The Mighty Underdogs are the newly formed trio of hip-hop heavy weights from the West Coast: Blackalicious’s Gift of Gab, fellow Quannum compatriot Lateef the Truth Speaker and Bay Area producer Headnodic - release their debut collaboration, Droppin’ Science Fiction, on Definitive Jux.

Throughout Blackalicious’s 10-year run as indie rap elite, Gift of Gab has found himself at the top of numerous Top 10 lists. Whether it’s solo action or paired with Lyrics Born as Latryx.

Lateef the Truth Speaker is a linguist gymnast of the truly impassioned variety. Lateef’s got big game experience too, as his collaboration with Fat Boy Slim, ‘Wonderful Night’, scored a Grammy nomination.

Headnodic, an accomplished bass player and part of the forever heralded and endlessly funky Crown City Rockers, is ready for a busy 2009, as his musical partnership with Moe Pope looks to gain more than a few nods from the real hip-hop heads, in addition to his Mighty Underdogs work.

This trio came together while going through tracks from Headnodic for his solo album, Lateef found enough tracks to make an entire album. Since Lateef and Gab had been talking about their own collaborative project for long enough, it made sense to get on down with the beat and bring out Droppin’ Science Fiction.

The Mighty Underdogs tour through worlds and soundscapes that blur all settings, with fantastic collaborators, including; DJ Shadow, Mr. Lif, Akrobatic, The Alkoholics’ Tash, Jurassic 5’s Chali 2na, Julian and Damien Marley.

This album has it all, from all genres of music mixed in with the hip-hop vibe.

As soon as I put this into my player I couldn’t help but like its vibe. Underdogs really have done themselves proud, incorporating sounds of soul in tracks such as: ‘Folks’, ‘Love-Life’; reggae sounds in ‘So Sad’ (ft. Julian and Damian Marley); African beats in ‘Aye’; exotic sounds in ‘Lil Vacation’ (Ft. Lyrics Born); and just some chilled out funky beats. Not one song is like the last, and I think this is what I love about the album.

There is a fresh, clean sound from The Mighty Underdogs; they have attitude, humour and most importantly good beats. This is just the beginning for our superhero trio, and I’m sure they will be around for a long time to come.

10

Helena Rea