Free Trade Agreement: N.A.S.A.

Again the way that hip hop has chosen to organize itself, in crews as opposed to specific groups is probably the reason why mix tapes exist. Most assuredly, that wasn’t the initial thought of those dudes from the ‘80s that began all of this, but the resultant affect has been that any work, album or otherwise, can incorporate so many different performers as to expand the possible consumer base far beyond most rock acts. For instance, you won’t see Dave Grohl dueting with the dudes in Coldplay, even though that would probably move a few units.

But taking this idea, producers and deejays have been assembling emcees around them to boast over tracks for some time now. Z-Trip and DJ Shadow have been successful in this mode, but now N.A.S.A. has arrived. And it looks like they’ve been able to come at this mode promotion from an entirely new perspective.

N.A.S.A., which apparently stands for North America/South America, has basically assembled performers to please any fan of any musical genre. A quick perusal of the track lists finds Tom Waits paired with Kool Keith, Karen O matched with Ol’ Dirty Bastard and David Byrne – well, David Byrne is all over the place. That also means that there’s probably a performer on here that you don’t like, but he’s probably sharing a track with someone you respect. It just ends up working out.

Somehow, the production duo of Squeak E Clean and DJ Zegon that make up N.A.S.A., realized that the trembling tenor of Byrne could work as the hook on any rap track – and it does. It’s almost confusing at first to think of the Talking Heads and than hear Chali Tuna (J5), Chuck D, Method Man and E-40. But again, this wide range of contributors makes this disc strong.

Lyrically, each emcee brings his own style to each track. Kool Keith gives us a story from his past, whereas Kanye boasts a bit amidst his track with Santogold. Even with this range, it’s still noteworthy that N.A.S.A. includes a bit of Jamaican influence with the appearances of Sizzla and Ras Congo.

And while this disc isn’t due until February 17, it seems that the hype surrounding this release is reaching a fever pitch. It’s been in the consciousness of internet nerds for some time now. And today, the production duo saw fit to drop a new track from the release to abate voracious fans.

The track, “Soul Samba” – which is actually an Ike Quebec record – features Del Tha Funky Homosapien and Qbert. Contrasting his performance here with that of his Def Jux album from last year, Del sounds much more relaxed. The production is a bit more organic, so that might account for his work here. But he really does sound as strong as he did on Both Sides of the Brain or any of his pre-Gorillaz work.

So, even if this disc flops – which it won’t – N.A.S.A. may have been able to help Del out of a slump, endear rap fans to the Talking Heads and exploit ODB just one more time.