Another artist is celebrating his debut on Stones Throw and adds a bit more Hip Hop atmosphere to the label. »The Treatment« is the sixth album by the MC from California, whose hands have been on the mic since the early 1990s. Stylistically, Dave Dub can be compared to the sound of Project: Blowed or the Living Legends, even though Dr. Octagon aka Kool Keith and Edan would be just as comparable. It’s a gloomy mixture with woozy samples and just as obscure lyrics which is the coating of an album that takes the listener on a psychedelic mind-fuck-trip. All in all, most of the tracks drag themselves over the record like zombies, although the raps occasionally differ in terms of tempo and even though the shallow introductions are sometimes interrupted abruptly. While attentively listening to the stories being told, one is often pulled out of the context by abstract lyrics, impossible to understand. Every now and then, an instrumental is getting in line with the rest, but all this makes the record become the kind of event that’s hard to find these days. In addition, there’s some flair of the 90s, both in Dave’s rhyming skills and his sound. It’s like mixing RZA’s Liquid Swords with Kool Keith’s Dr. Octagonecologyst and adding a sprinkle of Madlibesque crazines. Still, Madlib has nothing to do with these productions, even though a collab would sure be interesting. Instead, it’s Tape Mastah Steph who does quite an impressive job with this album and who is mostly responsible for this mental trip to hell. In the end, one has to adjust to »The Treatment« and to know what’s to be expected from it. Fact is that this kind of authentic underground-rap from ten years ago is finally finding its way back to the surface. And that’s not only good for Stones Throw, but good for the whole scene.
The Treatment
