Jersey City’s wordsmith Ransom releases the album one week after his 14th EP. He was one-half of the short-lived A-Team duo with Hitchcock, and after their disbandment, he launched his own career in 2008 with his feature-length debut Street Cinema and his Statik Selektah-produced second feature The Proposal. But it’s safe to say that the past few years have been his most important years to date, whether it’s the 5 EPs produced by Nicholas Craven, the 7 EPs based on the Seven Deadly Sins, Heavy’s the Head produced by Big Ghost Ltd., the Rome Streetz collaboration album “Coup de Grâce”, or even his last few works “Chaos is My Ladder”, “Director’s Cut 4” and “Deleted Scenes 2”. “Lavish Misery” produced by Harry Fraud was a step forward for him. Last summer Smoke & Mirrors by Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child and MadeinTYO was an exciting surprise, and this Halloween The Reinvention by DJ Premier faces uncomfortable truths with conductor Williams.
“Clairvoyance” slams down the door on his ability to perceive future events, while “Blood on the Arena Floor” raises the question in a crooning soul sample: why would a man believe in faith when every prophecy he’s familiar with is ignored. The only drumless single, “Bomaye,” references the “Rumble in the Jungle” between George Foreman and WWE Hall of Famer Muhammad Ali, just before “Temple Run” featuring J. Arrr talks about how they didn’t reach their full potential.
At the start of the second half, “Late Reply” keeps slicing soul samples, apologizing to the love of his life for being later than usual in responding to her calls and texts, leading “The Human Animal” to talk about people trying to pass the baton in a death race. “Flowers & Tombstones” featuring J. Arrr reunites the duo one last time over a drumless beat to lay flowers on those analytical tombstones, while “Trigger or Trigga” ends the EP fondly, talking about people falling victim to trigger work.
I didn’t expect “The Uncomfortable Truth” to drop so soon after “Reinvention” nearly three weeks ago, but it’s no surprise that it’s one of the greatest long-form dramas in Ransom’s entire catalog. Conductor Williams’ production leans more towards the drumless side, in stark contrast to the signature boom-bap sound of Preemo’s The Reinvention on Halloween, and the lyrics are more straightforward, with J. Arrr appearing a few times rather than being repressed on his own again.
Rating: 9/10
