This is a new EP from California production team The Inner Realmz. Founded by Masta Cypher Devine and Goomson, they’ve been making waves in the West Coast underground music scene since the early 2000s with their debut 2-beat tapes SP 1000 and Build & Destroy, followed by Low End Wizards and its sequel. A year and a half ago, Goomson happened to work with Broke on a collaborative beat tape, Heavy Wreck, which showcased Broke’s talents behind the scenes on the A-side, with Goomson on the B-side, of course, save for Masta Cypher Devine doing the final performance. Omnipot’s carefully selected and arranged jazz samples caught my attention this spring, so with that in mind, it got me interested in where Mass Collide would take it.
After a dusty “Fuck ‘Em” intro built around a piano sample, first track “Roughneck Reality” opens with a 4-minute boom bap instrumental produced by Goomson himself, while “Passin’ Thru” feels like an old The school beat sounds like it was made in the early 90s. The keys feel energetic throughout “Stress,” and the kick and snare give it a raw edge, but then “Don’t Shut Down on a Player” closes out the first half of the EP on a nostalgic note.
“Funky on the Track” is the perfect blend of funk and boom bap in 119 seconds, while Sirrealist and Vel 9’s “Misery” is the only clip here with a performance sound that brings them together to talk See only unhappiness and suffering. “Outra Vez” serves as the official outro, with kick and snare drums setting the tone, but the bonus track that follows serves as a sequel to “Kick a Freestyle off Chapter 1.”
Masta Cypher Devine left the band a while ago so he wasn’t involved in producing these beats at all, and even Goomson kept his production skills on a few joints, but Jon Deliz along with Mike B and Ripe143 took the lion’s share of it by showing them off as The producer’s abilities and keep The Inner Realmz’s jazzy Bap sound strong, delivering a 23-minute listening experience.
Rating: 7/10
