Limited edition of 500 copies on white colored 2LP vinyl. The Grouch's sixth album from 2003, "Crusader For Justice", gets its first ever vinyl edition. Being a founding member of the Living Legends crew, The Grouch has made his name from the mid-90's on as one of the leading artists out of the flourishing Westcoast Underground scene. All independently, all DIY. We at HHV are very excited to finally get his full back catalogue out on vinyl, for the first time ever!
For his seventh solo album, the Grouch goes for a minimalist approach that puts all the emphasis on his rhymes. The beats are skeletal and strictly electronic, built up from layers of old-school '80s-style beat boxes and synth lines that leave plenty of sonic space to be filled by the Grouch's straightforward lyrical delivery. This approach is most effective on tracks like "Dragonfly" and "Moves That Make Me," personal declarations of the transformative power of love that gain added depth from the D.I.Y. sound. Angrier tracks like the dismissive "Clean Nikes" and the statement of purpose "No Slow Thinkers" might arguably be more powerful if they were set to stronger musical arrangements; "Clean Nikes" in particular never really catches fire due to the way that the sleepy, almost ambient dub sound of the synths clashes with the Grouch's spitting delivery. Taken as a whole, the samey musical quality of the album can cause enthusiasm to flag after a few tracks, but in terms of lyrics and vocal performance, the Grouch is at the top of his game throughout Crusader for Justice, and in this form of hip-hop, words trump music every single time.
A1 | Crumble Your Tower | 4:20 |
A2 | Where I Wanna Get | 4:10 |
A3 | Crusader For Justice | 4:29 |
A4 | Backseat Drivers | 4:32 |
B1 | Cloud 9 | 2:57 |
B2 | Some People | 4:44 |
B3 | Clean Nikes | 3:57 |
B4 | Dragonfly | 4:07 |
C1 | Ain't My Life | 4:23 |
C2 | No Slow Thinkers | 3:46 |
C3 | Juxtaposed | 3:04 |
C4 | Paint A Perfect Picture | 4:30 |
D1 | Better Than You | 5:07 |
D2 | Moves That Make Me | 4:44 |
D3 | More Than Meets The Eye | 3:38 |