January 9, 2001

DJ Revolution : In 12's We Trust

Do we trust 12's more than money? DJ Revolution seems to think so.

6 / 10 Call DJ Revolution a poor man's Funkmaster Flex or DJ Clue. The Massachusetts-based DJ who appears on King Tech's Wake-Up Show cannot count on the assistance of a Jay-Z, DMX or Method Man for his compilation album, but he has got Chino XL, Rasco and Dilated Peoples. That may mean little to the casual fan, but to hard-core fans, it's the equivalent prospect of watching Lil' Kim in a menage-et-trois with Persia and Heather Hunter.

Produced and mixed by Revolution, 'In 12's We Trust' is like a radio show, with jingles, skits, shout-outs and scratching galore. One of the few albums where scratch-mix instrumentals feature heavily, the addition of scratch scientists Roc Raida and Kutmasta Kurt adds further credence to the set. Full of old breaks, dark, grainy beats and familiar vocal cuts from old rap records, 'keepin' it real' appears to be the album's first and foremost aim.

However, from the intro - Grandmaster Caz and Grand Wizard Theodore chatting about the old school days - one gets the impression that Revolution spends a little too much time diggin' in the crates. And while it's clear he wants to put over the importance of the DJ to the genre, the album loses sight of its audience and becomes a little too much like trainspotting.

Still, there's a couple gems on it, like posse cut 'The Backbone' and the terribly cliched, but still good, 'The Revolution', using, of course, Gil Scott Heron's 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'. A solid if unspectacular set that makes up in conviction what it lacks in imagination.

Derek A. Bardowell