termonology.jpgLast year’s DJ Premier–produced banger “Watch How It Goes Down” and the subsequent remix, featuring Papoose and Lil Fame, put Termanology on every A&R’s radar. Feeling like all eyes are on him, the Massachusetts rapper enlists the services of Big Mike and Statik Selektah for part five of his annual Hood Politics mixtape series.

Term sets off his latest disc with the aggressive “So Amazing,” another Preemo-powered boom-bap loaded with confidence: “Who you know nicer than Term, riddle me this/If you don’t say Rakim, you better say ’Kiss/Styles P, Kool G or ’Pac/Anybody else, I’ll put ’em up in a box.” Continuing the assault, Dilated Peoples’ Evidence lends his board work and bars to the brooding “Low IQ,” where the duo go back and forth on the mic like early EPMD. But it’s producer DC’s dark production on “Born Alone, Die Alone” that inspires Term to analyze his position in the game: “I don’t bite Jay, bite Big, bite ’Pac/I’m in a tight spot/They say I might flop/If I don’t make a ‘Shoulder Lean’ or a ‘Ice Box.’”

Aside from the annoying horn loop on “Back From the Dead” and the monotonous “Cold World,” Termanology keeps his lyrical tour de force on the right track. Devoid of freestyles over jacked beats, Hood Politics V possesses an LP feel that leaves room for improvement but sets the stage for a promising lyrical campaign. —DJ RHUDE

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