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Marco Polo and Torae | Double Barrel

Duck Down (2009)
By CHRIS FARAONE  |  May 27, 2009
3.0 3.0 Stars

090522_torae_main
Duck Down has reached beyond its Brooklyn-grounded rap roots in recent years, signing such acts as Kidz in the Hall and Boston's Special Teamz. But not this time: though producer Marco Polo is an extraordinarily skilled Canadian-Caucasian, his MC accomplice on Double Barrel Coney Island rifleman Torae — is as New York hardcore as cats get on rap's deluged contemporary landscape.

Blessed with the finest qualities of Kool G Rap and Xzibit, Torae rocks with iron lungs and steel muscles; his massive physique makes every hook, jab, and uppercut bang that much harder. As for melodies, DJ Premier — a man of very few public utterances — speaks the intro on behalf of hip-hop's new "it" duo. And if that's not proof that Polo is next in line to run the new school alongside the Alchemist and Statik Selektah, then neither is the fact that I've been saying so for two years.

Polo doesn't necessarily glisten on this disc; though there are grandstand moments like the epic hood anthem "Coney Island" and the pornographic funk jam "Hold Up" with Masta Ace and Sean Price, he's mostly just loading Torae's cannon full of heavy shrapnel. But Premo would say it himself: a beatmaker's job is to elevate a rapper, not to outshine him.
Related: Wu-Tang Clan's essential flavor, Review: The Roots of Hip-Hop, Review: Akon | Freedom, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, Music,  More more >
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ARTICLES BY CHRIS FARAONE
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  •   MAIN MAN OF MATTAPAN  |  December 01, 2009
    Ask any group of teens on Blue Hill Ave how many of them rap and you'll get more affirmatives than you would surveying kids at Mass and Boylston for slap-bass skills. Allston might be a crab bucket of indie-rockers, and one in three JP residents is an abstract painter, but MCs in Boston's black communities have more competition than nail salons in Dudley Square.
  •   IBEW PRESSURES STOP & SHOP  |  November 24, 2009
    Folks driving past suburban Stop & Shop locations this week might wonder why laborers are suddenly concerned about food safety.
  •   TALE OF THE TAPES  |  November 25, 2009
    Soon after music-minded UMass-Boston management professor Pacey Foster signed on to write a Boston chapter for the most comprehensive hip-hop tome ever compiled, his mission brought him to rural Maine, where it has long been speculated that the Hub rhyme scene's Holy Grail is safely stored.
  •   WALE | ATTENTION DEFICIT  |  November 24, 2009
    It turns out there is merit behind the billion-dollar hype machine that’s been propelling Wale since he surfaced on the face of URB two years ago.
  •   REVIEW: THE BLIND SIDE  |  November 17, 2009
    It’s tough for any self-respecting critic to refrain from joyously tackling a Sandra Bullock movie — so it’s a good thing The Blind Side isn’t one.

 See all articles by: CHRIS FARAONE

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