''A Piece of Strange'' is the third studio album by the

Southern hip hop Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memp ...

trio

CunninLynguists CunninLynguists is an American hip hop group from Lexington, Kentucky. The group currently consists of Deacon the Villain, Kno, and Natti. Early beginnings In 1999, Deacon the Villain and Kno met at Club Kaya in Atlanta, Georgia at an even ...

, consisting of Kno,

Deacon the Villain Willis Polk II, better known by his stage name Deacon the Villain, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer from Versailles, Kentucky. He is a founding member of the hip hop group CunninLynguists. Deacon has produced for the lik ...

and Natti. It was released January 24, 2006, by The LA Underground, a record label based in New Mexico.

Background

The “high-concept record”''A Piece of Strange'' review
Archived at: tells the "tale of the pathway to and from sin". The album was produced entirely by Kno, and vocals are by Kno, Deacon the Villain and Natti, who joined the group prior to the recording of the album.Artist Interview
Archived at: Featured guest vocalists include

Cee-Lo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway - Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. He is known for his work in hip hop and R&B, including the Gnarls ...

Immortal Technique Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is an American rapper. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics, from a radical left-wing perspective. Immortal Techn ...

, and

Tonedeff Pedro Antonio Rojas, Jr. (born December 14, 1976), better known by his stage name Tonedeff, is an American rapper, producer, singer-songwriter and record executive. Tonedeff first gained national recognition on the underground hip hop scene ...

. Deacon and Kno have both cited the album's importance to their careers in interviews, with Kno calling it a "turning point" for the group. CunninLynguists toured domestically and overseas in support of the album, appearing with acts such as Depeche Mode,

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, Bun B, and Pharrell Williams.

Artwork

The album's cover art is by Becky Cloonan. Cloonan's collaboration with CunninLynguists occurred following her listing their song "Love Ain't" as something she was listening to in an issue of her comic ''

Demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

''.

Reception and legacy

''A Piece of Strange'' received widespread acclaim from critics, with '' XXL'' calling it "soulful", "raw", and "sophisticated", '' URB'' calling it "a piece of beauty",''A Piece of Strange'' review
Archived at: '' Scratch'' calling it "top-shelf",''A Piece of Strange'' review
Archived at: '' CMJ'' calling it a "beautiful...dense opera", and ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' calling it "vast and ambitious". Since its release in 2006, the album has been mentioned as one of the most important underground hip hop albums and praised for portraying a narrative not visited in any previous hip hop album.

Track listing

Notes * "Since When" features additional vocals by Anetra and SunnyStylez * "Brain Cell" features additional vocals by Anetra * "The Light" features additional vocals by Ladonna Young and Anetra

Personnel

Credits for ''A Piece of Strange'' adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. * Willie Eames – lead guitar, bass guitar (tracks 1–3, 5–15) * Tony Rojas – graphic design * Chris Webster – engineering * Becky Cloonan – cover illustrations * Jesse Howerton – additional keyboards * Greg Forsburg – mastering * Kno – production, executive production, mixing, photography * DJ Sicari – scratches (tracks 1–3, 5–16) * G. Bush – writing (tracks 2–4, 6, 8–9, 13–16) * R. Wisler – writing (tracks 1–16) * W. Eames – writing (tracks 2–4, 10, 15–16) * W. Polk – writing (tracks 1–6, 8–13, 15–16)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piece Of Strange, A CunninLynguists albums 2006 albums Concept albums