3

2012 release from the Hip Hop act. Typical Cats return, the last of the great true school crews: bearers of transformed tradition, innovators par excellence, and heralds of an undying devotion to the science and magic of boom bap music. This installment in the TC saga is 3, their third studio full length. It plays like a message in a bottle from Hip-Hop's timeless present to the bizarre post physical, digital, viral world in which we live. DJ Natural's production chops have only deepened with time, and the rugged loops of the self titled Orange Album and the live instrumentation of Civil Service have melded to yield a mélange of Soul, Jazz, Funk, Roots, Radical Politics, and a sly refusal to bend to the dictates of current fashion. Kid Knish reprises his role as hip hop's all-time greatest unseen crew member (sorry, Jarobi), serving up samples, historical references, and vinyl oddities for Natural to slice and serve as android slabs of production genius.