Artist: K Rino
Album: Time Traveler
Year: 2006
Label: Black Book International

Tracklisting:
1. Intro
2. Four Minute Warning
3. On My Side
4. You Never Know
5. Talkin’ Loud
6. Valley Of Decision
7. Open Thought Surgery
8. From The Heart
9. All Good Things
10. If Words Could Kill
11. Politricks
12. Respect
13. Kill The Preacher
14. Like That
15. Almost
16. Love Yourself
17. Time Traveler

Rap game veteran K Rino is the leader and founder of Houston, Texas’ notorious South Park Coalition. K Rino is also the most prolific artist in the clique in terms of productivity. Over the last few years he has released numerous top quality releases on a regular basis, including both solo albums and collaborative projects with other SPC members. ‘Time Traveler’, which is 17 tracks long, is K Rino’s first release of 2006 and was released on his own independent label, ‘Black Book International’

The album kicks off with a short atmospheric Intro suitable to the album title before K Rino starts dropping line after line of intellectually advanced lyricism on ‘Four Minute Warning’. This track has more quotables than an Al Pacino movie and once again shows that K Rino deserves his crown as ‘the wizard’. K Rino is second to none on the lyrical tip and he lets the listener know it with lines such as “You picking up the microphone and beating me rapping / Is kind of like constipation; it’s some shit that wont happen“. Kuwait closes out the track with a bit of dialogue praising K Rino before the track ends and the Dope E produced ‘On My Side’ beat kicks in. On this track K Rino depicts what it’s like on his side of the tracks where killers, pimps, dealers, fiends and jackers are a factor of every day life. All the verses on this track are delivered with precision and with an infectious hook typical of the SPC this track is an addictive listen, to say the least.

The pace of the album understandably changes dramatically with ‘You Never Know’ featuring Super Crunk. This heartfelt memorial is a dedication to the late South Park Coalition O.G. AC Chill who passed away in December 2005. K Rino’s gripping refelctive lyrics and emotion filled delivery over the quality Codeen production draws the listeners complete and undivided attention and makes for a classy and fitting tribute to AC Chill. This is followed up by ‘Talkin’ Loud’ featuring both rapping and production from the Screwed Up Click’s Z-Ro. Both rappers hold their own while trading verses on this track dedicated to people who talk the talk but can’t walk the walk. Once again Z-Ro and K Rino collaborate to good effect, which makes the perspective collaborative album between the two even more of a mouth watering prospect.

‘Valley Of Decision’ details the battle between good and evil trying to take possession of K Rino’s soul. K Rino raps as three characters (himself, God & Satan) in this compelling and thought provoking conversational track. K Rino’s ability to successfully switch between characters and have them finishing each others lines again reaffirms his position as one of the best rappers in the game. To be able to completely appreciate this track you have to play close attention to every line he spits, I could go on and on about this track…classic! ‘Open Thought Surgery’ starts with the sound of a drill making its way into what we’re left to imagine is skull then K Rino comes in with some more complex lyrical braggadocio. As per usual K Rino doesn’t drop a sub-standard verse however this track doesn’t grab me in the same way alot of his other tracks do and although usually I love Dope E’s production this beat doesn’t really do it for me.

With the brutally honest ‘From The Heart’ K Rino lets the listeners gain an inside perspective into his beliefs, aspirations and motivations. With lines such as “Never sold crack or sold pills, just wisdom and cold skills/ But in my city aint no deals, unless you jock cars or show grills / And thats backwards, the game is gettin’ faker every year, people base an artist off what they see and not what they hear” K Rino re-emphasises his position as the epitome of an anti-sell out in an industry where many sell their soul for a record contract. ‘All Good Things’ is another top notch track, it details three cases where three different scenarios are played out, each powerful in their own right and all concluding with the title of the track being the moral of the story. One well produced Dope E track is then followed by another in the form of ‘If Words Could Kill’. This is another track featuring an embaressment of riches when it comes to quotables, so it’s hard to know where to start quoting but “Am I the roughest you ever heard?, Well there’s no need to wonder it/ I raised the bar so high that a aeroplane could fly up under it” is up there with my favourites.

‘Politricks’ featuring Dope E of The Terrorists starts with a sample from stand up comedian George Carlin before K Rino busts in with two socially and politically conscious verses about the African American struggle against oppression. Dope E finishes off the track with his scathing verse attacking the president, the government, the Catholic church, and he even manages to drop the word cracker once for good measure, although he has toned down in comparison to the old ‘Blow Dem Hoes Up’ cut off of ‘Terror Strikes’ album. ‘Respect’ is a track where K Rino breaks down the definition of the word and proceeds to drop some knowledge on the subject matter with lines like “A real G aint gotta glorify nothing they do, cause if you really true to the game the streets gon’ glorify you“. ‘Kill The Preacher’ is an educational track that picks up where K Rino left off with his religious analysis on ‘Surface Dwellers’, so if you were expecting some sort of Ganksta N.I.P. bloodbath of biblical proportions you may be left disappointed.

‘Like That’ features Mr. Cap, Dope E and Ashlei and provides a change of pace after a few tracks with heavy subject matter. Thanks to Dope E’s production efforts this track has an upbeat feel to it where K Rino is able to give countless examples of various types of sheisty or shameful people as he goes on to diss them, most definitely an enjoyable listen. The tale of a relationship gone sour is the topic for ‘Almost’ and although I must say I’m not a huge fan of the beat and this isn’t the sort of track I usually enjoy, it is a good track. If you don’t love yourself then you are unable to love anyone else is the over riding message of ‘Love Yourself’, a track about women struggling to overcome adversity. Lyrically I respect this track to the fullest, and no doubt it is empowering for women in similar struggles, but personally this is the track I least like on the album, the hook gets on my nerves after a while as well so that doesn’t help.

K Rino takes 38 seconds to start flowing on ‘Time Traveler’, but seeing as this Big Doc beat is my favourite on the album, this is in no way a bad thing. K Rino bursts into the track with some crazy rhymes delivered in a style reminiscent of his Cummin’ Out Doggin’ days. The legendary T La Rock was meant to be dropping a verse on this track however for whatever reason it didn’t eventuate and as a result it seems as if the direction of the track was diverted to cover his absence. K Rino cuts back into the track dropping rhymes about various historical events, in particular events relevent in African American history. This is still a sick track that I can’t stop listening to, however one can only imagine what it would of been like to hear K Rino and T La Rock spit side by side on a track.

So after listening to 1 hour and 15 minutes of quality hip hop from the depths of Houston’s underground you should be ready to hit the replay button around about now. It is hard to rank K Rino’s albums, although if I were forced to I’d say I preferred ‘Fear No Evil’ and to a lesser extent ‘Worst Rapper Alive’, although that shouldn’t detract from the fact that this is the best album I’ve heard in 2006. If you are into SPC then you will no doubt already have your copy of this album in your collection so I’m merely preaching to the converted. If you’ve never heard K Rino’s music before (for whatever reason), or if you’ve just slipped on copping this album then check out some samples and order your copy today.

Review By: EMVEE