La The Darkman - Heist Of The Century (November 17, 1998)

At the eve of my fifth annual trip to the dreaded financial capital of the West Coast of Arabia, (Nothing against the region, I just hate the way people drive there.) I decided to write about a rapper I was introduced to during my very first trip to that decadent wasteland of a city called Jeddah. (Fuck that place's infrastructure.)

That first trip was the very first time of me living in an entire city for a considerable period of time where I knew absolutely zero people. Naturally, my main recourse was games and hip hop. I played the ever-living shit outta Batman: Arkham Asylum and delved deeper into boom bap albums that, up till that point, I never heard.

One of which is the revered first chapter of the Soul Assassins series by one Lawrence Muggerud aka DJ Muggs of the legendary Cypress Hill, released in 1997. Keep in mind that this trip is the one that changed my outlook on music and how I look for it. That album, along with the Wu-Tang Clan's venerable 5-year plan collection of solos and the timeless Gang Starr discography, was a big transition stage for me. I might also mention that that trip was when I got into my absolute favorite two Cypress Hill albums: Temples Of Boom and, more importantly, IV.

Back on Soul Assassins Ch.1 for a bit: On that album was a solo track, called Devil In A Blue Dress, reserved exclusively for a rapper whose moniker I've already come across on my Wu-related Wikipedia voyages: Lason Jackson bka Wu-Affiliate La The Darkman aka LAD. I'd later find out that this song is one of his very first performances on wax ever. This is very interesting, as La is apparently the first Wu-Affiliate not to receive their first major exposure on a Wu-related release. Maybe it's because RZA has finally abandoned his role as Wu dictator by then. Whatever.

In actuality, La debuted with a promotional single in 1996 by the name of I Want It All with a special b-side called As The World Turns featuring one Raekwon the Chef, white-hot from his work on the famed Only Built For Cuban Linx. 

So, judging by the picture you see above of the album I'm reviewing here, Wu management liked La's performance on Devil In A Blue Dress so much that they furthered La’s adoption into the ranks and went about making his debut album, Heist Of The Century. Now, despite the album being a partnership between Wu-Tang Records and a label called Supreme Team Entertainment, of which this album is the only release under that particular banner, Heist Of The Century boasts a cracking list of guests, both on the lyrical and production fronts. First of all, production is largely handled by Carlos Broady aka 6 July from the abhorrent Comby's jolly bag of Hitmen. The remaining producers? The fucking RZA himself, the aforementioned DJ Muggs, Havoc of Mobb friggin' Deep and Killarmy's 4th Disciple. The rappers? Oh just the aforementioned Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, Golden Arms, Havoc (again), 12 O'Clock (the late great ODB's brother), Killa Sin (again from Killarmy) and something called a Shotti Screwface, to whom I offer my deepest condolences for the loss of his education. What? He calls himself Shotti bloody Screwface, get over it. Naturally with such a guest list, the album sold enough numbers for Lason to never leave the independents and start his own independent label, and he's been in and out of the game ever since.

Now before I heard this album, I scoured the internet various times to gauge the reaction to Lason and this album from hip hop heads. What I found was consistently inconsistent: People seem to either revere this guy or curse him to the depths of oblivion. Normally, these types of reactions interest me, as I always like to form a solid opinion on dividing entertainment material, but I don't know what kept me from actually forming an opinion on this guy. I mean, sure I listened to the album properly before but I've never felt strongly about actually issuing a verdict about its quality. It was just one of those albums in the background that you like to routinely listen to but don't normally discuss. Until I realized I'm going to have to properly review this thing. That's when my opinion of it formed very clearly

Read on:

LUCCI
La begins the album with the right idea if he's ever to be taken seriously as a Wu-Affiliate: 6 July hooks his boy up with a Five Deadly Venoms sample that best fits the young' un to open the song, then loops a Junior Mance excerpt in a fair imitation of a Wu beat, complete with dusty drums. For his part, La launches into some thug raps that, while technically proficient, are just too damn flossy to my taste, and they ultimately ruin the song. Shame, as the beat had potential.

SHINE
Unlike this shit, which is pretty goddamn dead-on-arrival. Seriously 6 July, what the hell were you thinking looping that Roy Ayers sample like that? This is what happens when producers try to be trendy, as this shit sucks wild moonhog balls. To top it off, the lyrics are mostly even worse, with the exception of a small mini-story in the second verse that shows an incredible talent for imagery. Still, fuck this song.

CITY LIGHTS
After a short dialogue skit where an O'Jays sample plays in the background, Havoc from Mobb Deep tags in for 6 July and gives him a beat straight outta his mid-90s vault of haunting beats, and the result is instantaneous: La sounds spits a 42-bar-long one-verse-story about the pitfalls of street life that sounds infinitely better than the first two songs off Heist Of The Century. Maybe it's because Hav, like many people, recognized the similarities La had with his own rhyme partner Prodigy: Lason sounds like a fan, and I mean that in the best way possible. It's here that La begins showing that he's pretty fucking awesome when telling stories. So yeah, I love this song.

