''In Death Reborn'' is the fourth studio
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
by the
underground hip hop collective
Army of the Pharaohs
AOTP logo ''(as seen on In Death Reborn)''
Army of the Pharaohs (most commonly abbreviated as AOTP or A.O.T.P.) is an American underground hip hop collective originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed by Jedi Mind Tricks founder ...
. The album was released on April 22, 2014, via Vinnie Paz's independent record label,
Enemy Soil.
The album features members
Vinnie Paz
Vincenzo Luvineri (born October 5, 1977), better known as Vinnie Paz (formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram), is a Sicilian American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the fr ...
,
Apathy
Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of intere ...
, Blacastan,
Block McCloud,
Celph Titled,
Crypt The Warchild
Marcus Albaladejo (born August 18, 1980), better known by his stage name Crypt the Warchild, is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Albaladejo is one half of the rap duo OuterSpace and is a member of Army of the Pharaohs. Cry ...
,
Demoz,
Des Devious,
Doap Nixon
Kenneth Greene (born August 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Doap Nixon, is an American hip hop artist and rapper who is a former member of supergroup Army of the Pharaohs. He has collaborated with a variety of underground hip hop artist ...
,
Esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
, King Magnetic,
King Syze
David Albaladejo (better known by his stage name King Syze) is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Puerto Rican descent. He is a member of the underground hip hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs (AOTP), having featured on ...
,
Planetary,
Reef the Lost Cauze
Sharif Talib Lacey, better known by his stage name Reef the Lost Cauze, is an underground hip hop artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cauze became well known on the underground circuit towards the late 1990s and more so in the early 2000 ...
and
Zilla
Zilla may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Vittore Zanetti Zilla (1864–1946), Italian painter
* Zilla Mays (1931–1995), American R&B, gospel singer and pioneering DJ
* Zilla (Godzilla), a fictional film monster
* Zilla (band), a trance ban ...
, with a guest appearance by
Lawrence Arnell
Lawrence Arnell is an American rapper and producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first collaborated with hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks on ''Violent by Design'' under the name Diamondback in 2000. In 2014, Arnell joined Army of the Pharaoh ...
.
The only member who did not appear on the album was
Jus Allah
James Bostick (born June 30, 1978), better known by his stage name Jus Allah, is an American rapper from Camden, New Jersey. He is best known for being a former member of Philadelphia-based hip hop groups Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) and Army of t ...
, also affiliated with
Jedi Mind Tricks
Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) are an American underground hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1996 by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz (Vincenzo Luvineri) and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind (Kevin Baldwin). In ...
; it was later confirmed that Allah had left both groups.
It was confirmed on February 11, 2014 that the album's production team included Stu Bangas, C-Lance, Leaf Dog,
Panik and Army of the Pharaohs' Apathy, including new faces who had not produced for the group.
To promote ''In Death Reborn'', Paz released ''The Flawless Victory'' mixtape on March 2, 2014.
Reef the Lost Cauze released a collaboration album, ''Fast Way'', with producer Emyd on March 9, 2014.
Although member Doap Nixon only appeared on "7th Ghost" due to personal issues, he said he would be more of a presence on the LP due for release in November.
King Syze released his fourth studio album, ''
Union Terminology'', one month before the album's release.
Apathy pushed back the release date of ''
Connecticut Casual'' from April to June to favor ''In Death Reborn''.
A week before ''In Death Reborn'' release, Zilla announced that he was working on ''Martyr Musick'': his fourth studio album, scheduled for release in June 2014.
''In Death Reborn'' was one of the two albums that were stated to be released in 2014 by the group. The second being ''
Heavy Lies the Crown'' which was released on October 21, 2014.
The album peaked at number 16 and 63 on the US
Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated Jan ...
and
''Billboard'' 200 charts, respectively, and peaked on the UK R&B Albums chart at number 33. ''In Death Reborn'' received generally average-to-positive reviews. Online Rap album reviewer RapReviews gave the album a score of 5.5/10 crediting the production of the album as "solid rather than outstanding".
