Hard-working, charisma, dope freestyles, flow, songs and live show – all vital aspects if you want to be a respected emcee. These facets also comprise the gems that C-Rayz Walz stays dropping. All of this contributes in a big way to his universal appeal, from extensive repping on the indie scene with a prolific discography and tour schedule, to being called in by MTV to teach an average cat to battle rap. After dropping eight albums, countless singles, and working with everyone from Aesop Rock to Academy Award Winner Adrian Brody, The Suncycle MC is at it again with 1975: The Year of the Beast, formerly titled The Best of the Beast.

Since this is essentially a “Best Of” album, many of joints featured may already be familiar. While this can be a let down with some artists, you have to remember how extensive this cat’s catalog really is. As expected this record is filled to the brim some of the wittiest lyrics around, featuring the double-meaning punch lines C-Rayz is famous for. One of the choicest cuts is “Drug In My Veins,” where lyrics abound as C-Rayz and Breez Evahflowin’ outdo themselves over JS-1’s elegant strings. Another great track that sees C-Rayz trading verses with a guest is “Keepin’ It Raw,” where Immortal Technique spits with his usually ferocity, “you couldn’t face-off with me during plastic surgery, I don’t need to destroy you with a communist insurgency, I’ll just look at you and leave you bleeding internally.” The infectious “Addiction” is also a good addition to this collection, even if it does seem a little out of place amongst the street anthems and battle raps that make up most of this record.

The thing about compilation records, particularly “Best Of”s, is that you run the risk of hearing either things you’ve heard a lot already, or just plain a lot of joints you skip in between the tracks you actually like to listen to. C-Rayz did a great job here of not just putting all the most popular tracks on, but actually putting really strong material that does a good job of displaying his skills and not lagging anywhere noticeably. Even if you’re familiar with some of the material, this compilation is definitely worth at least checking out just for the joints that you’re not.