What's Up! Magazine

The Productionists are an interesting anomaly among local hip hop collectives. They seem to be straddling the fence. On one side is a radio-ready and rugged hip hop trio. On the other, a production team capable of putting together soaring arrangements that paint pictures of sunlight creeping through snow dusted cityscapes or that long walk home on a rainy night.
For a group on the local level, the sheer quality of the recording, mixing and mastering is remarkably professional. Each singular element of their beats has a defined place in the mix, resting leisurely amongst the rest of the layers. Smart arrangements are sprinkled throughout the record with subtly predictable but undoubtedly solid progressions.
The lyricists of the group both have a firm grasp on flow but they need to loosen it every once in a while and diversify. They seem to be getting trapped into delivering the same cadences during their verses, and sometimes with similarly unspectacular lyrics often showing symptoms of rhyme-the-same-word syndrome. However, they do manage to bring a brilliant swagger to the track that more than makes up for the minor lack in content, and it’s easy to agree with one of the MCs as he says, “You might not like the lyrics but you gotta respect them.”
That exact quote could be applied to the group’s whole concept. You may not like these guys, but you have to respect them—they’ve got a solid idea of what it takes to weave together cohesive, listenable hip hop records with some considerable mass appeal.Get these guys a label.