DELTA -**SIGNED** -The Second Story 2LP - Oz hip hop vinyl

	A$		182
	$		116

                            DELTA - The Second Story
                                     **SIGNED**
                            Rare Oz hip hop vinyl 2LP
                                           (NEVER BEEN PLAYED)
  
DELTA ........No intro needed, but if you need an intro to him, then you don't deserve to own this.                                    
Here's a review from rapreviewsdotcom      
Delta's sophomore effort, "The Second Story," doesn't denounce the currentsound of hip hop—it flat out disregards it. There's almost no evidence herethat indicates that the album wasn't created in the mid-90s, and the AussieMC even adds American rappers Psycho Les (of The Beatnuts) and Milano (ofD.I.T.C.) to his line-up of guest appearances to heighten the idea that thisis very much recreating a certain time and sound that existed when both ofthese respective rap groups were popular (or even relevant).

While unbeknown to most American hip hop fans, Delta is perhaps the mostrevered up-and-coming Australian rapper or as Vibe Magazine bluntly puts it,"the only MC Down Under worth mentioning." A sort of backhanded compliment,but strong praise nonetheless.

Now I'm not sure how great an authority Vibe Magazine is on Australian hiphop in the first place, but Delta does manage to live up to the statement on"The Second Story," for the most part. From beginning to end, Delta markshis presence with an oft-angry tone toward his country's political systemand lesser emcees. Opening with a proper dosage of slick boom bap and ascratched chorus, Delta anarchically professes, "why wait 'til opportunityknocks, I pick locks." Ice Cube seems an important influence on the youngrapper, who seems to be speaking directly to his native listeners.

The album's first half is made up of mostly dark boom bap production, theaforementioned collaboration with Milano being a strangely successfulHarlem-Oz connection track, while the upbeat electronic beat on "Fool'sGold" provides an apt mood for Delta's politically charged dumb out. Thequality that especially separates Delta from the rest of the pack is hissuperb flow, more polished than any other Australian rapper I've heard.Using an intricate rhyme scheme as a blueprint for his flow, he is rarelybetter than on the anti-hit "Fold 'Em":

"This track's epic, call me the pad menace
Anthrax press kit, abandon the premises
Man is a nemesis, ran it so effortless
Jams is my genesis with plans for my 25th
...
Back on the block, I'm the President
Without the scams, propaganda and imaginary terrorists
Sixteen bars imprisons my life's sentences"

The second half of "The Second Story" nearly abandons its early soundscape,however, as the beats become more organic. "Shades of Green" has a TerryReid sample that sounds as if it were flipped by Kno (very, very high praisefrom me), and Jigsaw, Rheturik and Delta deliver harsh sociopoliticalcriticisms. That said, are these criticisms well argued or rather baseless?It's difficult to say as I'm not particularly familiar with Australia'spolitical system, but there aren't specific enough criticisms to fire me upor spark any kind of revolution.

Later, Delta is at his most idiosyncratic in his choice of a cowbell-drivenbeat (cue Christopher Walken jokes) on "All Over," which almost works, butwears out its welcome after a couple minutes. Delta's writing is neverbetter showcased than on the super-short "Death Song," reminiscent of TheRoots' "Unwritten" in its equally brisk description of a car ride:

"Red light, and we stopped, he turned his radio off
Pulled a lock of blonde hair from a small satin box
Held it to his face and exclaimed his wife's name
Chemo came and claimed his lioness's mane
Pressure manifested his lanes upon roads
He said I like you son, I'm just a stranger to most
Back of a head, one time a passenger said
I look evil, tell me how's that for respect
As we arrived at my door, my head was truly buzzin'
I paid him my fare, and realized that life wasn't"