Kevroc, of Darc Mind, has a voice that sounds like a combination of A-Town’s (Aurora, CO) Julox and Jurassic 5’s Chali 2Na; a low, deep, backwoods drawl wrapped around a preachers earnest delivery. The rumble of this voice and the heavily based tracks produced by DJ GM Webb D (aka X-Ray), create a surreal experience that matches the title of this Anticon release perfectly.
Recorded from ’95 to ’97 for Loud/RCA, the record is a combination of New York beats and pre-Southern instrumentation—that is, you can hear the 5 boroughs in the music and the rhythms, especially the uptempo spit and ill rhymes schematics of the obviously Big Daddy Kane-inspired “Knight of The Round Table”—but there is definitely something else happening with the basslines and horns, guitars and piano on cuts like the ominous “Visions of A Blur,” and the insidious “Covert Op.”
Covering braggadocio and politico stylings, Darc Mind remind the listener why NY was at the top of its game in the 90’s, even as the West was rising. If this record had been released upon its completion, it would have been huge. As it stands, it is still a timely record; one that should be heard by enthusiasts and pundits alike. It just may not carry the same weight it would have commanded had it been released before the millennium.
Symptomatic of a Greater Ill is a record that reminds you of why you listen to hip hop in the first place.
