PSYCHO: SOCIAL CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL

THE PSYCHO-SOCIAL CD was originally released as a vinyl-only LP in 1997. Contains 6 bonus tracks. The debut LP from Jedi Mind Tricks (though it appeared on CD only five years later), The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological, and Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness was recorded in the duo's native Philadelphia but bears all the hallmarks of Long Island phantoms Wu-Tang Clan and their masterpiece of dense macabre, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Jedi Mind Tricks producer Stoupe shares with RZA and Scotty Hard the talent of making the unsampleable sound downright catchy, whether it's water drops and warped guitar (for "Chinese Water Torture") or soundtrack music caught halfway between the Italian underworld and a medieval Japanese drama ("The Winds of War"). The rappers, including Stoupe's partner, Ikon, as well as guests like fellow Philly flowmasters Lost Children of Babylon, prove up to the challenge of these difficult productions; it's high praise indeed that they never fail to convince and entertain, even when discussing interstellar spacecraft probes, biochemical molecular structure, or the minutiae of obscure Occidental mythology. It's clear that an earlier CD edition or, at the least, wider distribution upon its original release would've broken Psycho-Social with ease and vaulted the duo beyond the dozens of metaphysical rappers clogging the rap racks during the late '90s. [The 2002 CD issue includes six crucial bonus tracks, which prove the duo had, as early as 1994, staked out ground later occupied by similar crews like Company Flow and Dr. Octagon.] ~ John Bush