With an impressive kind of regularity, The Doppelgangaz have released at least one record per year, which automatically leads to the assumption that the band – and their records – might lose their spiciness and creativity over the years. However, on »Peace Kehd«, the two musicians have succeeded in finding just the right balance between well-established and experimental elements. Take »Shit Rock« for example, on which the two MCs are playing with their flows in a way they’ve hardly ever done it before. So far, »KnowntchooTahLie« might be their most unusual track, ever – and it’s the best one on this record. EP’s somewhat slimy and self-parodying vocals in the chorus put the duo’s humor in a nutshell and quickly become an earworm. In addition, »KnowntchooTahLie« is a great example of the perfect chemistry between the two rappers because they complement one another in the best possible way: EP starts his lines with »Bust down my shorty […] She damn near forty« and Matter Ov Fact reacts by starting his verse with »Bust down my lady […] She’s damn near eighty«. All that is underlined by a synthesizer-dominated beat, which, together with the drums, sounds like waves, hitting a huge wall of cliffs in fair regularity. Another sound-experiment can found in »Come Down Awn Eht«, full of trap-elements becoming parts of the instrumental. However, ignoring these few extras, one might think that The Doppelgangaz are trying to walk in Madlib’s shoes with this record: They are using obscure Arabic voice-snippets and it happens conspicuously often that a track consists of two different parts, the second part being a kind of interlude or a modification of the original instrumental. However, through all the – successful – experiments, they still stick to their favorite topics: »Shorties with strong ankles« and other unusual fetishes.
Peace Kehd