''
HipHopDX
''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group.
...
'' gave it a score of 3.5/5 stating that the album preserves Hip Hop's Golden Era and asserts the groups current relevance.
The Canadian music magazine ''
Exclaim!'' rated it 7/10, describing the album as "a tough listen for some" but for those who are looking for "no-nonsense hard street music".
Background
Pre-release
Vinnie Paz announced on his Facebook page in early 2011 that ''In Death Reborn'' was due for release in 2012; however, the date was pushed back.
Early in 2012, Houston underground MC
Zilla
Zilla may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Vittore Zanetti Zilla (1864–1946), Italian painter
* Zilla Mays (1931–1995), American R&B, gospel singer and pioneering DJ
* Zilla (Godzilla), a fictional film monster
* Zilla (band), a trance ban ...
and Connecticut's
Blacastan were added to the group. Although rumors circulated on Facebook that
Reef the Lost Cauze
Sharif Talib Lacey, better known by his stage name Reef the Lost Cauze, is an underground hip hop artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cauze became well known on the underground circuit towards the late 1990s and more so in the early 2000 ...
would not appear on the album, he tweeted on November 27, 2013 that these rumors were false and he would be making an appearance on the album.
On April 12, 2013, a post on the AOTP Facebook page read: "New album is not finished. Don't know when it will be finished. Will let you know when there's a release date. No need for further questions." This caused frustration amongst fans as they had been waiting for the album for over a year. On June 27, 2013, AOTP frontman
Vinnie Paz
Vincenzo Luvineri (born October 5, 1977), better known as Vinnie Paz (formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram), is a Sicilian American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the fr ...
confirmed via Twitter that he is working on a new solo EP as well as a new Heavy Metal Kings and AOTP album. All of which is coming within the next year.
On October 4, 2013, Apathy announced that "Every AOTP album we've done in the past, we all handed in our verses via email and weren't too hands-on with it. This one is different. Every day we've been emailing each other, going over songs, picking beats and showing each other our verses. This might be the best AOTP album yet. It definitely is the illest, lyrically. We're all having brotherly competition and trying to murder each other on these songs. It's great."
On November 30, 2013, Paz said that two AOTP albums would be released in 2014; ''In Death Reborn'' was scheduled for an April release, and the second LP was confirmed for release on October 21, despite originally being scheduled for release in November. On February 11, 2014, Celph Titled confirmed on Facebook that ''In Death Reborn'' would be released on April 22, 2014.
Other projects
Many members of the group were working on and released other projects in addition to ''In Death Reborn'', and the period was called "The Pharaoh Season". To promote ''In Death Reborn'', Paz released ''The Flawless Victory'' mixtape on March 2, 2014.
Reef the Lost Cauze
Sharif Talib Lacey, better known by his stage name Reef the Lost Cauze, is an underground hip hop artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cauze became well known on the underground circuit towards the late 1990s and more so in the early 2000 ...
released a collaboration album, ''Fast Way'', with producer Emyd on March 9, 2014.
Although
Doap Nixon
Kenneth Greene (born August 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Doap Nixon, is an American hip hop artist and rapper who is a former member of supergroup Army of the Pharaohs. He has collaborated with a variety of underground hip hop artist ...
only appeared on "7th Ghost" due to personal issues and work on ''
Sour Diesel 2'', he said that he would be more of a presence on the November LP.
King Syze
David Albaladejo (better known by his stage name King Syze) is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Puerto Rican descent. He is a member of the underground hip hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs (AOTP), having featured on ...
released his fourth studio album, ''
Union Terminology'', a month before ''In Death Reborn'' release.
Apathy
Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of intere ...
pushed back the release date of his album, ''
Connecticut Casual'', from April to June in favor of ''In Death Reborn''.
Former Pharaoh
Jus Allah
James Bostick (born June 30, 1978), better known by his stage name Jus Allah, is an American rapper from Camden, New Jersey. He is best known for being a former member of Philadelphia-based hip hop groups Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) and Army of t ...
did not appear on the album, due to personal issues and was working on his second studio album, ''
Meanest Man Alive'' .
