REVIEWS
Mikah 9
Timetable
(Kaihou)
Mikah 9's relaxed coif is misleading: It's the only part of him that
isn't tightly coiled. His mind is taut, not restricted, but ready to
pounce. The Freestyle Fellowship co-founder is one of hip-hop's most
gifted microphone fiends and one of its most elusive. The notorious
Mikah has been cultivating the reputation of legend in absentia. Yes,
absence makes the heart grow fonder, but this rapper deserves the
reverence.
With the alternately languorous or lightning-quick touch of his tongue,
Mikah makes language his. Timetable is a succulent, if apparently
random, collection of freestyles (over borrowed rhythms like O.C.'s
"Time's Up"), a cappellas, previously unreleased tracks and new work
with producer Daddy Kev.
Though the Fellowship has often been posited as the polar opposite of
the G-funk scene that also emerged in early-'90s LA, Mikah 9's lyrical
persona represents the troubled-but-loving marriage of poetic glimmer
and gangsta strut. His flights of lyrical fancy are tempered by street
wisdom, separating him from self-indulgent word wankery. Check this
freestyle from the Wake Up Show: "Hands of a gangster/knuckles all
scraped up/sandpaper fingerprints counter burns or razorblade cuts/there
is no heart to speak of just cold black steel/the blood is circulated by
the will to kill or be killed..." And then there's an unabashedly
jazzy version of "Danger," which originally appeared on the Fellowship's
Inner City Griots, with Mikah delivering endearingly off-key jazz
incantations. As always, the man has no patience for boundaries. Now
that's gangsta. -- Lizz Mendez Berry, URB Magazine
While Aceyalone has been the Fellowship's most visible member, Mikah is
no less gifted. If Acey's verbal experiments and unpredictable flow make
him hip-hop's Monk, Mikah is Bird, unleashing straight virtuosity on the
mic. "Life and Death" hits like a roundhouse as he fashions himself into
a verbal keyboard, staying in perfect rhythmic and melodic sync with
Daddy Kev's pulsating beat and bass lines; on "Free Energy," his mouth
is a hooting, hollering, moaning scat instrument. Comprising more than
20 freestyles, alternative edits and original songs, Timetable is messy
to dig through, especially considering many of the freestyles' muddled
sounds. But with his creative spirit and sheer overload of talent, Mikah
taps into the best traditions of what the Fellowship have offered for
the last 10 years. -- Oliver Wang, LA Weekly
Jazz-inspired music-scapes camouflaged as hip-hop beats grace the new
productions on this album, while the old-school live performances inject
some microphone energy. Mikah 9 moves from thought to thought extremely
quickly, but the beat follows him, and it gives the listener more than a
few inspiring listens. Traditional Freestyle Fellowship fans will feel
right at home here with his older work, and should enjoy his new tracks
as well. This is also a great release for someone new to this
experienced underground rhyme slayer. -- Brad Mills, All Music Guide