This seems more like a mixtape-like side project than a proper album. As far as I know, it could be. The First Edition subtitle certainly suggests so. If it isn’t, it’s the third KRS-One album in a row with the same song on it. Invader is included on Now Hear This from 2015 and The World Is Mind from 2017. The decision to include it here, albiet a 2019 version, is baffling.

It’s still one of the best songs though, thanks in part to a groovy Mad Lion beat, though I would’ve given it a Mexican vibe to fit the concept. Forever Hip Hop gets it right. The other best songs are the ones KRS-One’s wife G Simone sings the chorus on; Ride, Miracle and God. Perhaps he should’ve let her sing every hook. Most of the others are defective.

my rating : 3 of 5

2019