Ugly Duckling - Fresh Mode

If you think hip-hop has gotten a little too big for its britches and find yourself yearning for the old b-boy days in which rhymes were fresh and innocent and all the beats were laid down by an actual DJ spinning actual vinyl, fear no more. Ugly Duckling is laying down fresh hip-hop in an old school mode here in the new millennium.

Ugly Duckling is a complete and total anomaly. They're three white guys who come from an area of California (Long Beach) known for producing hardcore gangsta rap. Nothing about who they are or where they come from seems to give a logical reason for the fact that they're pretty much Run DMC for a new generation.

Andy and Dizzy are very capable MC's, while Young Einstein absolutely owns the turntables. He's such a master of his craft that he has popped up on a number of other collaborations that call for some old school turntable spinning and scratching.

As for Fresh Mode itself, this is a very good hip-hop EP that leaves you wanting more when it's done. It has a real old school flavor that hails back to the b-boy days of yore (they had b-boys back in yore, right?). If you've been looking for tunes you can lay down some cardboard and spin on your back to, look no further.