SA-RA CREATIVE PARTNERS | NUCLEAR EVOLUTION: THE AGE OF LOVE

By BRENT T. INGRAM

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GENRE | SUMMER FUNK

VERDICT | SLATHERED WITH SOUL

RELEASE | 6.23.09

LABEL | UBIQUITY

SA-RA.NET

Could it be? Is it possible? Is that a new album from the most excellent underground hip-hop group on the planet? It sure is. After years of leaks, Taz Arnold, Om'Mas Keith and Shafiq Husayn finally reach that other level—outer space. Perhaps it was the years in intergalactic travel that got in the way, or the delays of building a recording studio on Saturn, but one way or another, we're glad it's finally here. Calling Sa-Ra hip-hop, though, is like calling Sun-Ra jazz. The trio plays in a slow-rolling, wonky funk style with vocals that are more like a whispered magic spell than a regular rhyme. The singing is all theirs too, while guest females drift to and fro, the guys always have a gentle falsetto to spare. Check out "Melodee N'mynor" for one sexy groove, "Gemini's Rising" for sloppy soul or "Traffika" for a twisted crack-head story-rap. With 17 tracks, there's bound to be a few duds, but trust me on this one: If you have a barbecue this summer and you don't throw this in the boombox next to the dominoes table, you're making a terrible, terrible mistake.