El Michels Affair – 4th Chamber b/w Snakes feat. Lee Fields

And you thought that El Michels was done? I mean, after their 2009 Enter The 37th Chamber, how could they go even further? Well, on April 15th you will see how much further they can go, with their first full length since then: Return To The 37th Chamber. The first single, a cover off of of possibly one of our most favorite Wu related records, GZA’s Liquid Swords, “4th Chamber” is a huge FU to the naysayers who though EMA were down and out. In fact, you could say that they are back and stronger than ever. Raw fuzz guitars and cinematic synths give this atmospheric cover of RZA production a boost all these years later. It’s like a soundtrack score, but with the rawness and grit that a hip hop track should have, except that it’s played live by some of the best to ever do it. EMA are the elder statesmen of this game, and with this release on the newly formed Big Crown Records, they prove that they still have plenty left in the tank to take on all comers, even if it’s one of the toughest producers who ever chopped up a soul sample. We welcome this back into the funk and soul fray, honestly, it never gets old. They’ve taken a classic record and just added a whole extra level to it. It’s moody, it’s heavy like Black Sabbath and raw like the slums of Shaolin or East New York after dark. These cinematic layers seal the deal, and you can’t deny it. The flip, an ODB album cut cover of “Snakes” featuring Lee Fields, gives way to some stripped down vocals by Little JB that takes a turn to another place. This place is dark and with both the pairing of Fields and EMA gives us another future classic for this new label. We’ve never had a doubt that EMA had more left. In fact, we were wondering when this formation of Big Crown would yield us some of that instrumental goodness that this genre came back on way back in the Truth & Soul days. For now, there is no doubt that after you hear this record you will be asking: “Why is the sky blue? Why is water wet?” You know what we’re getting at. This is one 45 not to be missed, as these Big Crown joints are getting scooped up like the DOOM Clarks (and we’re still pissed we didn’t get them). Listen to the track below and pre-order the 45 from Big Crown as well.