Q-Unique Vengeance is Mine Album Review

Q-Unique "Vengeance is Mine" Album Review

Release date: 10/19/04 - Uncle Howie Records

Review by Alex Acevedo for LatinRapper.com

Q Unique Vengeance is Mine album review

It's been over 5 years since the Arsonists set fire to the world with their critically acclaimed and commercially slept on debut "As The World Turns." Considered a classic by underground loyalists and international fans alike, many fans have been thirsty for a new offering of the bass thumping beats and mind boggling wordplay that ASF offered in 1999.

Returning with a shortened line up, the group released "Date Of Birth" in 2001 which did not live up to the expectations of many fans. The fire that once raged appeared to be dying down and eventually the group decided to go their separate ways.

Fast forward to 2004.

With a new label situation and an appetite to show the world what they've been missing, former Arsonist frontman, Q-Unique returns to the lab to offer fans his solo debut. Backed by Uncle Howie Records, Q presents the world with a 15 track album full of pain, joy, love, hate, venom and personal struggle.

From the album opener, "The Resume" Q spits raw lines over a self produced track letting the listener know that he is far from a rookie to this rap game. The triumphant strings and melodic drum roll allow Mr. Quiles to proudly give the listeners some history of the man's somewhat overlooked career. Songs like the JuJu produced "Diamond In The Ruff" and "Better You Than Me" allow the listener to associate themselves with some real life situations faced by Q Capital. On perhaps the album's most insightful track, "The Set Up" Q-Unique passionately delivers a story of the obstacles in his life over a chilling orchestral loop and heavy bassline produced by Necro.

When dealing with the music industry, many artists face politics that make it difficult to succeed. On the first single off of Vengeance Is Mine, "One Shot", Q-Unique decides to touch upon his industry ventures over a piano and keyboard driven beat laced by Context. Between Hard bass drum and cymbal crashes Q spits venom "As soon as you spit your first verse, these players are gonna hate, in my case from out the gate they couldn't wait, so f**k y'all ignorant little pr*cks, I won't flush apologies twice, cause I really couldn't give two sh*ts."

If there's anything fans have grown to expect from Q-Unique, it's originality and Vengeance Is Mine has it's share. On "Psychological Warfare", Q takes on the perspective of a young man who is on the verge of insanity due to his anger with media propaganda and world politics and tells a story of his rampage. On the self-produced "Fashion Victims" Q takes on the role of a stick up kid in two different eras. While the first verse has Q sticking you for your Le Tigre and Troop suits, the era switches along with the beat and warns bystanders "Trust me I'll be long gone, before the laws long arm, could catch up with the creep who tried to thief you for your Sean John."

Collaborations on Vengeance Is Mine are far and few, however you can find Q-Unique trading verses with Ill Bill on arguably the album's best song. On "This Thing of Ours" Q and Ill Bill go back and forth kicking rugged verses over a Q-Unique track that utilizes a humming vocal sample to perfection and the best hi-hats I've heard in some time. Former Arsonist Swel79 and Uncle Howie labelmate E-Dot also join the credits on the album's most daring song, "H to The C." Swel opens up the track with a reggae verse and chorus over what sounds like a great break beat produced by Phase 2. However, the song proves to be among the weaker tracks on the album as the entire feel of the track seems to be a bit off from the rest of Vengeance Is Mine.

With a good range of emotions, interesting subject matter, an onslaught of head nodding beats and intense lyrics to match, Vengeance Is Mine proves itself to be a solid debut for the Rocksteady Rhymer. This is definitely a worthy pick up for those of you who enjoy that raw underground sound and appreciate honesty and originality in lyrics. Hopefully, we can expect the same quality if and when Q-Unique decides to bless us with a Sophomore release.