El Michaels Affair "Enter the 37th Chamber"

So last night I was politicking with my homeboy DJCH at the Hip Hop Bash (big ups to Kingstar, Enoch and Dan). I haven’t spoken to my homie in a while and among the stuff we were talking about he asked me what was I listening to lately. I name dropped a couple of Hip-Hop albums I’ve been checking out, recent releases and such but today I realized I forgot to mention what I think it has to be the best album I’ve heard this year… and it’s not a Hip-Hop album (at least not in paper).

I’m talking about “Enter the 37th Chamber” by The El Michaels Affair. The El Michaels Affair is a jazz/funk band that is formed by accomplished musicians from such groups as Antibalas, The Dap Kings and The Budos Band . The horn section of the El Michaels Affair was in charge of the horn section on Jay-Z’s “Roc Boys”. So you can pretty much have an idea on their resume.

This album is a cover version of a selection of Wu-tang clan joints re-interpreted in a jazz/funk instrumental way. Don’t let the premise fool you, it is abso-fucking-lutely a brilliant record. The beats are raw and sound incredible, they don’t just cover the songs the give them new life and do their own arrangements. The beats sound raw and grimey as the originals, but they have another quality that you wouldn’t expect to describe a Wu-Tang record, they are beautiful (don’t get me wrong, Wu-Tang joints are the shit, they are Hip-Hop at it’s finest but they are so rugged that the adjetive beautiful is one that you would think to apply to describe them). Sure there are some hard beats, and killer drums with sick basslines, but still this is a record that plays without you wanting to press the skip button. There are really no bad songs on this album, NONE, but they are some stronger than others. The three that just simply down-rigth moving are “C.r.e.a.m.” that pretty much revitalizes the clan’s most succesful joint, “Heaven and Hell” and melancholic rendition on Raekwon’s joint, this version although less than 3 minutes it is a song that will have you replaying it a couple of times, and the simply amazing version of “Can’t it be so simple” this song is beyond words to describe, it takes the sadness and nostalgia of the original classic and elevates it to an epic (yes I said it, EPIC) masterpiece.

Ths album may not appeal to the regular mainstream hiphopper, but if you love the Wu-Tang Clan, GET IT, if you love Funk, GET IT, if you love Jazz, GET IT… if you are a music lover, well you know what to do…

You can find this record by clicking here