A week before the release of ''In Death Reborn'', Zilla announced that he was working on ''Martyr Musick'', his fourth album, which was pushed back to a 2015 release.
Album art
The first update the group released about ''In Death Reborn'' was the album art, which was leaked on the Jedi Mind Tricks website on February 11, 2014. The album art was designed by graphic designer and photographer Dan Bradley. Bradley (who had worked on the art since October 2013) also designed the cover of ''
Heavy Lies the Crown'', and had designed album art for AOTP members for nine years.
The album art differs from the group's other releases; instead of a
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
, there is a soldier wearing a
gas mask. It was later said that the cover looked oddly familiar; it was drawn from the same stock photography bank as Punch's ''Frozen Memory'' mixtape cover, which was released in November 2013 and was considered to have inspired the album art. On September 28, 2018, Vinnie Paz released his album ''
The Pain Collector'', which featured the single "Gas Mask". Paz stated that the single was partially inspired by the album art of ''In Death Reborn''.
Singles
![AOTPRawRap2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/AOTPRawRap2014.jpg)
The group released their first single with a music video from the album on March 11, 2014; ''God Particle'' featured members
Vinnie Paz
Vincenzo Luvineri (born October 5, 1977), better known as Vinnie Paz (formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram), is a Sicilian American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the fr ...
,
Planetary,
Esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
,
Apathy
Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of intere ...
and
Celph Titled, and was produced by Stu Bangas with
cuts by
DJ Kwestion. The music video had appearances by other members, including
Reef the Lost Cauze
Sharif Talib Lacey, better known by his stage name Reef the Lost Cauze, is an underground hip hop artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cauze became well known on the underground circuit towards the late 1990s and more so in the early 2000 ...
, Blacastan,
Doap Nixon
Kenneth Greene (born August 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Doap Nixon, is an American hip hop artist and rapper who is a former member of supergroup Army of the Pharaohs. He has collaborated with a variety of underground hip hop artist ...
and
Crypt the Warchild
Marcus Albaladejo (born August 18, 1980), better known by his stage name Crypt the Warchild, is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Albaladejo is one half of the rap duo OuterSpace and is a member of Army of the Pharaohs. Cry ...
.
The video was directed by Jimmy Giambrone and co-directed by Steve Perrong.
On March 31, 2014, Paz uploaded ''Army of the Pharaohs: Behind the Scenes'' to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
. The episode showed Army of the Pharaohs members behind the scenes as they filmed the video for "God Particle" and prepare to perform together in Philadelphia for the first time in years.
On the launch of the album, the group released a remixed version of the single which was entirely remixed by
Mr. Green and was available only on
iTunes as a bonus track. The music video was directed by Sam-Lipman Stern.
Paz released the album's second single, "Curse of the Pharaohs", on April 7, 2014. The single featured Paz, Apathy, Celph Titled, Esoteric and Reef the Lost Cauze, and was produced by Blastah Beatz. The group released their third single, The Demon's Blade", and a music video on June 4, 2014. The music video contained scenes of Army of the Pharaohs performing worldwide onstage and scenes from ''Army of the Pharaohs: Behind the Scenes''.
[ The single featured Paz, Celph Titled, Apathy, Blacastan, Planetary and Esoteric, and was produced by Leaf Dog.
]
Production
In March 2014, producers Stu Bangas, C-Lance, Leaf Dog, and Panik were confirmed to produce the album. Bangas was affiliated with Army of the Pharaoh members since 2006, produced Doap Nixon
Kenneth Greene (born August 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Doap Nixon, is an American hip hop artist and rapper who is a former member of supergroup Army of the Pharaohs. He has collaborated with a variety of underground hip hop artist ...
's ''The Wait Is Over
''The Wait Is Over'' is the second album by the Southern rap group 69 Boyz, released in 1998. It was a moderate success, peaking at number 114 on the Billboard Hot 200; however, it didn't chart as well as the group's previous album, ''199Quad ...
