Qwazaar & Batsauce

juggernaut entitled Bat Meets Blaine. The record is an

absolute rarity, a series of inspired sessions from a

world-class MC & producer team at the height of their

respective powers. Batsauce provides ambidextrous

backdrops that are as multilayered as they are strident,

while Qwazaar simply astonishes, baring his soul while

performing near-impossible lyrical feats. It's a record all

true heads should cop and that all lab scientists can envy.

At this point in his career, Qwa's pedigree is

unquestionable. South Side representative extraordinaire

Low End theorist endlessly

inventive with flows and increasingly daring in subject and

range. Long hailed for his vocal ability, the decades have

seen Qwa transform into the rare artist whose symphonic flow

is effortlessly matched to pitch-perfect confessional

content. The moments that meld both into a unique

storytelling voice are rare---Rakim's "The

Ghetto" comes to mind, as do Black Thought's post-bop

excursions. Qwa's true corollary, however, aren't his fellow

MCs---it's Charlie Parker, whose wrenching solos feature a

technical genius that are only matched by their sorrow---the

sound of Icarus' wings melting. He's found his proper spar

this go-round---Batsauce is a Berlin-based turntable

Gillespie (URB recently dubbed him "the next 'it'

thing in...underground hip hop"), and their first full-

length is a true titanic, trans-Atlantic meeting of the

minds. Tasteful guest shots only augment the chemistry:

Denizen Kane, Onry Ozzborn, Offwhyte, KP the Ilustrado of

The Pacifics, Lady Daisey, and DJ Bizkid round out a stellar

supporting cast.

Bird once famously said, "If you don't live it, it won't

come out your horn." Bat Meets Blaine is a record of

tremendous vitality and reach---Chicago, LA, Jacksonville,

and Berlin are a part of its geographic DNA. It numbers

several underground classics (Typical

Cats, Walk Through Walls, Suicide Prevention, etc.) as its

bona-fide predecessors. Its progenitors have earned

accolades and stripes and props in print and in person. But

most importantly, it has been soaked in rum and in the

river, and it has emerged as a testament to pain and power,

and it plays beautifully. Bird and Diz, meet Bat and

Blaine.1

1For cats who don't know nothing about nothing, peep Bird

and Diz (Clef, 1952). Get your weight up