Uncontrolled Substance [PA] - Inspectah Deck > Reviews > The Inspectah "Decks" the competition

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money

Advantages:	Deck is an amazing lyricist, Some Truly Excellent Beats, Good Subject Matter
Disadvantages:	A few average tracks, some weaker beats

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Inspectah Deck is arguably the most forgotten member of the Wu-Tang Clan, regardless of the type of fan you happen to be. Right on par with the top lyricists of the Wu-Tang Clan (Gza, Masta Killa, Priest), Inspectah Deck has always been there to shine on every song he appeared on within the first two Wu-Tang albums. Inspectah Deck is known by many non-casual fans as the man who dropped the second verse on the infamous Wu classic "C.R.E.A.M.", and the opening verse on the truly memorable hit "Triumph. In fact, all of his appearances on Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and Wu-Tang Forever were excellent, as he often stole the show.

In 1999, the Wu-Tang Clan was virtually in shambles. Method Man was embracing his pop-status, ODB was locked up, Rza was fast selling out transforming into Bobby Digital, Raekwon's second album was nothing above average and Gza's "Beneath the Surface" was widely slept-on. Besides that, the rest of the members of the Wu-Tang Clan were basically A.W.O.L. It was then that the widely anticipated solo album of Inspectah Deck had dropped. Uncontrolled Substance is the subject of mixed reviews. Some people love it, some hate it, some think its alright. I'll be the judge of that.

Track List & Rating

1. Intro (NOT RATED)
2. Movas And Shakers (4 Stars)
3. 9th Chamber f/ La The Darkman, Barretta 9, Killa Sin, Street Life (4 Stars)
4. Uncontrolled Substance f/ Shadii (4 Stars)
5. Femme Fatale (3 Stars)
6. The Grand Prix f/ U-God & Street Life (3 Stars)
7. Forget Me Not (3 Stars)
8. Longevity f/ U-God (5 Stars)
9. Word On The Street (4 1/2 Stars)
10. Elevation (5 Stars)
11. Lovin You f/ La The Darkman (5 Stars)
12. Trouble Man (4 1/2 Stars)
13. R.E.C. Room (3 1/2 Stars)
14. Friction f/ Masta Killa (4 Stars)
15. Hyperdermix (5 Stars)
16. Show N Prove (5 Stars)
17. The Cause f/ Street Life (3 Stars)

The most familiar Wu-Tang producer in history Rza joins fellow Wu-alumni Deck on "Movers and Shakers", providing the beat for Deck to spit over. The actual beat here differs quite a bit from older Rza's Wu-Tang work. The gritty, grimy beats from Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is only here in half-form, as well as the sombre, more melancholy beat stylings from Wu-Tang Forever. The beat is funky, with a mixture of scaling bass and a nice melodic assortment of trumpets, placed nicely to kick the album off. The sound of the beat is cleaned up and more obnoxious, a definite difference in Rza's familiar style, but Deck is the same as always. There isn't much to this song except that it serves as an intro to the album, and Deck flexes his lyrical muscles here, but a smart fan can easily tell that he isn't at his full potential: "We trip the light, ride to the rhythm's of the night, Skin tight honeys show me love at first sight, Work light krazy legs nonstop body drop, My hip hop drop you to your knees in shock".

The first real time that you can see the "Rebel INS" in his true form and fully commanding of the microphone with his lyrics is with the title track "Uncontrolled Substance". Firstly, I must say Shadii sounds ridiculous on this song. I don't know too much about the guy, but he's the one thing that is completely ruining this song from 5 star-fame. The chorus that he sings is boring, and his attempt to "sound" soulful at the expense of his own credibility is laughable. He's a bad singer and should never be seen with a Wu-Tang artist again. The beat is alright, pretty simplistic with an easy piano loop and trumpet mix. The song is lacking the gritty Wu feel, but also isn't cleaned up enough so that it can be accepted as... well... "clean". Deck goes lyrical on here with a much better display than before, but still comes just a tiny bit away from his full potential. However, he's got a great display of vocabulary, similes, and a dope flow to back up anything he's got to say here.

"Femme Fatal" and "The Grand Prix" both suffer from being incredibly boring tracks. Inspectah Deck becomes incredibly monotonous here, rapping as if he doesn't care how the song comes out, and just spitting the words. The first of the two is a half-hearted attempt at showcasing his opinion of certain females which bring drama. It is the first true subject matter oriented track on the album, and suffers from a bland beat, and even blander lyrics, even though its not totally whack. The second of the two is a Wu-Tang crew joint, which is well respected except for the fact that the beat is even blander than the last one. However, U-God, Streetlife, and Deck admittingly drop relatively good songs. However, the stupid "racecar" metaphors really turn me off from this song, and it sounds like a concept better left in a kindergarden classroom. "Longevity" however, is a HUGE improvement, as both Deck and U-God completely RIP the mic apart.

