"...itâs like a sociology book with a spiritual underpinning and an economic and political insert, all tied together with a 'dirty music industry' rope of frustrationâ¦â

14 MP3 Songs in this album (58:08) !
Related styles: Hip-Hop/Rap: Alternative Hip Hop, Hip-Hop/Rap: Underground Rap, Mood: Intellectual

People who are interested in Common Lupe Fiasco Mos Def should consider this download.


Details:
In the follow-up to his debut album, Soul Sample, Prolif Kochise has fired his second shot into the air like a stranded sailorâs flare lighting up the darkness and signaling his location on a lost island. With Intellectual Property Kochise bring us to his island and allows us to look through his binoculars at what our music, our lives, and even our religious beliefs look like from the outside. With a smooth background of sampled soul pieces providing the backdrop for his sagacious yet fiery wordplay, Kochise offers a poignant and potent treatise on the property of our intellects.

At the very beginning of the album Prolif warns us that âevery bar is tacticalâ. Iâll take it even further and say that every bar, every topic, every bass drum and snare are just as tactical and well planned. The sultry thickness of the sampled bass lines still doesnât manage to overtake the urgency in his rhymes as he states âI was done with rap music but for yall I sacrificeâ. However, one thing he did not sacrifice was beats that become a mystic ear potion making your eardrums swoon.

If we are honest with ourselves, I mean truly honest as consumers and critics of âgoodâ music, we will all admit that if a better known artist created an album with joints like âI Used to Hate H.E.R.â, where Kochise illustrates his tug of war relationship with himself and his relationship with hip-hop, we would hail it as daring. We would say that it is creative to address Commonâs classic with such a tricky spin. Itâs gutsy. But since Prolif probably wonât be up in the Source or XXL magazines anytime soon, youâll be tempted to brush him off as a gospel rapper. But, I implore you, donât.

The personality of Intellectual Property is one that is not found elsewhere in popular music at the moment. Much like the anecdotes in âCosmeticsâ, we likely prefer to cover up any voice in us that tells us that the music we listen to and the proclivities it feeds are destructive. And therein lies the power of this artwork. For slightly over an hour Kochise not only refuses to let you muffle that voice that is pushing you toward your best self, he snatches it up and raps with it. He wields your own conscience like your soulâs Excalibur and really isnât apologetic about whether or not he offends your sensitive âwho is he to tell me Iâm bugginââ instinct.

With verbal exercises like the personification of a cell phone in âMiss Nokiâ, to the troubled yet slick narrative on deep thought in âNothingâ, to the mean, unlikable personality given to the television network of the same name as the track âBlack Entertainment Televisionâ creativity is in Kochiseâs pocket as if he has a patent on it.

Thereâs not a lot negative I can say about this album other than noting the overuse of audio snippets from commercials and speeches. In fact they fit so well that I can easily overlook the abundance of them. All I can say is, be careful with this album. Once you start playing the first track you become the intellectual property of Prolif Kochise and he will bend, push, pull you and shadowbox your chin until you are thoroughly acquainted with both who you are and who you have the potential to be if you can drown out the incessant banging of popular culture in your mindâs ear.

Chad L. Downey for Marah Creative Media