Latin Kings Digital Music: ‘Kool Hec Si & djFuego1’ – a remarkably strong album

Latin Kings Digital Music (LKDM) is one of the longest standing, most talented underground rap groups of all time, and their brand new album, ‘Kool Hec Si & djFuego1’ represents this fact very well. This is the traditional yet matured LKDM rap sound, which is infused with colorful west coast elements, and delivers catchy riffs and well-written lyrical patterns. LKDM are of the 1st generation of west coast hip hop all-stars. The Latin Kings were acknowledged by Warner Bros. Records and featured on the ‘Were all in the Same Gang’ album in 1990.

Their underground hip hop classic ‘Tumba La Casa’ was the 1st bilingual hip hop recording of the West Coast. The Latin Kings aka Latin Kings Digital Music have re-connected with their original beat maker – the west coast legendary ‘Pride of Pasadena producer, James Broadway aka J’ Brodzilla aka B’way.

It’s hard to imagine, that just over 20 years ago, hip hop was still a relatively new musical genre just breaking into the mainstream. Today, no one questions its legitimacy or attempts to marginalize rap by calling it a “fad.” It’s hard to even imagine anyone ever doing that, at this point.

There were a litany of great hip hop artists and groups in the ’80s that laid the groundwork for the genre’s success, but it was the artists of the ’90s that broke through to the mainstream. Now Latin Kings Digital Music bring that legacy straight to today’s sound. ‘Kool Hec Si & djFuego1’ is a remarkably strong album that finds the group revisiting familiar terrain with renewed vigor.

LKDM has an expansive lyrical base, and ‘Kool Hec Si & djFuego1’ finds the crew milking their subjects of choice – the family, the contrasting sentiments of urban and street life, big busted mamas with even bigger booties – to haunting and often memorable effect. From its first track ‘Back To The Street’, this album is rock-solid, with Kool Hec Si and DJ Fuego 1 flowing nicely, complemented by DJ Broadway’s stellar production.

‘Coqueta’ is a flirtatious Latino groove filled with sexual innuendo which precedes ‘King Life’, a classic 90’s joint that will keep the listener drawn in. This leads into the smooth rhyming ‘My Folks Familia’, and the even smoother ‘Big Bolas’, which features some cool horn punctuations.

The overall sound of ‘Que Lo Que’ and ‘Just Like Him’, showcases excellent bass driven productions and heated flows used to create some very aggressive music indeed. The onslaught continues with ‘16 Shots’ and ‘Mas Dinero’ which is multilayered, harmonically wild music, as abrasive and hardcore, as it is eloquent.

Modern hip-hop acts wish they had the intellect and energy to make an album like this for the mainstream. There is no getting around the flow and aggressive style that Latin Kings Digital Music are able to promote here.

There are not many great rap albums in the 21st century era. Probably two handfuls really. ‘Kool Hec Si & djFuego1’ could easily find its way into that collection, and I’ve still got 5 songs to listen to on this 15 track collection.

To be immersed in modern music, whether it be rap, or any other genre, equals taking a bath in conformity and mediocrity. Over the years LKDM have developed a musical distinctiveness; a sound that bolsters the force of their thematic conceptualizations.

And at this point in their careers it would have been easy for Latin Kings Digital Music to coast on their reputation and experience, but ‘Kool Hec Si & djFuego1’ finds the crew still making music that matters!