Its been far too long since we heard the eccentric MC proclaim everyday as Saturday night but the Canadian hip hop artists’ long awaited fourth studio album set the bar high for the 2009 hip hop world this April. Staying true to k-OS’ unique indie hip hop style demonstrating an upbeat lyrical flow of out-of-the-box metaphors and analogies over familiar Bloc Party-esque drums combined with awesome sampled and original riffs, ultimately coming together to form a solid rhythm you can’t help but nod your head to.
Straight from the opening track ‘Zambony’, which presents a quick pun quote about the confusing nature of chaos before dropping into a gently chanting choir to set an eerie focus for k-OS’ upfront update of the state of the art of hip hop, it is apparent that this is an album that will change the way you see hip hop far beyond the limits k-OS has previously pushed. It's a short wait before an introduction stating that this is what you’ve been waiting for all the century leads into ‘Burning Bridges’ to reignite the upbeat style k-OS so swiftly executes on a platform of a solid drum beat.The sampling of Shocking Blue’s psychedelic 60’s hit ‘Love Buzz’ in ‘Uptown Girl’ achieves a solid beat you can feel down to your feet, but in the sense of a contemporary reimagining of the groove which artists used to supply to dancefloors. The combination of old and new styles in this song make to unleash its’ potential on all fronts, and like ‘Born To Run’ from k-OS previous album ‘Atlantis: Hymns for Disco’ proves that k-OS is a totally original sound capable of appealing as widely as from indie rockers to the pickiest of hip hop fanatics.
By now you haven’t even reached the album’s first single and lyrical-flow masterpiece ‘4 3 2 1’ or the next indie hip hop anthem ‘FUN!’, but absorbing another half hour of high quality hip hop at this point is easy like a cheap hooker on a Monday night. If ‘Atlantis: Hymns for Disco’ was Saturday night, ‘Yes!’ is the Sunday morning k-OS fans have been waiting for.
