With producer/rapper
the Alchemist and rapper/producer
Oh No behind the project,
Gangrene is dirty, underground hip-hop excellence as expected, but Vodka & Ayahuasca takes it to another level, or realm. "This is an acid trip/Rancid spit" is how this album's title track explains the conceptual rip in space and time that's laid down throughout, as
Hendrix headbands and hi-tops come together like rap was spawned with the help of
George Clinton's
Funkadelic rather than
George Clinton's
Parliament. "Auralac Bags" smells as much of old reefer as it does of modern indo, and even as tracks like "Dump Truck" thump with the modern boom-bap, a sitar or whammy-bar is bound to sneak in, making sure the total album experience lives up to its mind-bending cover art. This is dense stuff, too, creating a patchouli cloud of sound that somehow still allows for prime beats and hooks to come through. Think
Nick Cannon starring in Good Times or Vivica A. Fox and
Pam Grier as contemporaries and you've got the magic of Vodka & Ayahuasca, a "not for everyone" album that lives in an impossible universe you never thought existed, and now have a chance to visit. ~ David Jeffries