Zion-I & the Grouch

Heroes in the City of Dope (Om Hip-Hop)

Comments (0) By Eric K. Arnold Wednesday, Oct 18 2006

"The beat knocks from my head to my cheap socks," the Grouch declares on "Hit 'Em"; MC Zion proclaims he's "rough and rugged, how you love it, with no budget"; and the Crown Prince of Hyphy, Mistah F.A.B., makes a bid for lyrical respect with "my mindstate define great, the crime rate got me irate." Hmm. Let's see. Bay Area all-stars, check. Illmatic production, check. What's not to love about Heroes in the City of Dope?

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From the intro, "Noon Time," which interpolates Led Zep's "No Quarter," to the closer, "Badlands," which mixes Yay Area slaps with exotic-sounding melodies, HitCoDdisproves the theorem that the only thing Bay Area hip hop does well is make thizz-faces. Anchored by Amp Live's production — Crown City Rockers' Headnodic and the Living Legends' Eligh also contribute a few tracks — the album's well worth listening to from a musical standpoint alone. Amp might be the most underrated and least predictable of our local beatmakers, a versatile cat who frequently experiments with new sounds, but never strays too far from hip hop's boom-bip foundation. If you've heard previous Zion-I/Grouch collaborations like "Silly Puddy" and "Flow," then you know their microphone chemistry bubbles over; guests F.A.B., Chali 2na, and Esthero add a bit of glamour and variation to the disc. Occasionally overly precious in an almost-emo way, HitCoD nevertheless offers plenty of classic "conscious rap" moments, like "Kickin' It," a discourse on drugs and civil liberties based around the Clash's "Guns of Brixton" bassline that comes off as visceral as an episode of The Wire without lapsing into cliché. — Eric K. Arnold