UGK- Underground Kingz (2007)

For starters, some props. Thanks to Scarface and especially Joshua Lopez, the pair of overly indulgent discs on UGK's 29-track opus boasts the best hip-hop guitar work since the turn of the millennium. Almost to the last track, Texans Chad "Pimp C" Butler and Bernard "Bun B" Freeman coax deeply visceral, classic soul-funk mojo from their collaborators on the six-strings. UGK once helped put the Houston rap scene on the national map, circa albums like Super Tight…(1994) and Ridin' Dirty (1996), but Underground Kingz celebrates Pimp C's release from a three-year incarceration. Fittingly, a various and pedigreed roster of guests drops respectful cameos, including Talib Kweli ("Real Women"), Too Short ("Life is 2009"), Outkast and Three 6 Mafia ("Int'l Players Anthem"), Big Daddy Kane ("Next Up"), and Dizzee Rascal. Lyrically, most of this double-hammer drops in verses short on skill and long on cliché. But there's an awful lot here, and moments really stick. The choral harmonies of "The Games Belong to Me," for example, move in impeccably languid cool, sashaying across the stereophonic spectrum in rock-solid testament to UGK's continued provincial dominance.

disc 1
disc 2