30 Days of Sound: U-N-I...

California hip-hop duo U-N-I [audio=http://kngsrw.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/03-soul-hop.mp3] More after the break...

-KNGSRW

[audio=http://kngsrw.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/04-let-me-be.mp3] [audio=http://kngsrw.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/05-the-show-07.mp3] [audio=http://kngsrw.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/10-the-proposal.mp3] [audio=http://kngsrw.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/14-kream.mp3] [audio=http://kngsrw.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/15-beautiful-day-remix-ft-evidence-big-pooh-aloe-blacc-fashawn-mickey-factz-kes-kaos.mp3] Hailing from Inglewood, U-N-I (Short for U-N-I to the Verse) are a hip hop duo cut in the (post 9th Wonder) Little Brother mould. They’re one of the left coast’s many newer acts that look set to change the way that west coast hip hop is perceived in the modern day. You’re more likely to hear Thurzday & Y-O spitting about sneakers and girls then guns and gangs, and that’s exactly what we get here on the ’street album’ Fried Chicken & Watermelon. After a chicken-related sample laden intro, U-N-I introduce themselves on ‘The Launch’. Over a repetitive harmony sample both rappers drop hungry (no album title pun intended) verses, with Thurzday stealing the show; “So wack rappers get cut like foreskin/ Rap circumcision, don’t be mislead/ No homo, but we cut off these dickheads/ Hundred percent truth, zero percent phallus-y/” ‘Let Me BE’ lets the album down with an uninspiring beat and some iffy lines, such as Y-O becoming the millionth rapper to make a Damon Wayans/Major Payne pun. Sandwiching this track are two of the best cuts on the album in ‘Soul Hop’ and ‘The Show 2007?, the latter of which features the two rappers trading bars on any and every subject over Proh Mic’s futuristic-sounding beat. ‘Fat Girl’ is a humorous take on U-N-I’s love for larger ladies, with Y-O in particular dropping some playfully misogynistic heat. The album closes out with ‘K.R.E.A.M.’, which is exactly what you’re expecting, as Dame Taylor samples the Wu (and a Lupe line) to brilliant effect and both rappers do the beat justice as they drop red-hot verses steeped in sneaker punchlines. For what is essentially a mixtape, we’re only let down a few times here. ‘The Proposal’ and the previously mentioned ‘Let Me BE’, see the duo lose consistency and resort to tired subject matter while ‘LapDance’ tries too hard to be different and falls short. With a full album hitting sometime this summer, U-N-I are definitely a group with big things in their future. Words by: (1 Love Hip Hop)