The X-ecutioners
X-pressions
(Asphodel)
The current state of rap suggests that most hip-hop artists left their ingenuity back at some ghetto block party. I mean, really, how many more songs can anyone endure when it comes to lyrical topics like “smokin’ blunts,” “drinkin’ 40eez,” and “gunnin’ down punk-ass niggaz”? Doing things slightly differently than the majority of hip-hop’s trend-seeking sheep are the X-ecutioners. Consisting of four DJ’s who place the emphasis on scratching and mixing (and not MC’s), the X-ecutioners deserve some credit for doing things a bit differently than their peers. X-pressions isn’t great or revolutionary, but at least it offers up something new, and it’s about fucking time.
Mike Cade