Back in the early 90s, as a series of classic records from thousands of west coast street linguists were assaulting record stores nationwide, the massive Hieroglyphics collective was busy helping to shape the lyric-intensive west coast underground style and rising to prominence on the independent circuit. More than ten years on from their first recordings, the lineup still intimidates: Casual, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Souls of Mischief, Pep Love, and Domino.
Full Circle, their first full-length together since 1998's Third Eye Vision, shows them still aggressively tackling concepts like the nature of their former and current sales capacity ("One Hundred Thousand Indi"), disenchantment with authority figures ("Powers That Be") and the trials and tribulations of the typical Hiero tour date ("Chicago"). Most prominently, the boys elaborate on intellectual rap braggadocio ("Catch me with a group of babes, stunting like Super Dave") and expound upon common rap clichés (money, cars, wack rappers, females, weed) with a street-smart looseness and rhyming proficiency reminiscent of late Freestyle Fellowship. Although it conflicts with their former anti-commercial mindstate, it still works due to the charismatic and lyrical status of the flow magistrates in question.
Where most emcees talk of women in the context of their groupies or trifling significant others, a stark moment on Full Circle comes with the masterful narrative "Maggie May". Over a subtle drum arrangement, light upright bass plucks and a depressive trumpet sample, the collective delivers a eulogy for a fallen friend, each Hiero head detailing their own connection to the nominal character with a verse about her descent in the face of drugs and prostitution. Their differing lyrical approaches apply variety to the topic, along with interesting views and tight rhyme schemes. Each rapper writes from a different time in her devolution, from Opio rooming with her during college to Del declining her sexual advances in the prime of her promiscuity to Tajai running into her as a strung-out cokehead. Narratives don't manage to work on both technical and conceptual levels very often, but in a stunning return to form, the triple-eyed alliance emerges with what could stand as a modern classic.
Those expecting the same basic sample piling that made 93 'Til Infinity and Fear Itself such classics should be prepared for a shock. More along the lines of Del's production on his own Both Sides of the Brain (and to a lesser extent, Casual's on He Think He Raw), Domino, A-Plus and Casual have seemingly cleaned up their beats, opting for the sophisticated bombast of synthetic instrumentation and a far more subtle sampling style. Unexpectedly, their collective production prowess works admirably, from the sluggish Timbaland-esque glitch-hop of "Heatish" to the chopped Venice strings and tavern keys of "Shift Shape" to the frantic rattle-and-strum and funky drumming of "Chicago".
In the stone face of evolution, the Hiero crew do stagger somewhat with a lack of conceptual depth: the classic simplicity of beats that marked their previous outings has faded, there are a handful of repetitive tracks ("Fantasy Island", "Let It Roll"), and, with the exception of his strong conviction on "7 Sixes", former asset Del totally sleepwalks through the record. But even in the presence of bad decision-making, the point is made: Hieroglyphics remain ever relevant in the rapidly changing world of underground rap.
