Mello Music Group member Has-Lo has numerous projects, but one of his finest projects came out in 2005 when he collaborated with producer Culture to form the duo, Stranje Dayz. The Undisputed is a marvelous hip hop record featuring Has-Lo & Culture creating every creative aspect of the album, all the way down to the cover art. What I find most enjoyable about this album is Has-Lo’s smooth voice and intellectual rhyme schemes over Culture’s warm instrumentals. From soul to jazz, Culture (and sometime’s Has-Lo) master the production element of this album by creating vast soundscapes with classic, boom-bap beats. And Has-Lo, as a lyricist, is undoubtedly ill. Forget money, cars and women, Has-Lo tells it how he feels and spits straight from his mind; from the rap game to observing the world around him, Has-Lo examines various elements of his life to produce the lyrics featured on this album. A very rough, low-budget sound rounds out the dope underground quality of this album and really gives it a dope feel. I particularly liked tracks like “The Undisputed” and “Darkness.” You really can’t say that Has-Lo is a bad emcee or Stranje Dayz is a bad duo; it’s unfortunate because, after this album, the duo split, leaving this to be their only released album so far. Hopefully, there is an album lurking on the shelf somewhere that Has-Lo will release to us eventually. If you like what you hear on the full stream of the album, you can buy it off of Has-Lo’s Bandcamp. However, since the economy is tough nowadays, Has-Lo has offered this album up for FREE download, as well. But I recommend you try and support the artist!
8.5/10
