Detroit native Terrell McMathis has been popping up on recordings for nearly ten years. Known as
Lacksidaisycal, then
Lacks, and now
Ta'Raach, he has appeared on tracks by
Carl Craig's
Innerzone Orchestra ("The Beginning of the End"),
Jay Dee ("It's Like That"),
Amp Fiddler ("This Is How"),
As One ("It Ain't Nothin'"), and
Dabrye ("Pressure"), just to name a few. While
The Fevers is his first chance to step out on his own with a full-length, he dialed up a number of collaborators and billed it to
Ta'Raach & the Lovelution. Like
Platinum Pied Pipers'
Triple P -- yes,
Ta'Raach is on that as well --
The Fevers juggles hip-hop with R&B, albeit with a heavier slant toward MCing. Recorded in a couple studios near his adopted California locale, a spot just outside his hometown, and even Cologne, the 40-minute album is of a piece, as if it had been laid out in one session. Once frantic and bugged-out,
Ta'Raach's delivery as an MC is now deep, stout, and steady. Production-wise, it's not a surprise that he's somewhere between fellow Detroiters like the late
Jay Dee and
Platinum Pied Pipers'
Waajeed, whipping up ruggedly elegant (or elegantly rugged) beats that are equally efficient whether supporting hazy vocals or rapid-fire spitting. A lot of territory is covered, from the somber-yet-motivating "Hey!," to the dreamy daze of "Liberation's Lullabye" (featuring
Joy Jones), to the fierce "Service" (with a beat that resembles one of house producer
Moodymann's blue-in-the-face jack tracks). After factoring the guest verses from ex-
D12 member
Fuzz Scoota,
Tha Beloved,
Big Tone, and
Cashius King, the coordinates of the album outside the R&B flashes land somewhere between hardcore at its most hot-blooded (if your idea of hardcore involves
BDP and
Nas) and
the Native Tongues at their most playful.