'', and released a collaboration album with Blacastan and ''Machete Mode'' with Esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
; he produced "God Particle". C-Lance, a long time affiliate with Jedi Mind Tricks
Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) are an American underground hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1996 by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz (Vincenzo Luvineri) and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind (Kevin Baldwin). In ...
, was one of two producers to produce more than one track: "Midnight Burial" and "See You in Hell". Vanderslice, another long-time affiliate with Army of the Pharaohs, produced "Broken Safeties". French production duo Crown and Supervillain produced "7th Ghost". It was their first collaboration with Army of the Pharaohs, although they had made a remixed version of Jedi Mind Tricks' "Street Lights".
The album was noted for its different beats, due to the number of producers. Frank Grimes produced the album's second single, "Curse of the Pharaohs", and its final song: "Sumerians". British producer Leaf Dog, former DJ of The Three Amigos, made his debut on the American hip-hop scene by producing the album's third single: "The Demon's Blade". Panik, one-fourth of the hip hop production team Molemen, collaborated for the first time with Army of the Pharaohs on "Ninkyo Dantai (Yakuza)". Other producers included Paul Nice, Juan Muteniac and Lecs Beats, none of whom who had previously collaborated with Army of the Pharaohs.
Critical reception
''In Death Reborn'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. Mark Bozzer of '' Exclaim!'' gave the album a 7/10 rating, calling it "a hard-hitting slab of jacked-up fight music that combines aggressive beats with aggressive yet intricate wordplay." He gave praise to the producers of the album including the likes of underground and, as he described, "highly slept-on" producers Stu Bangas and Vanderslice. Both of whom crafted classics in Blaq Poet
Wilbur Bass (born May 31, 1969), better known as Blaq Poet, is an American rapper from Queensbridge, New York City.
Biography
Blaq Poet was first heard on the track "Beat You Down" from the Bridge Wars during 1987, a diss song towards KRS-O ...
's 2011 Blaq Poet Society, amongst others. The mag described the group as dropping knowledge on songs that resemble a B Movie horrorfest in terms of track title and subject matters.
Omar Burgess of ''HipHopDX
''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group.
...
'' rated the album 3.5/5, saying that it had sufficient experimentation and raw talent to entice in casual listeners whilst still providing to its loyal fan base. According to Burgess, "Hardcore material representative of Hip Hop made in the mid-to-late '90s has been taking a beating in some circles." He critiqued the groups use of phrases like ''Rappity-Rap'' and ''Boom-Bap'' and how it epitomizes aggressive rap, infused with similes and metaphors stressed with sample-based production." Army of the Pharaoh's individual and collective careers originated from that era and the group rarely give off the impression of being threatened by this stigma. He went on to say that 16 years later, AOTP divides their time between concurrently conserving Hip Hop's Golden Era and affirming their current importance by competitively out-rhyming each other despite various lineup changes and over a decade of seeing rap change.
RapReviews' Grant Jones gave the album a score of 5.5/10, with a music vibe of 5/10 and a lyrical vibe of 6/10: Jones described his review as "harsh" but felt that this album summarises what Army of the Pharaohs has become, whilst still crediting the group as underground's most prominent supergroup and a modern example of underground hip hop. Even though the group has declared authenticity in their previous and individual albums, Jones described In Death Reborn as one that feels the "most manufactured" compared to all their releases. He added that the "production is provided by different producers on each song, and the vocals lack any real cohesion, almost as if each one was recorded on its own, emailed and pieced together." However, he embraced the groups' collaboration with Leaf Dog, whom he describes as one of the best British producers, for his work on "The Demon's Blade" as an explosive track that hits the listener after 15 minutes of "predictable, water-treading hip hop." Noting its resemblance to previous singles " Seven" and " Battle Cry" from earlier LPs. "Visual Camouflage" produced by Juan Muteniac was another noteworthy performance by Army of the Pharaohs according to RapReviews, as it appealed character and ultimately binding the rappers with a track "worth rewinding" whilst concluding that the rest of the album is decidedly average.
