Haiku d’Etat
Album: Coup de Theatre
Release Date: October 26, 2004
Label: Decon Inc

review:
Haiku D’Etat brings together three of the L.A. underground’s most notable talents: Aceyalone and Mikah 9 (of the Freestyle Fellowship) and Abstract Rude (of Abstract Tribe Unique). They last collaborated on their 1999 debut, but the intervening five years haven’t diminished their chemistry. Throughout their careers, these lyricists have drawn frequent comparisons to jazz artists as their wordplay and rhyme flows resemble a kind of verbal bebop. This sophomore effort finds them innovating further still.

On "Mike, Aaron and Eddie" they stutter out words and phrases with a mechanical proficiency that’s both organically effortless yet unnaturally precise. "Transitions and Eras" takes the jazz motif to its most literal as the three spin out a tangle of rhymes while Fat Jack keeps the beat in the pocket through his bass lines, rim taps, and tinkling piano. Less heady, but no less enjoyable, are the post-relationship analysis "All Good Things" and braggadocio fest "Top Qualified," featuring Quannum’s Lyrics Born, Gift of Gab, and Lateef.

Inspiringly creative and impressively virtuoso, Coup De Theatre is easily as strong, if not better, than anything Acey, Ab, or Mikah have done individually since they last worked together, and hopefully it won’t be another half-decade until they collaborate again. —Oliver Wang

No profanity, or inaproppriate remarks.