Devil'z Rejects / "Necronomicon" (Dynasty Muzik)

Note: This review was published several years ago in Elemental Magazine (RIP).  In the time since, Jus Allah has re-joined Jedi Mind Tricks, and Bomshot has moved on to working with Wu-Tang affiliates including The Holocaust and GZA.  This article was never meant to instigate beef; I was simply narrating an intriguing story that’s been relayed in East Coast underground hip-hop circles for years.  Enjoy, and please feel free to add your two cents at the bottom if you have any input.

Here’s how it went down: Bomshot first met Jus Allah while on tour with Jedi Mind Tricks back in 2000, around the time that Babygrande Records founder Chuck Wilson signed the group.  After leaving his mark on Violent By Design, Allah also left (and dissed) JMT, effectively sparking the nomadic infamy that he’s been known for ever since.  Fast forward to 2005, when Bom claims (and unanimous Boston heads back up) that Allah moved to Beantown to work on the project now known as Devil’z Rejects.  After months of recording by day and wrestling with their sour Omnipotent contracts by night, Bom convinced Allah to make peace with Vinnie Paz and push for their collaborative project to be released on Babygrande.  Allah’s ensuing solo deal with Wilson, however, as well as his sudden bounce from Boston, left a foul taste in Bom’s mouth that resulted in the Allah dis “False Gods” on Bom’s Kill ‘Em All mixtape.  That track, on which Bom shreds his former partner’s credibility and declares, “You fuckin’ whiteboy, I’m blacker than you,” led to Bom getting dropped from his own 12” deal with Babygrande.  Finally, Necronomicon is the fruit of Allah and Bom’s Boston sessions, which took place after Allah recorded All Fates Have Changed, which was initially supposed to be put out by Omnipotent with different instrumentals. 

Since Bomshot announced the release of Devil’z Rejects, Allah has gone on record saying that he was not directly involved with it; insisting that he never recorded alongside Bom, and going so far as to allege that Bom was a “fan that turned into ‘you let me rhyme on your tracks.’”  Allah’s claims are both unlikely (what fan gets hold of two dozen of your best verses ever) as well as unfortunate, since Necronomicon features some of his finest work to date.   

Regardless of the terms under which it was recorded, Devil’z Rejects is thunderous.  For heads who ceased complaining about the dearth of Golden Age flavored hip-hop and are more nostalgic for late 90’s drink-your-blood-and-fuck-your-mother-core, Necronomicon is The Cactus Album.  Allah had one thing right – Bomshot is a JMT fan, and in post-production he admittedly mirrored the Violent By Design format to satisfy fans; not only in the beat department, but also in how his sandpaper vocals grind against Allah’s calculated brilliance.  Lyrically, this album covers major terrain – from tangible death threats to abstract satanic lullabies that keep the mind at work.  It’s so blasphemous that it’s almost religious, and the fabulously gruesome production and precision cuts – which come from Bom, Reel Drama, Slip Wax of the Deck Demons and a roster of unknown talents from near and far – support the plot line every breath of the way.  And if the product’s perfection doesn’t convince you that this is indeed authentic, then the pair of GZA verses should do the trick.

In the end, it’s unlikely that the couch in Bom’s apartment that Allah crashed on while in Boston will replace the hotel room that George Washington slept in as a stop on the Freedom Trail; but Necronomicon will certainly freeze in time a controversial yet memorable moment in underground rap history.