Let Professor Elemental and Jon Clark take you to SPECIAL SCHOOL!

This September, we see the release of Professor Elemental and Jon Clark’s latest album. On their new album, Special School (which is also the group name they chose for themselves), we hear a true union of styles from two rap masters that spit out words with their rapid tommy-gun style. For those familiar with the lyrical flow presented in Professor Elemental’s masterpiece The Indifference Engine and in Jon Clark’s first album So, you will be impressed with the amount of rhyme structures they created at impressive speed without breaking rhythm. Why can’t mainstream rap be this good? The quick lyrical delivery by both rappers makes them very compatible. If you love hip hop, this album will amaze you with lines like:

The crew got here’s so deep, we got scuba gear/ I’m like a superhero with tunes for years/ On the loose like a stampede of moose or deer/With loops and clear flutes for my souvenirs/ Of all the moods, tears, fears and the boos and cheers/ But through the years …assume that I’m moving near/ I’m producing the proof that’ll prove I’m here…  – Professor Elemental, So Special

and

And my bad aromas have been known to wake the dead/ Invading maisonettes; shaking you vacant space cadets
/And paper chasers with shaven chests/ Wailing wet serenades with pained expressions like they’re bout to lay an egg/
We always came correct, staying fresh to great effect – Jon Clark, The Antidote

Personally, when I first heard that both rappers were making an album I was very excited. Both rappers collaborated previously on Professor Elemental’s album for the track “Steam Powered,” which is a great track because it’s informative, it’s fun, it rocks and every time I hear it I want to take down an army of stormtroopers. For those of you who don’t believe me, you can preview and purchase the song here. By the way, I think The Indifference Engine,  is so good that anyone who dislikes the album must be a vampire because they have no soul.

If any of you are hoping that Special School will be Steam Powered 2: The Sequel, then you will be disappointed. This is not a steampunk album at all. It is something more unique; a marriage of themes blended well together: streets versus fantasy. This is first and foremost a true hip hop album. What I mean by “true hip hop album” is that it feels non-corporate (no auto tune), has two rappers that love to rhyme and music has a street-leveled style that will make even the most disgruntled old schooler bop their heads to and give hope that Nas’ proclamation that hip hop is dead is only for the suits and ties.

Although this is a great rap album, it doesn’t rap about the typical cliché nonsense that rap fans have heard to death already. There are some really great songs on this album. My personal favorite is “Wilbur and Orville.” Everything about this song is excellent; a song about finding your lost childhood dreams that is wrapped in dreamy melody and a light beat that swoons you to better times and summer days. And if “feel-good” songs aren’t your thing, then you should check out “A Scolding“ where they attack some of society’s and pop culture’s ills behind some action packed beats. DJ Nick Maxwell and Tom Caruana do a great job in providing the perfect feel with this music. Maxwell and Caruana’s work in the song “Pie,” for example, gives you the mood and setting you need to imagine the song perfectly. And speaking of storytelling, the zombie song “Hungry” is great for anyone that is a fan of 28 Days Later. Their work reminds me of Wu Tang Clan at their best, when the music provided an excellent background to the rapper’s storytelling.

My only real complaint is that the album is too short and I am very interested to see where Special School will be headed in their next project. Personally, I am hoping that their topics go less street and more fantasy, as I heard in the track “Wilbur and Orville,” not because they don’t sound good doing so, but because I am a nerd, and I’d rather hear tales of swords versus sorcery than drugs and hoes any day. So yes, definitely check out Special School, which you can preview and purchase here and see what these professors can teach you.

Currently, I’m sending Special School a doctor’s bill for the verbal gymnastics they put my poor ears through.