On the heels of his 2006 underground smash Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip, Ohio native and Aftermath Producer Hi-Tek returns with Hi-Teknology 3: Underground, his third studio album. On Hi-Teknology 3, Hi-Tek sticks to his format of mixing established artists along with those who are still trying to scratch the surface, but this format backfires as Hi-Teknology 3 is blown out of the water by its predecessor. Unlike the star power that accompanied him on his previous album(Jadakiss,Nas,The Game,Busta Rhymes), Hi-Tek’ third album pales in comparison to his two previous bodies of work and offers a different sound from the man who was behind the boards on such hits as 50 Cent’ “Best Friend”,” Rider Music” and “Where it started at” featuring Jadakiss, Papoose, Talib Kweli, and Raekwon from his second effort.
As the album begins with a mother screaming as she delivers her baby, the intro sets the tone for an album that is hardly average and furthermore sub-par for a producer who is under the Dr Dre umbrella. The album boast’s features by a few established and credible hip-hop heavy weights such as Talib Kweli, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon, but that’s where the quality ends and the disappointment begins. Other features include Estelle, Riz, Kurupt, Big D’ and M-1 (of Dead Prez) among others.
“My Piano” feat. Ghostface Killah, Raekwon and Dion, pose as one of the few gems on the album as Tek presents Ghostface and Reakwon in vintage form as they rhyme over a gritty rock guitar with pin-point lyricism. Aside from “My Piano”, “Time” featuring Talib Kweli, along with “Step Ya Game Up (Remix)” featuring Little Brother help keep Hi-Teknology 3 from being a complete malfunction. On the track “Time”, Talib Kweli flaunts his comfort with a Tek produced song as he returns to their Reflection Eternal days reciting, “\Its time to start a movement\Its time to start improving\if everybody a pimp\then who the prostitutes\”, in one of the best songs the album has to offer.
Tracks like “Ohio All Stars” and “I’m Back” feat. Rem Dog are two of the more difficult listens on the album, not to be outdone by “Handling My Bizness” featuring Lep and Count among others. Hi-Teknology 3 sounds more like a decent mix-tape than an average album and raises the question why do producers feel the need to drop albums so often. Hi-Teknology 3 has a slue of tracks that either does not mix a strong beat with solid rhymes, or in a few cases both are seemingly out of sync.
“Kill You” by Push Montana, presents one of the rare instances on the album where the beat complements the artist and the artist does justice to the beat. The Brooklyn Mc holds his own as he takes advantage of one of Tek’s better beats within the 15 track exhibition.
Although he lacks the rap skills to sell records by the weight of his wordplay alone, Hi-Tek is still a seasoned producer who is solid behind the boards when it comes to creating hits for others, but after his attempt on Hi-Teknology 3, Tek seems unable to repeat the feat for himself. Hi-Teknology 3 is a step backward from Hi-Teknology 2 and begs the question… if the producer make the song, does the artist make the producer.
Comments
8 Comments so far



Well said, I really dig how you ended with the vice versa question…keep em thinkin’ lol. You sounded very fair in your analysis of the album…
yo… im speechless. that article was insightful, well-written and all a dat. im subscribing to this mag cause the editors go to work and are concise in thier articles.werd!
This just makes me wonder if Hi Tek can last in hip hop. Nice article… maybe instead of getting the album I’ll try to find Tek’s instrumentals.
I have listened to the whole Hi-Tek3 album. Truthfully, I agree 100% with this review. ‘Time’ featuring Kweli is to me the best track on the album and a typical Reflection Eternal track. God’s Plan feat. the Outlawz and Young Buck is not bad either. I also liked “Back on the Grind”, Lefe to me and Come Get it. There are only 6 tracks worth listening to. In terms of the beat, I think Tek has got it, he just needs to make a better selection of emcees. Rather do half of his tracks with Kweli and the rest with Mos Def, Common and a few others.
That kid PUSH! Montana is nice.. Check out his other joints at www.myspace.com/pushmontana.
Loved hi-teks beats, but I could have seen a better choice of emcees. One song I have heard nothing about is “Life to Me”. That song is probaly my favorite. “Time” was a second favorite.
what??? this album isn’t quite as good as the first one but a lot better than hi-teknlogy 2!!!!
^^ no…
I strongly agree with this article. I was really disappointed when I listened to the album, especially since before it dropped I’d been listening to Reflection Eternal (Prime Tek) heavily. I guess you just can’t go back to the way it was, it’s just a shame that such a veteran producer has lost the spark rather than honing his skills since the original Hi-Teknology album..
peace