La Coka Nostra – A Brand You Can Trust (Purple Vinyl) 2xLP

A Brand You Can Trust is the classic 2009 debut album from hip-hop supergroup La Coka Nostra feturing House of Pain’s Everlast alongside Danny Boy & DJ Lethal with Ill Bill (Non Phixion), and Slaine (Special Teamz). Additional contributions come from such hip hop elite as Snoop Dogg, Cypress Hill, Immortal Technique, Bun B and The Alchemist. A breath of fresh air in the days of contrived airbrushed rap music, Ill Bill explained that, „This record is a no holds barred burst of hardcore hip-hop to the fullest, representing everything we love about this art form but feel is missing from the game right now.“ „This shit bangs,“ Slaine added. „We set out to make a boom bap hip-hop record and we did that, but to stop there would be selling it short, because lyrically, musically, and sonically this album doesn’t fit in a box.“ Though similar stylistically to the group’s prior 2009 online releases, the debut album features songs grounded more in reality. Subjects touched upon include politics, death, drug addiction, raising a child and terrorism. AllMusic gave four out of five stars. Andrew Kameka of HipHopDX wrote that „the album is a mostly solid effort and exactly what someone would expect from a supergroup of like-minded members known for high-energy music“. Adam Kennedy of the BBC while praising some the moments of the album said „it’s a tantalising parting taste of potential capabilities, yet until they improve a customer satisfaction hit rate that barely troubles one in three tunes here“. Steve Juon of RapReviews gave it a seven out of ten. Thomas Quinlan of Exclaim! said „La Coka Nostra are an interesting collection of collaborators that live up to the hype“.