Hezekiah’s Conscious Porn excels through it’s progressive production and organic collaborations. Dres (from Da Beatnik’s) outlandish adlibs and Me So Horny’s (Hez’s horn section) cover of James Brown’s “Blues and Pants” provides ample distinction from Notorious B.I.G.'s‘ “Just Playing,” allowing Hezekiah to kick bars about today’s R&B queens without sounding like another hijacked remake of Biggie's classic. The same can be said for the emphatic snare and sublime arrangement behind Raheem DeVaughn’s uncanny cover of Luther Vandross’s “If This World Were Mine,” where Hez drops some of the LPs most apropos lines: “I’m forever growing / Some hate it some love it / Some artists don’t nothing really change but their album cover.”
“Movers + Shakers” featuring Poindexter wins with it’s trippy electric strings and anthemic orchestration despite the lyrical contradiction of deriding industry “whining / bitching” on the first verse then actually whining and bitching about the industry on the last. Fortunately, that brief blemish is quickly forgotten once “The Clinic’s” marching snare kicks in seamlessly and Hezekiah connects easily with vividly relatable depictions of the consequences of promiscuity -- AIDS tests and abortions -- that nicely tap into the conscience of Conscious Porn.
Tu Phace, Criss Harris and Peedi Crakk join Hezekiah in crafting a boisterously retro posse cut with hop-step snares and sick scratches followed by “Here’s To The World’s” B-boy ready beat, ingeniously placed whistles and awesome Aaron Livingston guest appearance, fulfilling the Porn the half of the album title. “Fired Up” featuring Talib Kweli and Bahamadia is a mediocre offering that does little more than fill the space between “Raining” and the Cody Chestnutt-featured “What Kind Of Cool” -- two stellar tracks bringing in Conscious Porn’s sultry conclusion.
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