Search - Icon the Mic King :: Mike & The Fat Man Lp

King Him

Omnipotent | The Realms Of Reality | 06/07/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I would just like to start this review by stating that, in my opinion, this is the best hip-hop album of '07 as of June. Unfortunetly it doesn't seem to be getting the recognition it deserves, but I think over the course of the year people will discover it, kind of like Sean Price's 'Monkey Barz' last year.



The LP is a collaboration between North Philadelphia emcee iCON The Mic King, and Eastern Connecticut producer Chum The Skrilla Guerilla. The album borrows its title from the 80's TV series 'Jake and the Fatman', and although it doesn't stay fused to the theme too strongly, after you've heard the album it won't matter.



One thing that became apparent to me upon listening to this is how much iCON has grown since the 'Intricate Spectrum EP'. His delivery and flow are more polished, witnessed as he effortlessly cuts through each track on this album. Of course iCON doesn't get all the credit here, Chum (best known for producing Apathy's album 'Eastern Philosophy') provides solid tracks for iCON to run around with memorable lyrics. iCON is a complete emcee. Whether you want punchlines ("I'm unbeatable, not even my memory serves me correctly"), food for thought ("Here she is homeless, former smoker and battered wife/ Yeah her appetite for love, and hope is magnified/ She's broke but not broken, life pumps under her skin/ A businessman spits in her hands, "Change comes from within"/ With that saliva in her palms/ And delight in her heart/ She prayed "For your sake I hope you know how right that you are"), storytelling (See 'Mike and the Fatman'), or just good old-fashioned bragging ("When God met me he went through an identity crisis"), he's got all bases covered. So to the end this review I'm going to quote one more line from him, if you find yourself in agreeance, odds are you'll like this album too...



"In my world if you suck, it's a sin to emcee"



Amen."