Vast Aire Albums (3)
'The Best Damn Rap Show'
Release Date 4/5/2005
Tracks 12
Label Eastern Conference
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The Best Damn Rap Show, a collaboration between producer Mighty Mi (the High & Mighty) and MC Vast Aire (Cannibal Ox), is a full-fledged album, not a mixtape. It might as well be considered Vast Aire's second solo album -- there's only one guest MC, after all -- even if the label, Eastern Developments, doesn't think it should. As such, it's not as scattershot as 2004's Look Mom...No Hands (which featured a number of producers), but then its high points -- and punch lines -- don't quite stack up. Mighty Mi's beats are a good match for Vast, packing all the necessary grit and disorienting ambiance, but the album lacks The Cold Vein's dark edge. While some might think that's an unfair standard, it's also an unavoidable one. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
'Look Mom... No Hands'
Release Date 1/1/2004
Tracks 17
Label Chocolate Industries
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Cannibal Ox, authors of underground hip-hop's most brutal assemblage of beats and rhymes (The Cold Vein), took the blueprint of Company Flow and, assisted by CoFlo's own master producer El-P, delivered the flipside of hip-hop's usually warm, earthy breakbeats. Unfortunately, they broke up before delivering another record, leaving Vast Aire, half of the duo, to launch a solo career with this full-length on Chocolate Industries. Vast's chillingly detached raps and delivery were a large part of Cannibal Ox's success, and there's much more in the same vein here. His lyrics aren't at the same level as on The Cold Vein (he tries to say more, but doesn't always succeed). Still, for him, communication means less than simply transmitting a dark, ominous mood. (And he occasionally spits an astonishing rap, like this one: "I heard justice was blind when Uncle Sam f*cked her/I heard she came when he whispered she loved her"). The roster of producers includes some of the best in Vast's section of the underground, including Blueprint (Soul Position, Aesop Rock), CamuTao (of S.A. Smash), and Jake One (Rasco, Planet Asia). ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
