Take Three: Darc Mind "Symptomatic of a Greater Ill"

"Give me time and i'll amaze ya..."

Once upon a time in 1996, X-Ray and MC Kevroc got together and formed Darc Mind. But for some odd reason or another, it could widely be regarded as one of the best kept secrets Hip-Hop had to offer. Kevroc's deep baritone delivery sounded like Aesop Rock got stuck in the 90s with Chali 2na's widely rhythmic flow, while Public Enemy collaborator X-Ray treated the beats like a jazz artist putting a twist on a standard; hard and rich drum breaks, interjected jazz chops, it was definitely a forgotten classic. After the album's release in '96, it then became out of print until Anticon re-issued the recording in 2006.

In a lot of circles, this album get's treated as the "...so you think this is dope? Well you haven't heard this" record, and rightly so; the album clocks in at no more than 40 minutes, and provides some of the most memorable hip-hop for years to come. Oh, and hi, this is Take Three. We give you three songs from a supposed classic, and you, the uninformed or unaware listener, takes a listen and form your own judgment. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well with TMB hitting past the 2000 post mark, anything's possible. Let's get started, shall we?

1. Visions of a Blur

The drums sound so naturally played, while the sinister bassline and respective guitar strum along eerily. Kevroc commands the mic like the host for the Twilight Zone, speaking in an almost conversational style, occasionally letting loose with a little tongue twist of a bar, but nothing too extravagant. This works well since the track is best serviced with its simplicities to make for quite the introduction.

2. Seize The Phenom

The Drum break used seems to have endless snares, the saxophone note that creeps in along with the sound of a pencil dropping, yet another great track. Kevroc's delivery over the track seems reminiscent of Digable Planets, but minus the jazz, he just is riding freely over the beat, all the while not sticking to one particular delivery. X-Ray balances the delivery of Kevroc with not only the sounds described at the beginning, but as a nice break between each verse you hear piano notes being stabbed, and not at random, almost measured in a Thelonious Monk sort of way.

3. Outside Looking In

Xylophones allow the soundscape to breathe as the drums provide the same boom bap blueprint, Kevroc once again serves as the orator supreme for this album's ending. But again, this isn't a normal ending for an album. Symptomatic of a Greater Ill serves more as an opening and closing argument forging as one; in the sense that the album makes a great case for just making great hip-hop music, and not succumbing to unnecessary details. It's very much an in-and-out sort of record, and for "Outside Looking In" to serve as the record's closer is that its the album's strongest statement.