The Chicharones
Boss Hogs

This product, purchased by me in 2005, I do not hesitate to call it a milestone of Canadian hip-hop. Little known, it is a CD of excellent quality, with hard, precise, and incisive lyrics, for a group, formed recently, to which one can without a doubt award the title of the best in the cold state of North America.

Josh Martinez and Sleep, two talented artists from Vancouver, have been around for a few years now, even though Sleep has only made one solo album ("Riots By Candlelight") plus two others with his mega crew, while Josh already has four albums under his belt that have seen substantial success over time. The latter founded Camobear Records and mingles with the biggest and most well-known MCs from Canada, especially in the area of his hometown, Vancouver. Moreover, he has collaborated multiple times with Anticon, even participating in some compilations. Sleep, on the other hand, is part of the mega crew in Seattle and generally throughout the Northwest, Oldominion, which includes more than twenty artists. No doubt, a truly respectable curriculum for these young guys, who in 2003 released this EP with, unfortunately, only seven tracks, although in 2005 a reissue was released with a few more tracks, which I naturally will not hesitate to procure.

Everything you will find in this small album will be tracks ranging from "spectacular" to "beautiful", lyrics worthy of a great poet, saturated with energy, and a flow that is objectively unique yet effective, capable of taking the listener and immersing them in a surreal world, where a delightful sensation is perceived that never leaves you. As soon as you press the "play" button, you will hear a classic sample and then enter the first track of the album, hearing Big Boy's voice for a few seconds before Sleep's grand flow kicks in, followed by Josh Martinez, with a beautiful backing track by Peegee 13 (a producer from Oldominion) in the background; it all works perfectly, and the song, entitled "Bring Out The Clowns," will stick in your mind. "Thank You, Thank You And Fuck You!!" is the following track, characterized by another beautiful beat from another Oldominion member, Smoke. A hard and decisive track where the two Chicharones have a stunning flow that could make even Rakim, Method, and all the classic hip-hop favorites go pale; it proceeds with a track that turns out to be among the best, with quite unique tones: "America The Beautiful" perfectly produced by Pale Soul, excellently matching the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the track and the flow of the two artists who sing for much of the song.

And here we arrive at "Opposite Of Fair", definitely the best track of the entire album and perhaps the most beautiful track ever made by Sleep and Josh, and very likely the most beautiful and stratospheric hip-hop track ever listened to… I am not exaggerating at all! Zebulon Dark delivers an extraordinary beat, and the two MCs each take turns interpreting a different character per verse, which are all interconnected because, in the end, we are all lost souls searching for the way home clashing among ourselves accidentally as we pass… and we must realize that your moment is only a moment in time and therefore you must never convince yourself that this is not the moment to shine! Sleep and Josh Martinez miss no beat and throw out truly special lines like the one mentioned before. Moving on with the work, we find another splendid track excellently produced by Pale Soul with quite a melancholic beat, the two MCs flow smoothly until reaching track number 6 (already????) which, however, is simply an instrumental produced by the latter but nothing so special as to remain noteworthy, so we reach the last track of the CD almost entirely sung by Smoke.

In general, I recommend this product especially if you have never heard of Josh Martinez or Oldominion, and if you like this album, I can assure you it is just a brick of the fantastic works they have released, are making, and will make these two great underground artists. Certainly, the disc is short, but as they say, in small barrels, there is good wine.

Track List:

1)Bring Out The Clowns

2)Take Me Down

3)America The Beautiful

4)Opposite Of Fair

5)Alone

6)Megaheat 2004

7)Oregano