Review: The Upside of Down by Ini-Herit Skill

Ini-Herit Skill, an up and coming NYC producer with a new sound presents a new project, The Upside of Down an homage to dead musicians. Everyone from Nate Dogg to Big L is represented with new production and mastering. With such an ambitious project following his well received, debut L.P, Beats for Breakfast LP which released this past spring, Ini-Herit Skill attempts to rise to the occasion and deliver on an anticipated new project

Opening:
The L.P opens up with a montage of sorts; audio clips from news reports of different artists deaths' and reminiscing from people who knew the artists set over a somber beat. The opening has a slightly tense feel similar to a BEEF DVD segment, it's an energizing intro that flies directly into the first track which features MCs, Big L, Notorious B.I.G (on the hook) 2Pac and Big Punisher. The beat is exceptionally smooth and Ini selects some very stellar verses from each MC even though it's a bit difficult to hear the vocals over the beat (especially the vocal sample in the beat).

Surgery?
The next track is a smooth jazzy remix of Big Punisher's "Surgery with the Chainsaw" it's actually a bit weird to hear the track over a jazzy saxophone and piano heavy beat and even harder to hear the vocals, again. I find myself wishing I could turn off the vocals and just hear the beat.

Funky:
The next track is something any geek who loved the Sega Genesis can appreciate: The Theme song from Toejam & Earl 2: Panic on Funkotron... at least a sample of it with rappers, Guru, Ol Dirty Bastard & Left Eye with late crooner, Nate Dogg on the hook. Now, while the beat is not bad, it lacks creativity outside of the sampled choice and then there are the vocals which aside from being low are out of sync, especially Left Eye's vocals which are almost totally not in sync with the beat. This far from my favorite track but it starts off well.

Be Eazy:
The next track brings the focus to Eazy-E. I wasn't really impressed with the beat on the first listen but it is complimentary to the acapella and Eazy E's charisma makes it. However, this track is a sleeper hit at best. It's a skip-worthy affair.

Intermission:
The next track has no vocals whatsoever and is a deep thought provoking instrumental that you could definitely blaze one to. As a matter of fact I think I will.
A quick skip past takes us to an interlude from the one and only Dirt McGirt, Ol Dirty Bastard. "In Hawaii, the lava alone make my dick hard" he says over a theme song sample (I can't remember which show, sue me). Well placed interlude.

It's Raining Game:
This goes into a feature from the often overlooked west coast rapper, Mac Dre who was killed in Kansas City years ago. The beat seems like it's meant for the vocals, especially the hook but aside from Mac's vocals being low, the vocals are off beat for a good portion of the song so I am definitely torn on this track.

Smooth:
Pimp C rocks the next Ini beat. The track is crazy smooth and I could see Pimp rocking it if he were alive to this day. I definitely considered this a top track on the album.
The next track brings us to a smooth jazz infused interlude featuring a younger Jada Pinkett-Smith reminiscing over 2Pac in an old interview which leads to the late Aaliyah whose death's anniversary recently passed.

Oh Aaliyah...
I like the beat and vocals respectively but combined, the end result is far from ideal with off beat and out of key vocals that don't marry well with the slow, powerful tracks. This is not what your girlfriend will play when you're gone (or vice versa).

The End:
The ending brings us Biggie Smalls, Guru & 2Pac with Big L on the hook. The beat isn't the best I've heard from Ini but also far not the worse and combined with the acapella actually makes for a pretty good song.

The Verdict:
This album was an ambitious concept and production-wise is a pretty solid display of skill from Ini-Herit, however post-production issues and a few poor acapella choices keeps this from being a classic.This is worth a listen and download to hear some greats with a new sound and revitalization.

Bottom Line: 6/10