THE MAROONS - AMBUSH

If you are into any of the Quannum kids, chances are you already know about The Maroons. Made up of Latryx\'s Lateef the Truth Speaker and Blackalicious\' Chief Xcel, The Maroons are offering up Ambush (Quannum) this month, a mini-LP that is the precursor to their upcoming full-length, Ashe. And I have to tell you, if Ambush is representative of a tenth of what Ashe is going to be, Ashe may very well be the best fucking album ever.

\"Matter Of Time\" drips with Blackalicious\' style and sampling, and Lateef flawlessly rides the lyrical waves over the track. \"If\" is a politically charged, accusatory tune that points the finger at everyone, from the motherfuckers screwing shit up to the motherfuckers sitting on their asses doing nothing about it. \"Lester Hayes\" is a rocking roller coaster of lyrical genius... and it\'s funkier than Debbie\'s pillow case. And Blackalicious\' Gift Of Gab enters the wordplay fray on \"Best Of Me\", giving us the second most sultry track on the album, the first being \"Beautiful You\". Also tag-teamed by Gift Of Gab, \"Beautiful You\" walks the hip-hop/R&B tightrope, tipping from one side to the other over and over again. And wrapping things up is \"365\", a tune that proves that Lateef and Xcel are damn fine at what they do.

I dug this disc, for sure. But at nine songs long it\'s but a musical appetizer for the main course. Hopefully Ashe will be on its way soon. Until then, I\'ll be sitting here at the table, munching on Ambush.