"Word On The Street" could be seen as Inspectah Deck's version of "N.Y. State of Mind" from Illmatic. The street narrative / storytelling is intact here, as Deck gives us a great storytelling performance backed by an underlining street poetry element. Lyrically, the song excells (even though Deck is better at battling), and shows that Deck has the ability to be versatile in a few moments. Beatwise, don't expect this to come anywhere near the Primo classic that I mentioned, but it's not bad. The beat is a bit too funky (hence making it unfitting) for my blood, but the nice violin snare makes it listenable enough. But honestly, the beat doesn't even matter here as you should be paying attention to Inspectah's story and not what's in the backdrop of it all.

Deck has proven he can storytell, and decides to continue on the roll he's on. "Elevation" and "Lovin You" are great storytelling songs about two girls whom Deck used to know. The stories are similar due to the fact that they are both quite sad and told in a similar, storybook matter. However, they both differ in the fact that the first is more of a poetic narration of a life whom Deck knew, and the second seems to be directed at the girl AND the listener. This means that both songs take the "third-person" narrative direction and add a twist to it. Beatwise, both songs are awesome. The first of the two features a melancholy piano and guitar loop, laced together to give the song a sad, sort of "end of life" feel. Listening to the beat and the lyrics together will definitely make fans scream "Cormega", as it's got the same sort of subject matter and delivery that the Queensbridge native uses frequently. The second features a lower-key guitar loop and some background soul samples. The song itself is at a faster tempo, but keeps its sadness. Listening to this, a lot of newer fans will be reminded of 9th Wonder, even though this was released years before the producer would debut. It should be documented that it is obvious that Rza and the mid-to-early Wu-Tang sound was a huge influence for him.

Speaking of producers, legendary beatmaker Pete Rock drops the beat for "Trouble Man", and it is clearly old school. Street Poetry has been something that it seems like Deck has adopted for this album and twisted it into his own style. It's no different here. The beat, in my opinion, is somewhat unfitting for the subject matter (I'd prefer a sadder, more melancholy approach), but it's very good by itself. Inspectah Deck gets deep in his head, digging through crates labeled "introspective" and pulling out stories and all about life and such. The chorus is great, and that's just the icing on the cake of this joint.

Inspectah Deck trades away the street poetry and returns to his trademark bragging and battling on "Hyperdermix", which is one of the most lyrical tracks that Deck has ever done. Clearly an old-school influenced joint (you can tell by the scratching), Deck spits flames with everything that could possibly make a battle track good. Deck is so skilled that his battle rhymes and creative way of putting words together can drive an album without the use of much subject matter (even though you HAVE to have some). The lyrics on this song are so good, so very very good, that the beat is irrelevant. However, even though I have to cover it, the beat is nice, with a mix of long-scaling violin and hard bass. Once again though, I have to stress the sheer importance of the lyrics: "I can't, won't, don't stop rockin to the rhythim, Droppin wisdom, for my n*ggas locked in prison, For those on the streets, rock it in your system, One's restin in piece, in my heart ya livin, Representin all those who ain't got a pot to p*ss in, Went from small timer to a top position, I'm not kiddin, so what? Radio's not mixin, While shots whistlin... n*ggas on my block listen"

Deck is sure to end the album out with a bang... but doesn't exactly. "Show N Prove" is an excellent track, but its successor "The Cause" is nothing but average. A terribly unfitting beat sets up Deck's above average lyrical display, but the song suffers from being boring and lacking any true energy. Deck and Streetlife come off as being uninspired and monotonous. Some of this is partially due to the beat, which is very hard to rap over, in my opinion. After this, the album comes to an end.

Regardless of how good this album is or isn't, Inspectah Deck is an ill emcee and shines whenever neccessary. Uncontrolled Substance is actually a tight album and fit for a rainy day. It is unfairly slept on due to its lack of Wu-Tang elements and guests, which I sort of admit irked me at first. However, Deck is so good of a rapper that you could listen to this all the way through a couple of times and not be dissapointed at all. Granted the album has a few filler tracks and skippable moments, it is more than made up for with the hunk of excellent songs bunched together in the middle of the LP. The biggest surprise here is that there was No Gza, whom I was SURE would be here, but instead we get a surprisingly powerful U-God and an on-point Masta Killa. So if you're a Wu-Tang fan, or just like hip-hop in general, this album is a great purchase, and is a hell of a lot better than The Movement.

4 Stars