Future looks bright:

Month of record releases appears promising with a helping hand from East and West coast musicians

By Jeff Khurgel, On-Line Forty-Niner

Thursday, November 12, 1998

The biggest month of the year for hip-hop releases is here.

In the coming weeks, look for Pete Rock's Soul Survivor, which is the producer extraordinaire's first venture in solo rhyming. Although I do not know if you want to call it solo, because there are 25 guest appearances.

Lending Pete Rock a hand will be numerous heavy-hitters from the East and West, including Kurupt, Black Thought, Prodigy, Wu's Raekwon, Meth and GFK.

Speaking of Wu, also keep an eye out for RZA's Bobby Digital. This album is a soundtrack to his upcoming movie of the same name. "The World According to Rakeem" will be his first solo album, also coming soon.

I have been waiting for RZA's solo joint for a few years. Nothing needs to be said about his production skills, which revolutionized and rejuvenated a stale phase in hip-hop. Sometimes his nice beats take precedence over his rhyming skills, but in my opinion, he is the best emcee in the entire Wu.

His style, delivery and complex lyrics are all rarities. His microphone skills never got much attention from the start, because his delivery on the first album was not yet polished.

In contrast, Meth on the first album was tight. My, how things have changed. Meth is now on everybody's album and soundtrack and there is definitely a change in his style since the first Wu album. Meanwhile, RZA gets better and better. With both of the band's albums out this month, contrast the two projects and then contrast them to the first Wu album.

In stores this week is Ice Cube's Volume 1: War and Peace, which hopefully is not as wack as the rest of his post-Lethal Injection material.