AMG Review of Violent by Design [Bonus DVD]

Dean Carlson
All Music Guide

Like all excellent underground hip-hop acts, Philadelphia's Jedi Mind Tricks want to sound like Kool Keith but actually make some sense. That they've now moved on from their debut album's UFO-aphilia into more sociopolitical ramblings shouldn't distract you: Violent By Design again shows a group that still knows its nobly skewed stuff, even when adding a third solid member, JusAllah (aka Megatraum), and about 400 guest spots. There are tales of pipe-wielding violence, obligatory #Star Wars references, and amusing uses of Hulk Hogan and #Pi samples, but Stoupe's newly jagged and ominous turntablist hooks give you a new barren kung-fu film landscape for those imaginative nights when you're truly feeling sinister. The Virtuoso, Esoteric, and Bahamadia collaboration "Exertions" superbly captures a sloping account of reparation, placentas, and Zodiac killers, while "The Prophecy" interlude sounds like a hip-hop cousin to the dark jazz played in the club scene of David Lynch's #Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Hardcore vulgarity and pointed Wu-Tang hooks notwithstanding, Jedi Mind Tricks are well versed in contradictions. They know how to intimidate without gangsta pretensions, and they know how to create menace without losing sight of humor or clarity. [Violent By Design was reissued in 2004 with three bonus tracks and a DVD that includes a video scrapbook and the video for "I Who Have Nothing."]