Da Beatminerz (Mr. Walt, DJ Evil Dee and eventually Baby Paul) are responsible for some of the most engaging production dating to the early nineties. The production crew’s name is attached to works like Black Moon’s debut as well as Smif-n-Wesson, some tracks from De La Soul and Sadat X. That seems like just about enough to base a career on. It was. And with the attention of hip hop’s East Coast royalty, Da Beatminerz eventually earned the right to issue a full length in 2001 through Rawkus Records, despite the imprint’s impending demise.

Released as Brace 4 Impakt, the album feels like a disc soldered together with a spate of guest appearances from the crew’s friends and associates. In some cases, collaborations like this works, sometimes it doesn’t. Tracks like “Best at That” with Diamond D are relatively successful. But the pairing of such a talent with this production crew doesn’t yield the sort of product one would expect. It’d be difficult to fault Da Beatminerz for Rawkus’ eventual bankruptcy. Uneven albums like this, though, had a bit to do with the financial troubles.

A few JA flavor cadences work out – “Extreme Situation” being a noteworthy example. Of course, that siren sounding makes the whole thing seem like a cut rate mix. It’s not, just a disc with unrealized potential. That goes for a huge number of latter day Rawkus releases. Whether or not all involved knew time was short is impossible to figure. Brace 4 Impakt is the deflating sound, a bummer.