Inverse - So True EP

There are many regions that have generated numerous hip hop greats, but only two, New York and Southern California (namely Los Angeles) can boast that they are Meccas of the genre.  While NYC has produced legends Biggie, Jay, Nas, Mobb Deep, Black Star, and countless others, LA boasts an equally impressive list with the likes of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, N.W.A., Snoop, and 2Pac (via The Bay) to name a few.

Inverse is yet another group to follow in the steps of their SoCal forefathers.  Emcees Toby and Tunji come from diverse backgrounds.  Toby is a white jewish boy from LA, while Tunji was raised by Nigerian parents in the Bay Area.  Despite their different upbringings, Inverse have been making dope music since '01 and have collaborated with the legends KRS-ONE, Big Daddy Kane, Pete Rock, CunninLynguists, Brother Ali, and Little Brother (Tunji also drops a verse with Geologic of Blue Scholars on Seattle emcee Grynch's classic "Smoke And Mirrors"...check out Grynch's FreEP Chemistry here...).

I have to admit, I've been sleeping on this group more than I'd like to own up to, but I've been a big fan of this SoCal duo ever since first hearing their January 2dopeboyz-featured So True EP [Update: the linked page is no longer available, so you can find the FreEP embedded below].

I've always been a huge fan of EPs.  It is nearly impossible for an artist to make a classic LP as putting together a 14 or 15 track album without filler is a difficult task even for the most talented artists.  With shorter albums such as Nas' classic debut Illmatic or EPs like the Blue Scholars' The Long March, artists have less room to put in a bad track or two and the results are often albums that you can listen to front-to-back all day long.

This is definitely the case with this six-track EP as every track borders on greatness.  The songs I'd like to single out on the EP are "Rise & Shine" and the Deacon of CunninLynguists assisted-title track "So True."  "Rise & Shine" has become one of my favorite hip hop tracks of all time.  Everything is simply perfect, the soulful sample, the verses, the production-everything lines up for this track to make it undeniably powerful and beautiful.  The same goes for the title track.

At the end of the day, Inverse is one of my three favorite up and coming groups (the others being Dyme Def and Fresh Espresso) and if you like what you hear on So True and see on the equally dope video of "So Far," I highly recommend copping their 2008 release So Far (The Collection).  Definitely make note of the name in the upcoming years.

Peace, Love, & Hip Hop,
Noah