WHAT THUGS DO (FEATURING DJ ROGERS & PUFF)
And we're back once again in shitty territory. 6 July has mostly made it his mission to supply La with the absolute worst beats he can muster. Did this kid take a dump in the back seat of your car, Carlos? The hook is a sewage and koala barf cocktail, by the way. To his credit, La tries his damnedest to save the song with as much vivid imagery as he can, but to no avail. Shame.

HEIST OF THE CENTURY (FEATURING KILLA SIN)
The venerable DJ Muggs steps behind the boards, and this time you get to see why so many people were hyped on this Lason Jackon character: He and fellow Wu b-teamer Killa Sin bring the heat something delicious with, as the title states, a dope-as-all-fuck heist tale. Muggs' beat perfectly sets the canvas for these two MCs to paint their tale, and the whole lyrical buffet's here: imagery, punchlines, detail, wordplay. This song has it all. I will note that while the dial-up sounds might've seemed like a good idea in '98, they sound hilariously dated now. Still didn't stop this song from washing all the horrid tracks outta my memory by its very lonesome. Once again, Lason continues to prove just how amazing of a storyteller he is.

FIFTH DISCIPLE
4th Disciple tags in for some proper Wu production from a legitimate Wu-Element in his first of four showings on this album, and he provides a short-but-sweet incursion into Cuban Linx territory, complete with Raekwon himself ad-libbing in the background. For his part, La doubles down heavy on the quotables, spitting his one-verse-wonder as if it were his final wish in this life. I don't care if the song is one minute long, this shit is splendid.

NOW Y
Please refer to my review of track #1. Seriously.

SPRING WATER (FEATURING RAEKWON)
Come the fuck on, 6 July! You can't be serious about putting La on with these beats! What's more, you brought out one of the shittiest Rae performances a Wu stan like myself has ever heard. I don't care how genuine La sounded here, Rae and 6 July demolished any chance of this song succeeding to kingdom come. Fuck this song.

4 SOULS (FEATURING SHOTTI SCREWFACE)
Whoa. I did not expect the 6 July from 19 years ago to listen to me! OK, that joke was lame as hell, but by God did 6 July cook up a heater on this track, courtesy of a smacker of a Wu-sounding beat, dusty drums and all, with exquisite dabs of an Aretha Franklin sample mixed with it. And it's the song featuring Shotti Screwface, of all people! And by God, do La and SS sound fucking bananas on this. Lason, in particular, dials up his grimy game to 300! No lie, this is essential listening if you're a Wu stan.

STREET LIFE (FEATURING TEKITHA)
After the previous song's high, 6 July brings us a beat that's very much tame by comparison, but still keeping the quality intact. However, once again La fails to deliver lyrics that match the beat's sombre nature, opting for generic thug raps instead. And yet the true reason this song is one of the absolute worst I've ever heard in hip hop history is simply just how off-key Tekitha sings her interpolation of Randy Crawford's famed track, turned into a blaxplotation mainstay by Quentin Tarantino's 1997 classic Jackie Brown. I've long since decided that the Wu just don't know how to recognise true R&B talent, because Tekitha has impressed me on only one occasion and it damn sure ain't this.

LOVE (FEATURING MAIA CAMPBELL)
4th Disciple superbly builds a beat around a carefully-picked Gladys Knight sample. La, in turn, fails to deliver on his end of the deal, choosing to spin a tired tale where he's pushing off a needy girl in order to pursue his career. I don't care how true this is to some people, I refuse to respect such negative stereotypes because they are not the majority of women out there. With this song, Lason breaks his hot storytelling streak. Groan.

FIGARO CHAIN (FEATURING HAVOC OF MOBB DEEP)
Havoc is back, and this time he chooses to fuel the comparisons between La and Prodigy by sharing the track with our host. And I must say, they mesh well together. I know many non-Wu fans consider La as a Prodigy knock-off, but all I care about is if the guy lyrically delivers. And here he most definitely does, as this sounds like a Mobb Deep purist's tribute. Nice!

POLLUTED WISDOM
The Abbot himself climbs down from his high horse to produce for Lason Jackson. And it must be said: His beat will take your breath away. RZA conjures a fucking '5-year-plan' beat while bringing not one, but two OV Wright samples sprinkled throughout the resulting instrumental. And fortunately, La makes up for his fable flop earlier with a sublime crime-ridden tale about a female thug that lost her life to 'the life'. This even tops the earlier City Lights. This is most definitely a RZA track, judging by the way he lets the beat ride for two minutes straight, which is a detail I absolutely love when the beat's this good. The icing on the cake is the Christopher Walken sample at the end, although for the life of me, I can't pick out where it's from. In closing: This is, by far, my favorite solo performance on this album from our host.

