Mountain Brothers - Self, Volume 1

Arizona Daily Wildcat

White rappers are fairly non-existent in hip-hop these days. Asian rappers are far less prominent. Mountain Brothers, a trio from Philadelphia, fit the latter: They're a group of Asian-American MCs. You may have seen the Mountain Brothers in several Marvel comic advertisements in various national magazines.

The Mountain Brothers are good. That's why they get national attention. The members, Styles, Peril-L and Chops, seem to be gifted with more flow than most existing MCs.

The style is laid-back, flowing and liquid. Most of the tracks have the low-end Philly feel to them, somewhat like the Root's "Do You Want More?" Humor lines most tracks, giving the album a fairly uplifting feel to it - a welcome break from the political heaviness of recent months.

Although most tracks are tight, a few must have slid past the ISO 9000 quality control. Number 5, "the Adventures Of..." is butchered by the particularly annoying chorus chant.

Other songs such as "Love Poetry" seem out of place and a little dusty. Overall, the album is not bad - if you want some elevated hip-hop, look no further.

- james casey