by Elizabeth Braaten (@lizbraatens)
In this week’s issue, the legend of Czarface lives on. Hip-hop’s mightiest heroes (read: supergroup) are back with their ninth LP Czartificial Intelligence, out now via Silver Age / Virgin Music. Made up of legendary Wu-Tang Clan MC Inspectah Deck and beloved Boston underground boom bappers 7L & Esoteric, the group is known for their intricate lyricism and plush old school production. Their most recent project, a major label debut released a decade after their inaugural self-titled 2013 album, is no exception. Like the rest of Czarface’s discography, Czartificial Intelligence is a creative trip packed to the brim with gorgeous beats and bars as bright and colorful as the trio’s iconic Jack Kirby-inspired album artwork.
Nine projects and counting is quite the run for a group that first started out with the simple aim to release a no frills, DIY project. Speaking to HipHopDX back in 2013, Inspectah Deck said that he’d worked with 7L & Esoteric on a couple of records previously, the success of which led to them discussing a full-blown collaboration album. Bound together by a shared love for rap and comic books, the group came up with the idea for Czarface, a superhero whose mission was to save hip-hop. They never dreamed the project would grow the way it did — in fact, it wasn’t until they got into the studio that they realized Czarface could become much more than just a few one-off records.
“You know we still have that '90s mentality,” Esoteric explained. “With me and [Inspectah Deck] on the mic [and] 7L on production, we were just going to have it sneak out. As we started recording, we thought we could actually sell this, so we started to conceptualize the idea of Czarface and having that be the name of the group. The character represents the three of us when we’re on the mic and doing damage or whatever”.
In the decade since, that scrappy, independent mentality has endured. The last ten years have seen the group garner a cult following, release collaborative albums with the legendary MF DOOM and Inspectah Deck’s fellow Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah, and carry on the earnest spirit of the underground through their music. Czartificial Intelligence, with its robust old school production and fully-loaded lyrical arsenal, channels that grassroots energy listeners have come to know and love — and it’s an absolute feast for the ears.
In true Czarface fashion, introspective lyricism flows as freely as boasts and brags, particularly on the album’s notable fifth track “Mama’s Basement,” which features a prominent interpolation of A Tribe Called Quest’s “I Left My Wallet in El Segundo.” Defined by strong synths, a heavy beat and an excellent Inspectah Deck verse, “All That For a Drop of Blood” is the album standout. With appearances from the likes of Godfather Don, Kool Keith, Logic, NEMS, and Frankie Pulitzer (more widely known as award-winning actor Tom Hardy), the finished product is an album that’s genuine, fun, and harkens back to that for-the-love-of-it-all playfulness that birthed Czarface in the first place.
Czartificial Intelligence opens with a spoken, self-assured affirmation: “I don’t think nobody better than me, I don’t think no one person can stop me, and I never get tired of playin’.” It’s a statement that rings true and perfectly sums up the group’s lasting appeal. In a world that feels like it spins faster everyday, Czarface’s continued willingness to march to the beat of their own drum make them loveable heroes that are easy to root for — and ones we desperately need. Even Stan Lee couldn’t have written it better himself.