GUN RULE
Carlos returns with a mean Grover Washington loop, ingeniously spicing the beat up with an exquisite Carlton Fisk sample played at the hook. La lives up to his Darkman moniker by reacting to these sinister tunes in the most proper way: Upping the haunting imagery to a thousand. Trust me, this is one masterclass display. Albeit not quite as high as the preceding song, but still impressive. This album has now established quite a turnaround as this counts three amazing songs in a row.

ELEMENTS OF SURPRISE (FEATURING MASTA KILLA & GOLDEN ARMS)
4th Disciple solidifies his ear for classic music with this Johnny Mathis loop, while introducing two Wu Generals to share mic time with our host, and all three come armed to the teeth with a harrowing street tale each, told in a mesmerizing verse each with only a bridge between La's verse and those of his guests. Bar none, the best song on the album.

AZ THE WORLD TURNZ (FEATURING RAEKWON)
The b-side to the promo debut single. 4th Disciple composes the best beat on the album, even better than that brilliant RZA offering, and schools 6 July on how to pull a proper Raekwon performance, even if it is cut extremely short. Seriously, the beat is suffocatingly minimalist in the best possible way. And as you've read above, Darkman really reacts to beats like this, lyrically besting friggin' Raekwon the Chef in a definitive and convincing manner. This is the fifth awesome song in a row. 4th's workrate on the Wu-Affiliate albums of the late 90s truly is underrated and his work here's proof.

WU-BLOOD KIN (FEATURING 12 O'CLOCK & GHOSTFACE KILLAH)
Oh well, all good streaks must come to an end. 6 July utterly wastes his opportunity to prove 4th Disciple's prior showing wrong by completely mishandling the Al Green sample he looped, whilst also wasting a Ghostface Killah appearance on the putrid hook. To their credit, La & 12 try to save the song with two tales filled with as much detail as they can muster, but the beat is just too fucked to allow them any room for a comeback. Carlos: Fuck you for making this beat and for allowing the existence of that utter abomination of a hook.

I WANT IT ALL
The promo debut single was saved for last. 6 July’s beat is technically competent but when taking the rest of Heist Of The Century into context, the resulting placement ends the album with a most underwhelming beat, which could've been saved by a notable performance. Instead, La just seemingly coasts on some more flossy shit. Had this been placed as the opening track of the album, it’d’ve fit much better. Shame. This is one whimper of an album closer I ain't forgetting anytime soon.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Gut check time: I said in the intro to this review that people were split down the middle regarding Lason Jackson and Heist Of The Century. Here's my two cents: I understand the reasoning behind both opinions completely. Throughout this album, La was either impressively proficient or infuriatingly lacking. And no, this isn't another Pillage situation: The main culprit behind this is 6 July, who didn't direct La's talents enough times. True, he does supply more than a fair share of good beats, but a producer's main role is to ensure that his MC comes as correct as La and co. did on songs like 4 Souls and Gun Rule, in which 6 July aced his production duties. But it can't be a coincidence that a vast majority of La's worst showings on this album were 6 July productions, which is why the blame must be placed on him. Proof of which is just how awesome La sounds on the guest producers' contributions. Seriously, only Love from 4th Disciple, the 2nd-most featured producer here, was a misfire. The rest were stellar. Oh well, now Lason can sleep well at night confident in the knowledge that the vitriol of Wu stans who hated this album will be directed towards the one truly deserving of it: Carlos Broady. I'm kidding, he's probably a nice guy, right? Seriously though, in closing: this is an album where the quality is split right down the middle. Nine tracks are disgustingly awesome, while the other nine are just disgusting.

WORTH IT? This is where I leave the final decision up to you: If you're a glass half full cat like myself, then this album is worth your investment, even with its crappy ending. If you'd rather spend your money on albums more concise in quality, I'm sure La and 6 July'd understand.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN
DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS
From DJ Muggs' Soul Assassins Ch.1 album, I only added it here because it was apparently added to a rare rerelease on Heist Of The Century. Which is pretty appropriate as I've found this to be La's absolute best solo performance ever. Period. Seriously, if you thought he was magnificent on any track you might've liked on the proper album, he will blow you away here. The only track from the album that comes close to matching its quality is Polluted Wisdom, and that is one endorsement you better respect. In fact, go and listen to it now, just so you understand how much of an impression this guy left on people. Enough to inspire a review almost 20 years later, that's for sure. And we're done.

For more Wu-Affiliate shit, come and check just how deep the rabbit hole goes here.