Isaiah Toothtaker is the kind of guy you hear about before you hear his music or meet the guy. When it comes to the city of Tuscon the man is like a story abuelas tell young children to warn them of the wayward lifestyle. The guy has earned his stripes and if you don’t believe me drive down to TooStrong and find out for yourself.
I first heard of this dude via stories about some guy who worked in a record store and would close the shop to beat up customers or just randoms out front or even in the store. Then there was the whole T-Town Thugs thing that a friend told me of witnessing at a hiphop show in Tucson. I already had an idea of who this dude was, right or wrong it’s an impressive reputation to carry. This always ready to throwdown tucson neck tat suspender wearing brawler who likes rap music and cigars. It sounds like I’m describing some kind of weirdo timetraveling 1920’s showman/barenuckle fighter out of the old west but that’s fucking Isaiah Toothtaker for you.
Then I got his first cd, but we aren’t here to talk about that.
Illuminati Thug Mafia is his latest work and definitely his best. It has a number of sounds that it uses as influences to create this whole warped journey through mind of bruises and scars. It’s got machina muerta cuts that draw their power from moaning screwed choruses then songs over rapid drums with stretched out vocal effects that get laced with Isaiah’s voice that fluctuates with each breath stressing itself across the beat, stretching to make the beat and retracting before going over that edge. It’s a constant battle between restraint and turmoil.
The beats on this shit draw from everywhere. One of the best being for the song Self Control which features Mestizo who is the other half of his group HumanSuit. Pink Floyd for the chorus over this rapid bleep of electro with the both of them tearing through the beat that only slows down for the mourning of the chorus.
You can’t really compare this record to anything because right now there isn’t shit out there that sounds like this. Who the fuck uses marching band circus music to establish the presence of threat, calls to kill your parents over lazers, and then the whole record is laced with skits that warn of the witchcraft in records. All these ideas merge to create a feeling of doom and survival that runs as an undercurrent through out the entire record. Like that predatory clown in the sewer waiting to eat your dreams.
Even on more ambient tracks like future enemies where you think you might be getting some more mellowed out shit to end the record with some tranquility Isaiah decides to subject his voice to distortion of robots as he sings about how you can not stop his revenge of slit throats and murder.
A grip of people came together to make this shit, just the number of features and producers is impressive MURS, Mestizo, HUMANSUIT, Zackey Force Funk, Lucky.I.Am, CRIME KILLZ, Lush One, Cadalack Ron, Rheteric, Alex Pathetic, & SerpDot, Mainframe (Johnson&Jonson), Jacob Safari (Wavves), Eligh (Living Legends), Kid Static, LouisahHH, Masque Anonymous, The Briefcase, & Nick Sena. While this seems like it might be too much Isaiah dominates the record, as his should, but even on songs with features he still dictates the overall mood of songs regardless of the speed or tone of the beat or the varied styles of mc’s on this record.
This record drops on Tuesday and I suggest if your default mood is aggravated then you should check this record out as it will probably have some appeal to you. It’s not for everyone but for those that get the appeal I’d recommend signing up for the Illuminati Thug Mafia.