Rating:
Genre:
Rap
Release Date: 10/02/2007
Peanut Butter Wolf has proved he's an all-star as a producer, but his
2K8 collection shows that he commands so much respect that he can stock a full hour with exclusives or near-exclusives from the best producers in hip-hop. Part of a collaboration between
Stones Throw, one of the best labels in hip-hop, and sports video-game maker
Take Two,
2K8: BBall Zombie War finds
Wolf rolling out a raft of tracks that make this compilation
much more than just a co-branding opportunity. (The tracks were also slotted to appear in some of
Take Two's games.) Most importantly, the late and lamented
J Dilla appears three times, first on
"Lightworking" with features for
Talib Kweli and
Q-Tip (driven by a
Raymond Scott sample, no less); second with
MF Doom and
Guilty Simpson on
"Mash's Revenge"; and finally, with a
Jaylib remix of
Quasimoto's
"Hydrant Game." Madlib has even more appearances, including the opener, a debut for his project with
Karriem Riggins called
Supreme Team; an unreleased
Madlib track called
"The Wigflip"; the aforementioned
Quasimoto/
Jaylib remix; and a
Beat Konducta joint called
"Trouble." Aside from the veterans, a few relative newcomers make almost as much noise --
Aloe Blacc's
"Find a Way" is a smooth and spacious contemporary R&B production that balances all the hip-hop on display, while the lurching electro production on
Dam-Funk's
"Sidewayz" would do
Madlib proud. The new project
James Pants has the track
"Ka$h" remixed (by
PBW himself) into an '80s video-game soundtrack by way of
Prince, but funniest (if not best) of all is
Niko's childish (literally) rap over a
DJ Babu beat on
"Now You Know." As usual with undie rap, the tracks are driven by more
Sesame Street- and
Electric Company-related samples than anyone could count, but this is one of the prime rap compilations of the year.
~John Bush, All Music Guide
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