Ka – The Night’s Gambit (Iron Works Records)
One could be forgiven for expressing disappointment that Queens rapper Ka’s last solo album, 2012’s Grief Pedigree, didn’t earn a wider degree of critical attention. But one would have to be possessed of a sincere naivete, the sort that only lays the groundwork for the worst kinds of disappointment, to proffer any surprise.
Ka – The Night’s Gambit (Iron Works Records)
One could be forgiven for expressing disappointment that Queens rapper Ka’s last solo album, 2012’s Grief Pedigree, didn’t earn a wider degree of critical attention. But one would have to be possessed of a sincere naivete, the sort that only lays the groundwork for the worst kinds of disappointment, to proffer any surprise. Ka offers what few rappers do – dizzying wordplay reliant on no cheap tricks or easy hooks, enshrouding restrained, sinister production work; a combination as potent as it is understated.
The Night’s Gambit, his recent follow-up, is hardly an exception. Much like its predecessor, the title alone gives some indication of the album’s contents. Suggesting somber hues, intimations of danger and distress, and references to chess strategy (and, somewhat more implicitly, the better early Wu-Tang output, as it’s difficult to create hip-hop this dark containing such allusions that won’t elicit such a comparison). Clever and dark, the three word appellation offers a neat summation that the totality of the album expands upon.
Much like the rest of Ka’s solo work, his most recent album trades in extremely verbose lyricism possessed of an intricacy that’s easy to miss under the near flat-line monotone delivery. His near-mumble almost comes off like some seamless outer shell, a protective, inflective exoskeleton shielding his internal fecundity from the outer ravages that supply it with so much of its source material. Though reflections on violence, hopelessness, and the difficulties of survival in rough urban environments are hardly unique within hip-hop, few rappers are able to convey these ideas through the tone of their delivery alone. Which isn’t to discount all that his recitations convey, however. His is a rootless narrative eye, capturing all within his borough and re-projecting this panorama through a fragmented lens, like Leopold Bloom rendered reincarnate in Queens a century and some change after the fact. Though he could easily play up his facility with clever one-liners or his occasional flirtations with more straightforward narrative, these moments of clarity blend into the overall lyrical atmosphere like steam rising from a sewer and disappearing into the wind.
The production work, also handled by Ka, is the ideal accompaniment to the bleakness of his lyrics. There are few analogs within hip-hop to his approach – dark, almost cinematic soundscapes full of ominous tones, characterized by a minimalism acting as a necessary counterpoint to the verbal dexterity. Though not apparent on all the songs, some are stripped-down to the point where few percussive elements manifest themselves, with songs like “Peace Akhi” and “You Know It’s About” bearing only faint suggestions of drums. This may seem like an odd omission in a genre so primarily focused on rhythm, but that single, very conscious exclusion acts as a bold indication of the mission at hand. It clearly demonstrates that, though Ka is well-versed in the history of hip-hop artistry, his own distinctly personal vision for the music will always be placed front and center.
Classicist in its affinities, progressive in its execution, The Night’s Gambit is exactly the sort of album that hip-hop needs more of. A unique vision is at work within, one that becomes better-honed with each successive release. As an evocation of urban claustrophobic menace, the album acts as an excellent entry into whatever artistic continuum would encapsulate both White Light/White Heat and Liquid Swords. A dark, unsettling, yet ultimately subtle work, the album isn’t intended for easy digestion, but rather to act as a challenge to both the individual listener and the genre at large. With it, Ka draws a line in the sand that few will cross, but by doing so, renders the album quite possibly the best the genre will concoct this year.
