Greyboy - Mastered The Art (2001)

San Diego's Greyboy, a Californian producer akin to the British acid jazz pioneer Gilles Peterson, smacks beat heads upside the head as he strays from his jazz-infused formula on his third album in a decade. What is most impressive here is the sheer diversity of tracks, most of which manage to stay contemporary despite some retro tinges. Instrumental components, like guitars and other stringed instruments, tap new frontiers by becoming essential colleagues to hopping rhythms.

The title track, "Mastered the Art," highlights a xylophone thread within a hip-hop fabric. Watch out for a head rush on "Uknowmylife," a chin-nodder that's apt to produce neck cramps as Cincinnati's MC Main Flow drops slippery rhymes over an infectious melody, and "Dealin' With the Archives," a willowy track accentuated with scratches. "Polyphonix" is a body-groover that utilizes horns and soft "ooh, ooh, ooh" and "ba da ba ba" vocals to create a breezy old television soundtrack that has a distinctly classic feel, while "Marrakesh" (and especially the heavy, menacing "Logan's Run") throws in some spy-movie flavor. The last track is a seven-minute bossa nova remix version of "Mastered the Art" from Italian producer Nicola Conte. It's more than just a bonus on an otherwise already complete LP - it brings the album full circle. In the label's press release, Mastered the Art has been deemed as "something you can expect from a Southern Californian beat head," but the substantial roster of cuts proves the pigeonhole classification as inaccurate. Ubiquity's first-born artist makes his parents proud once again. --