I Phantom

Concerned as it is with the weighty topic of creativity versus society, Mr. Lif's eagerly anticipated full-length studio debut tackles more American sociological issues than a senior thesis. Label mates Vast Aire, El-P, and Aesop Rock, along with extended-family members Insight, Jean Grae, and Akrobatic, each add their own flavor to the narrative mix. Grounding their collective sound in a revamped, circa-1993 style, El-P, Insight, Fakts One, and Edan offer beats and scratches that perfectly match each song's varied level of intensity. I Phantom is an ambitious project that combines elements previously mined aurally in Prince Paul's proletarian hip-hopera A Prince Among Thieves and to an extent via cinema in Paul Thomas Anderson's epic, Magnolia. Considering the intricate nature of Phantom's sequencing, it'd be hard to pinpoint any one song as the "best," but the Fakts One-produced "New Man Theme" should be required listening for all hip-hop nerds and intellectual thugs, worldwide. --Rebecca Levine