Various songs on Visions of Gandhi contain quotations by Mike Tyson. The intention was probably to show how crazy the two-man producer/emcee team of Stoupe (The Enemy of Mankind) and Vinnie Paz is, but what ends up developing is a clear parallel: though Jedi Mind Tricks were once masterful rookies with a bright future, it could only have been a matter of time before they'd be dethroned; I don't know that they'll sink to the point of being convicted rapists with facial tattoos, but they've definitely been downed by Buster Douglas.
After Jus Allah left the group, Jedi Mind Tricks slowly but surely moved away from the Wu-Tang/Jeru-influenced intelligent hoodlum rap they started out with to an awkward mix of murder rap and the shiniest boom-bap money can buy. Glimmers of discontent began showing on 2000's Violent by Design, and now, with Jus gone and no balance to the artist formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram's intense desire for commercial success, Jedi Mind Tricks have become too commercial for the underground, but not commercial enough to make any money.
Stoupe's production style is the most noticeable change. Swiftly, he's gone from being heralded as the second coming of the RZA to a half-and-half mix of The Beatnuts and Necro. At least five of the rhythm tracks here are mysteriously upbeat with an alarming Spanish flavor that does anything but compliment Vinnie Paz's style. Hearing ex-Ikon tell the listener, "I like blood, I like tasting your flesh/ I like slugs, I'm like David Koresh," over a pleasant beat that wouldn't sound out of place on a detergent commercial is really awkward. The rest is a mish-mash of strangely plain orchestration, dark electronic and acoustic guitar beats. Just as Wu-Tang was once dirty with an aura of tightness, Stoupe's production now seems the epitome of unpolished commercial rap.
Vinnie Paz is Visions of Gandhi's biggest problem. His downfall, too, mirrors his idols in Wu-Tang: his initial style was rugged and intelligent, but here he's grown too comfortable, wasting one of the strongest deliveries in hip-hop on violent anti-gay rhetoric ("you like to hold hands with faggots/ You like the smell of males on your mattress"), shock rap ("I'll stab you in the bladder with a dagger and watch you die in piss") and how much he hates everyone ("I fucking hate you/ I hate your mother and father because they made you/ I hate the universe because it create you/ I hate anyone and anything that embrace you"). It's a poor man's Eminem vying for Top 40 approval.
The album's guest verses, fortunately, go a long way toward saving this record from being a complete disaster: showing an excellent break from Vinnie Paz. Ras Kass (one of the best rappers of all-time-- also currently incarcerated) drops a gem on "Rise of the Machines" ("Each rhyme's a minority report, fuck Tom Cruise"); Percee-P kills on "Walk with Me" ("I'm the poet who's rhyme was quoted, mind's unloaded/ Shine decoded the water flow in showing signs I wrote it"), while Non-Phixion, Kool G Rap and Tragedy Khadafi steal the show simply by holding their own. And then there's Canibus, the Internet's greatest has-been, who drops two verses of absolute nonsense. It's completely staggering, hearing him threaten to "discombobulate [confuse?!] prostates" and claim that his "metaphors started menopause in your moms before you were born." His lack of knowledge shakes me on a personal level.
It should be noted that the best songs are hidden tracks. Stoupe's greatest achievement, "I Against I", from Violent by Design makes an appearance, with a subtly chopped piano that shows the difference in technical proficiency between the new and old tracks. It also highlights another serious problem with Visions of Gandhi: a complete lack of concern for subtlety. Rather than pairing the darker tracks with lighter subject matter, the album is just a mix of angry lyrics over upbeat and downtempo production. The last time I saw Mike Tyson, he was co-hosting The Jimmy Kimmel Show. He made some reference to the movie Gremlins and everybody laughed-- at him, not with him. Could be how Jedi Mind Tricks feel right now.
