As the discipline that is hip hop expanded and sought to encompass every aspect and shaded corner of life, the late '90s, in a great many ways, was when some of the most base elements of not just the genre, but of humanity started to get a voicing through rap. It was an inevitable shift - hair metal perhaps being the rock equivalent - but one that met with consternation and a good bit of disbelief. A group from Cincinnati, though, created an album that meant to comment upon all of this as it was becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Of course, today, Master P is just a rich guy that no one really pays attention to anymore. But Mood - which included a young Hi Tek - met with the same fate. Unfortunately, they actually had something to say.

Some 12 years after it's release, both Hi Tek and Talib Kweli, who appears all over the album, have gone on to pretty successful careers. And even if Hi Tek isn't a name that every head knows, he should be. But the duo, who eventually would constitute Reflection Eternal first appeared together here on Mood's '97 opus Doom. And even if the contributions from Kweli, who along with Jahson, Main Flow and Donte are featured here, isn't the main course of this disc, he had the following words to lend to the disc:

"See, to me hearin' MC's rock over beats, that shit is soothin'. The current mood of hip-hop is stagnant and not movin'. So stop it! Motherfuckers."

The album begins in hushed tones as a vibraphone sample slowly raises up over a dusty drum beat. Mood, even this early on the disc, seems like the most appropriate name for a group that sounds like this. Coming out in '97, the Cincy natives had ample time to digest every RZA production. And while the Wu kingpin is the best touchstone for this music, there's something less menacing, yet as urgent as anything that the New York City based crew released to date.

There's frequent mention of Babylon and other hints at the fact that Mood perceives most folks that aren't of the same minds set as them as heathens. It might be an overstatement, but being this adamant about the then current state of hip hop, not just as a music, but a cultural movement, is one of the more admirable premises to creating an album.

There're not shortages of good tracks - and really, a favorite would be difficult to discern. The total unity from track to track here pretty much disallows that. But what doesn't really come through here, is the fact that Mood wouldn't ever garner major label attention or backing. Hi Tek is obviously still active. But Jahson as well as Main Flow have released some work subsequent to this project. Surprisingly, though, neither got too much attention. And really, growing up in Ohio, I imagine that I had a better chance of stumbling over this than others. But this should be heard for too many reasons to count.