Jedi Mind Tricks - The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological, And Electro-Magnetic Manipulation Of Human Consciousness
Babygrande
November 4th, 1997.
Jedi Mind Trick's debut album 'The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness', catchy name for sure, was released on this day in 1997. The underground Hip-Hop world would have no choice but to welcome a behemoth to its ranks.
Lyrically heavy, almost to the point of data overload, The Psycho-Social requires many sit-downs and may even require some further research and a pulled back perspective to fully grasp its tints of paranoia and extra-terrestrial subject matter. JMT whip up the finest of metaphysical phrasings through concepts of religious symbolism, conspiratorial talk - secret societies and Roswell, for example - and science fiction related material. It's the 'underground' for a reason I suppose. Related topics tend to find themselves pushed outside of mainstream means. These kinds of albums are unearthed rather than stumbled upon. Dusty by nature they hide away in the corners of your mind. The crevasses which you need to know but shy away from wandering into is where they dwell.
Occasionally paved with minor piano pieces, sullen samples, and often lead by heavenly vocal samples, The Psycho-social trudges a dour, yet somewhat religiously tinted, sidewalk. Vinnie Paz more than suits the sounds that Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind provides - you could say their stars align. The Psycho-social is run on kinetic energy. It also reads like the study of life and symbiotic being - the natural and supernatural co-existing as one fully fledged entity. "You cannot kill what you cannot see, the verbal hologram".
Leading an existential existence can be a tiring one - will this godforsaken ever time come to an end? there's so much still to ponder on and scratch underneath; there's too many secrets left unsaid.
"Giving sight to the blind, the dumb are mostly intrigued by the drum".
Jedi Mind Tricks crafted a record of astute longevity with The Psycho-social. If you know, you know.
