The Awakening [LP] in Bloomington, MN

With his third album,
Lord Finesse
representing
D.I.T.C.
(Diggin' in the Crates crew) brought together some of the finest rappers of the moment for an album almost entirely produced by
Finesse
himself. Known as a producer first and rapper a close second,
is gifted in metaphorical rhyming like other well-known MCs such as
Big L
or
Chino XL
, and again produces a great record deserving of any rap fan's archive. Guests like
Akinyele
,
KRS-One
MC Lyte
O.C.
AG
Diamond D.
, and
Kid Capri
make up the all-star cast. Topping it all off are verses by
Large Professor
Grand Puba
Sadat X
on arguably one of hip-hop's finest tracks ever, entitled
"Actual Facts."
With so much going for it, if you like you rap music there's really no reason you shouldn't own this album. As a side note for DJs out there, there is apparently a limited-edition instrumental version of this released on vinyl, so look for that floating around somewhere. ~ Brad Mills