Search - Collective Efforts :: Medicine (Dig)

A great listen immediate pleasure

Blake Kelsoe | San Jose, Ca USA | 07/14/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This cd is a really laid back cd and after listening you may feel inspired. It has a few skip over songs but less than a handful. Not nearly a classic but is a must buy for the people looking to add innovative hiphop into their collection. I own "trail mix" and "visions of things to come" and medicine is definetly a better cd. Check out Lightheaded with pure thought and wrong way, you will dig it if you enjoy Collective Efforts!"

Good mood music

C. W. Hall | Atlanta, GA USA | 01/26/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There's something to the concept of Collective Efforts latest album. It's titled Medicine and the album notes suggest it could help you develop a happier, healthier outlook on life. After listening to it repeatedly over the past few weeks, I'll be damned if Medicine doesn't actually put you in a better mood.



Everything is so incessantly positive. The production is top-notch and texturally subtle. The MCs take their cue from the tracks and content themselves with delivering messages without ever once trying to jam in their most multi-syllabic rhyme pattern. There's absolutely nothing obtrusive about the sound. Medicine doesn't hit you, it just sort of seeps in. Collective Efforts doesn't demand you listen, they suggest it. With that approach, the Atlanta quartet have succeeded in distilling some first rate feel good hip-hop.



Ben Hameen handles the bulk of the production duties, but virtually everyone in the crew takes a turn behind the boards. In addition, production for five songs is handled outside the immediate group. With so many heads contributing on the production side, it's amazing that the completed record manages such a cohesive sound. There are only two songs that seem out of place ("United" and "In Your Mind") and they are both quality stand-alone songs so you can forgive the missteps.



Lyrically, there's an old-school sensibility to J-Mil, Bambu, and Hameen that meshes perfectly with the easy-going musicality of Medicine. Collectively they ride the rhythm with a casual swagger born from having grown up with hip-hop. It's the same quality that makes Jurassic 5 such a successful and timeless group.



Maybe timeless is a good way to describe Medicine. Don't confuse timeless with classic. I'm not calling it a classic record. But it will be a record that you can put on ten years from now and enjoy listening to. It won't feel dated, it will just feel good. The reason it's timeless is that Collective Efforts aren't trying to prove themselves. They aren't jumping off musical cliffs trying to make a mark. They are comfortable that they and their music have a place in hip-hop. That comfort level has allowed them to produce a perfect example of grown folks' hip-hop."

Music is the medicine.....Well it should be

D. Hosterman | ATL, GA | 05/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Collective Efforts puts out another great album. I never thought that they could top Trail Mix, but they have. The piano, guitars, violins and Ben Hameen...What more could you ask for? This is a fantastic, uplifting album. And they made this out of their home studio...are you kidding me?



CE is the ONLY hip hop group I could play around my kids besides Will Smith. And Will Smith is just talking a lot of non-sense. The closest mainstream group I could compare CE to would be The Roots.



If you like The Roots, get this album. If you like hip-hop get this album. If you like positive, uplifting music get this album. I don't usually buy hip-hop albums, but I wouldn't hesitate to purchase anything from CE. This album along with Trail Mix doesn't leave my cd player."