People Under The Stairs: Question In The Form Of An Answer

Like Dilated Peoples and Jurassic 5, the members of People Under The Stairs wear their love for hip-hop on their sleeves, thanking their crates in liner notes and posing with their record collection in the booklet for their second album, Question In The Form Of An Answer. Devoted followers of The Church Of Hip-Hop, the group rhymes about the basic elements of the genre—from mic cords to dusty vinyl to crates loaded with precious scratching fodder—with an almost religious sense of devotion. Rappers and producers Thes One and Double Kay Kay put their love of vinyl to good use throughout Question, creating a rich, jazzy backdrop for their smart, confident, evocative rhymes. Like Gift Of Gab, Blackalicious' superhumanly mellow frontman, both of PUTS' laid-back rappers sound comfortable in their own skin, an ingratiating trait in a field where loud and intense is generally the order of the day. But while the genre-hopping Nia, Blackalicious' last album, is bursting with new ideas, Question is equally accomplished but far less adventurous, the work of vinyl fetishists content to leave the outside world alone in favor of the unique pleasures of crate-digging. At 22 tracks, it could have benefited from prodigious editing, and the duo's less-than-revolutionary choice of subject matter is limiting. But during blissful, gorgeously produced highlights such as "Youth Explosion" and "Zignaflyinblow," those quibbles seem irrelevant. The occasionally brilliant Question In The Form Of An Answer positively radiates with affection for hip-hop's life-affirming possibilities.