Hi-Teknology 3: Album Review

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.