chikaramanga, this was through the group Giant Panda).  The Succession is full of positive vibes, with fun bits and conscious words that make the album feel well-rounded and thought out. Tracks such as “Mad Love,” the humorous “A Day in the Life” and “A Night in the Life” speak to the breadth of the album. Though at times the record sounds rough and not-as-polished as the stuff we’re used to listening to, do not be put off. That’s exactly the timeless grittiness the record is trying to get at.

The Succession is exactly as its name suggests: it is highlighting a development, a progression, and an accomplishment. The Succession definitely has mass appeal—it bridges the Western hemisphere with the Eastern hemisphere, the East Coast and the West Coast, the old and the new, and does it in a creative and refreshing manner. It shows that hip-hop is far from dead and that there are folks keeping alive the original traditions of the genre which have largely been forced underground. This record sticks true to those three tenets (development, progression, accomplishment)—through its use of hip-hop as a positive and nostalgic musical style—exactly what it used to/should still be, and on this note E.S.Q. and Chikaramanga impress. On the cut “Rock On” E.S.Q. rhytmatically speaks: “I’ve got quality and sophistication, now all I need is your cooperation. B-boys and girls get on the floor—and keep rocking ‘til you just can’t rock it no more.” The album is 16 tracks, clocking in at about an hour of hip-hop—exactly what the doctor ordered. Add this record this to your daily music-vitamin intake and adjust your nutrition for some cool hip-hop fun.

Check out the video “E.S.Q. & Chikaramanga ‘My Intellect’ Behind the Scenes” below and click here for the Recession-Free Mixtape (Mixed by DJ Lowkey) released in anticipation of the record.

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