Album review: iNTeLL – Computers For The Hood

The second generation weighs on the idea of ​​accessibility

The advancement of technology has had a drastic impact on the music industry. Now, anyone can create, as long as they have some kind of electronic media and an idea. However, there are many people who do not have access to these luxuries. iNTeLL takes a moment to ask, “What if we provide these people with the technological means to create?” The son of Wu-Tang Clan U-God member and member of 2^sd Wu Generation released Computers For The Hood, an 11-track album full of collaborations with hip-hop legends to advance the issue.

“Computers for …?” Launches the album with the treble filter on the vocals saying, “You get a computer and you get a computer.” Soon after, iNTeLL rapped to the drum-driven beat. “Horahhh” presents Del the Funky Homosapien. Speaking of collaboration, he mentionned, “He’s not just one of my lyric mentors, but one of the craziest emcees around.” The context of this trail is all about moving forward and helping those you love. At the end is a skit where the two characters notice the van full of computers inside.

“Now I Know” has Lomel taking on the song’s melodic vocals while Method Man provides his own verse. The veteran and iNTeLL exchange lines about their talent, how their competition can’t compare and what it took to get to where they are. The rich sample “Motherboards” make you feel like you’ve been transported to the top of the emergence of hip-hop. The smooth drum pattern harmonizes with the sampled vocals allowing iNTeLL, Tahmell (son of Rakim) and Mickey Factz to match their streams perfectly on it.

“Django Hardware” is the hardest song on the album, with heavy drum beat in the foreground, sampled vocals and an echoing synth. INTeLL’s performance shows the passion behind the words he says. At the end, Prema777 gives a powerful and uplifting poem about the material, the connection, and how, despite the flaws, there will always be a way to make it work and be successful. He seamlessly switches to “Know The Gospel” with RA the Rugged Man and LDonthecut. The inclusion of the choir voice gives RA the famous descriptive language of the robust man and the rhyming pattern and flow of LDonthecut behind their words. “…The hood?” ends the album and loops the loop to complete the album name. In the form of the final sketch, the two characters from before decide to hold up the van. However, the stolen computers will be returned to neighborhood children.

While the idea for the album had been around for some time, creative exhaustion and the addition of the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to pursue the rapper. Regardless, with the help of the DLP producer, he created the perfect modern and old school hip-hop sound with a list of features a hip-hop boss could only dream of. Computers for the hood is an open dialogue that allowed both new and old artists to express themselves. Access to creation is everything. If there is a chance that these underprivileged people can get software of all kinds, the art and ideas that come to fruition will be magnificent.