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 ...
's David Jeffries rated ''In Death Reborn'' 4/5. He praised the album as one that immediately feels old school due to significant participation from original member Esoteric. "That unapologetic, brutal dude attitude is in full force as "Midnight Burial" barks the lyrics 'I'm out to make a million/Kinda hard to do without pussies catchin' feelings' whilst the 13th track of the album "7th Ghost" threatens 'me peeling your grill off the front of our Hummer truck' because that's what gas guzzlers were made to do." In terms of production, Jeffries reviewed lead single "God Particle" as one that is a "new kind of stomping electro hulk" by Stu Bangas, whilst rapper and producer Apathy "puts a funky, harpsichord-driven ghost dance" below "Headless Ritual". He concluded by describing the album as "the flying death ball from Phantasm, driven by the hunger for blood and focused on looking for a forehead to lodge itself into".
Track listing
Personnel
Album credits 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 ...
.
*Apathy
Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of intere ...
— Composer, featured artist, mixing, producer
*Lawrence Arnell
Lawrence Arnell is an American rapper and producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first collaborated with hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks on ''Violent by Design'' under the name Diamondback in 2000. In 2014, Arnell joined Army of the Pharaoh ...
— Featured artist
*Stu Bangas — Producer
*Blacastan — Featured artist
*Blastah Beatz — Producer
*Dan Bradley — Layout
*Celph Titled — Composer, featured artist
*C-Lance — Producer
*Crypt the Warchild
Marcus Albaladejo (born August 18, 1980), better known by his stage name Crypt the Warchild, is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Albaladejo is one half of the rap duo OuterSpace and is a member of Army of the Pharaohs. Cry ...
— Featured artist
*Demoz — Featured artist
*Des Devious — Featured artist
*Esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
— Featured artist
*J. Faust — Composer
*Grim Reaperz — Producer
*Frank Grimes — Composer, producer
*Pete Humphreys — Mastering
*King Magnetic — Featured artist
*King Syze
David Albaladejo (better known by his stage name King Syze) is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Puerto Rican descent. He is a member of the underground hip hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs (AOTP), having featured on ...
— Featured artist
*Leaf Dog — Producer
*Lecs Beats — Producer
*J. W. Leigh — Composer
*V. Luviner — Composer
*Block McCloud — Featured artist
*Juan Muteniac — Producer
*Paul Nice — Producer
*Doap Nixon
Kenneth Greene (born August 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Doap Nixon, is an American hip hop artist and rapper who is a former member of supergroup Army of the Pharaohs. He has collaborated with a variety of underground hip hop artist ...
— Featured artist
* Panik — Producer
*Vinnie Paz
Vincenzo Luvineri (born October 5, 1977), better known as Vinnie Paz (formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram), is a Sicilian American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the fr ...
— Featured artist
* Planetary — Featured artist
*Reef the Lost Cauze
Sharif Talib Lacey, better known by his stage name Reef the Lost Cauze, is an underground hip hop artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cauze became well known on the underground circuit towards the late 1990s and more so in the early 2000 ...
— Featured artist
*Scott Stallone — Engineer, mixing
*Green Steez — Additional production
*Vanderslice — Producer
*J. Vargas — Composer
*Adrian Younge — Composer, sample source
*Zilla
Zilla may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Vittore Zanetti Zilla (1864–1946), Italian painter
* Zilla Mays (1931–1995), American R&B, gospel singer and pioneering DJ
* Zilla (Godzilla), a fictional film monster
* Zilla (band), a trance ban ...
(also credited as V. Gurrola Jr.) — Composer, featured artist
Chart positions
References
External links
Army of the Pharaohs
Official website
{{Authority control
Army of the Pharaohs albums
2014 albums
Babygrande Records albums
Enemy Soil Records albums
Demigodz Records albums
Good articles