For those who don't know Masters of Illusion consists of Motion Man (aka Clifton Santiago) and the hardest working man in hiphop, Kool Keith (aka Keith Televasquez). With Kutmasta Kurt on the boards there is guaranteed to be nice sharp beats with hard drums and plenty of scratching (by Babu and Rev). Keith's major concepts here are wack rappers (rappers are weak most of them belong to Romper Room), and a particular female orifice (firing missiles at your girls anus), pure entertainment here. Motion Man is not to be overlooked though, he holds his own beside the veteran over the entire album.

The first single Partnas Confused caught my attention with it's sinister sound that compliments the harsh battle rhymes, the dope scratching throughout should be noted as well. The second 12" contained We All Over and Souped Up, both of which are off the chain. The latter is a hilarious song about being rude to autograph seekers. Keith delivers a classic line here, tell the Backstreet Boys...I'm arrogant. The eerie piano perfectly captures the essence of Scared Straight and on U Want Freestyle Keith is blazing on the mic. Let Me Talk To You shows Keith and Clifton's perverse way of treating women properly. The bonus track, Silk Suit Black Linen, is much of the same.

East West Hustlers will get your head nodding and the phat Urban Legend will probably have you hitting the repeat button. Back Up Kid is yet another showcase for the producer and the emcees. To top it all off, Kurt takes it back to '89 on Bay-Bronx Bridge and Kool Keith rips the mic like he is still an Ultramagnetic MC (rumor's have it they are getting back together for one more album).

Any of you out there with those trigger-happy fast-foward finger can holster those mafuckers. Masters of Illusion is 19 tracks of goodness, there are a few tracks that fall into the solid category (Magnum Be I and Time To Get Right), but everything else is pretty dope. Keith, Clifton, and Kurt possess the chemistry that was lacking on the Analog Brothers album, something that cannot be overlooked. Chemistry among group members is often the x-facter in making a dope album (see: Wu-Tang '94 vs Wu-Tang '00). M.O.I. is what it should have been considering the parties involved, a very dope album, nothing more, nothing less.