Let's just get the track listing out of the way first. Feel free to look up the lyrics, and track down the original sound versions if you must. Then follow a new story of the prince of all hip hop.
It's clear from the over-the-top opening, Can't Tell Me Anything, that this prince is from the streets of all cosmos. The aggressive energy of the intro track bleeds into a surprisingly laid back remix of Busta Rhymes and the memorable piano driven "The Moon and the Prince."
The third track, "I'll" really sets the tone for the album with the glitchy tones of Blue Orb highlighting Danny Brown's lyrics from I Will. Probably one of my favorite songs on the album, too bad I can't sing along with it in public.
One thing I love about mashups is the fact that I can learn to love a lot of songs I originally disliked or just didn't give the time of day to. More Than Twenty Questions is a great example of that, since I spent a few years thinking 50 cent was beyond wack. Toss down some of his lines over the dreamy sounds of Katamari Stars and I love this track. 50 cent is okay.
The love is over quickly and it's time for a young prince to move that katamari. Wonder how the King of all Cosmos got so powerful, maybe "Move Drugs" provides a hint. If you got high on some intergalactic kush thanks to the last song, then you'll really feel the follow up song, Tachyon, a nice anthem track to get you pumped for the final stretch of the album.
So far it has been difficult for me to decide what I like better, the thug prince of some tracks, or the surprisingly forward suave lover of a prince, but if the track Butts Everywhere could be lumped into a broad definition of 'romance,' then the sauve prince wins by a hundred miles. I'm sorry but I think songs where the chorus is a catchy reference to asses and possibly what asses can do, then I love it. So if you want a great album review from me, then have a song about butts on your album, and make it catchy.
The penultimate track is the one I was most excited for when the tracklist dropped. It didn't matter which Katamari song it got paired with, I knew DMX' vocal track from "X Gon' Give it to Ya" would be a definite highlight of the album. Even with all my expectations I didn't expect "X Will Give it to You" to be this catchy. I can only picture DMX in a suit performing live with a big band in a high class casino.
Ever since falling in love with the ending track from Team Teamwork's Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis album, I've payed close attention to the way this man ends albums. This one does not disappoint. "International Anthem for Players" is a perfect ending to both the game and the album. Teamwork deftly mixes in the original vocals from "Katamari of Love." Though those vocals by Shigeru Matsuzaki (and lyrics by Yoshihito Sano) are in his native Japanese, I'm sure he' s dropping some real pimp game.