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 The Process of Illumination  Back from a three-year lull after their debut release, Language Arts (see album review), this project solidifies their signature, eclectic and abstract-tinged rhythms and biblically-inspired lyrics. Nickels and DJ Because represent with formidable beats and those interjecting scratches so synonymous with hip hop, while Page One serves as the front man, delivering the rhymes.These hip hopsters were virtually raised on music. Page One took an interest in hip hop as a child after hearing Run DMC for the first time, and became fascinated with the rhyme schemes of Rakim, Kool Moe Dee, and Big Daddy Kane. DJ Because was only eight when he received his first turntable. Nickels developed a love for dee-jaying and turntablism at the age of ten. It's a background that makes this projet all the more fascinating. Swerving through poetic prose and vacillating from old school to new, Lojique incorporates popular, familiar choruses (such as on "Shine" featuring Dee Dee Shirkey, which samples Crystal Lewis' classic by the same name), attest to the crew's flava and drive, to bring the unexpected. "Represent Like This" opens with a solemn backdrop that serves as a simple yet profound setting for the cut. "God Is My Witness" sprinkles out more of the group's home-grown drizzle with added drops of piano.  Newcomer Soul Plasma makes a guest appearance on "Hermeneutics" while veterans, Enock (formerly of The Cross Movement)and Sev Statik (Tunnel Rats) rip on "Afterbirth", affirming their skill status. Other notable tracks, "Glare" and "Pike Place", showcase turntablism to the fullest extent, again revealing Lojique's fearless will to break rap rhetoric.Two "shining" moments of the album are the title track and the effervescent "Adrenaline Rush," both of which emit sparks of electrifying tempos, inviting all to enjoy. The latter cut embodies the essence of entire album with its upbeat tone. Soon to be the crew's trademark single, Page One explains that it speaks of "a certain drive within everyone to seek out that which is exciting, that which is gratifying —that thrill, that adrenaline rush. This song is an invitation to partake of that satisfaction, not only in the music, but in a personal relationship with God." Lojique's The Process of Illumination is geared to appeal to those in the light and also those "in the dark".
Email This To A Friend Illect Recordings — reviewed by Brenda M. Ingram II —
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