PERFECT 天 Album Review

PERFECT 天 Album Review:

Artist: RYU BLACK
Length: 73:44
Year: 2011
Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. Satsui No Hadou
3. Ansatsuken [Feat. Majesty]
4. Hayashi N Kaze ( 林 風 ) [Feat. Masia One]
5. How Hadou
6. Go-en ( 御 縁 ) [Feat. Divine Life]
7. Once Bit 10
8. Sakura-chan [Feat. Mio Fujii]
9. Cry
10. Heaven ( 天 ) [Feat. Mariannie]
11. Chun Li [Feat. Mega Ran and Masia One]
12. Yama ( 山 ) [Feat. Dashah]
13. Metsu Ansatsuken ( 暗 殺 拳 )
14. Dojo Kun
15. Minasan [Feat. Arablak, Baron, DVS, Hona Core, Kenso Kuma, Lex, Atari Blitzkrieg, Cy Marshall Law, Hop and Jon Luca]

**Have you read the Readme?**

Let me preface this by saying that this album is not for everyone. That's not at all a bad thing though. This album isn't supposed to be for everyone. PERFECT 天 is an album that is a true treat for fans of the Street Fighter videogame series. Yes, this is a Street Fighter concept album. When I first learned about that my excitement shot through the roof. I love Street Fighter, and this is a perfect ode to the series, especially the classic Street Fighter 2 sub-series.

The beats here are tight, and the rhyming is great. Minimal but talented guest features add characters to the concept without weighing it down with too many voices to keep track of and everyone brings their A-game. I wasn't familiar with any of the names on the guest list either, but for a project like this it wasn't terribly surprising. Between every track are skits which add some narrative detail to the album. Ryu (here as and performed by RYU BLACK) journeys and adventures, hanging out and fighting with Ken, Chun-Li and others, fighting Zangief, Vega, etc. Those familiar with the story of Street Fighter will be able to pull specific details from the album's lyrics and will also get a nice surprise in the album artwork (not only the cover, but the entire CD case- designed by Ron Wimberly).

One of the biggest pros for this album is that despite its long running length (largely courtesy to the abundance of skits) it doesn't feel like a long undertaking. The skits add freshness between tracks, and the variety of topics (surprising considering the source material) make for a great listen start to finish.

Where the album falters a bit is in terms of its broader appeal (and I'm not talking about radio tracks!). The skits get a bit cheesy in places and sometimes the more serious topics of suicide and bullying don't come through all that well. Here's the thing though- this is a concept about Street Fighter, if you're down with that kind of thing then you aren't gonna be bothered by those things. A bit of cheese is basically required considering the source material and is more than forgivable with beats and rhymes this good. I suppose the biggest complaint anyone would have is this: if you don't know anything or don't care about Street Fighter then why should you care? To answer that perfectly honestly- I don't know, I love Street Fighter.

Recommendation
I highly recommend this album. It has the beats and rhymes that any lover of underground hip hop can get on with. While I'm not sure those who don't already love Street Fighter will be all that compelled to care, this is one of the most compelling hip hop concept albums out there, and it will definitely find itself on heavy rotation for those who are open to the concept.