Once in a blue moon an innovator arrives at the doorstep of change to alter the state of an industry. In his own stylized genre of expression that is "philosofloetry" (fa-loss-a-flo-a-tree), Wone extraordinarily drives a stake in the heart of the mediocre and commonplace implanting a new organ of origin that pumps immortal blood within the international hip-hop flow. Audio-Isms is a debut unlike any other because more than half of these tracks are recorded live at Portland's Club Ohm during his feature spots in the spoken word event "The Luv Jonz". The instrumentation and Parliamentary omnipotence comes courtesy of five-piece "jam sessionists" The Reparations headed by Portland's hip-hop pioneer David Parks. Wone clearly is very conscious of showing his love to Reparations due to the energy generated from the live performance and this is indicative from the interludes which feature each band member which are probably where the Deja Grooves come from. But the Audio-Isms.......? First, the Ghettosburg Address and Reparations Anthem begins with a message from "Abraham Lincoln Coupe DeVille" where Wone becomes "....lit by the darkness of doom/illuminated by the brightness that blooms in Blackness/Kemetic resurrection rejuvenated in invisible Black fists.....". The Reparations Anthem is a chronological account of the atrocious crimes and state laws passed to legalize slavery in 19th century America as he belts out an answer to the ongoing movement "Restitution! Compensation! Resolution! Reparations!" It brings to mind if Malcolm X was a rapper or if the Black Panther Party ever released a single, this would be it in terms of conscious content and his Samsonite strength of oratory ability. Love/Hate is also an integral and timely piece that speak volumes for yesterday, today and tomorrow. A woman apparently tries to heckle Wone asking him not to "operate on Hate" telling him "it should be Love/Love" and he quickly replies, "...well we're gonna operate tonight on Hate because you're hating me right now while I'm trying to do this piece......" the audience laughs and Wone again kicks it up another level illustrating in words the powers of "two emotions in which we live and we die". Powerful. An inside track to this CD are the live recordings, they were all performed once- no rehearsals, no do-overs, the sign of a true spoken word artist working on the fly with a live band and making this a classic collection for a first-timer. There is "You're An Afrikan" which is a story including every nation in Africa "....told Keedah my Mama/meet me in Rwanda/'cause I'm in Ghana/with Miss Universe from Botswana...." (funny...... 1999 Miss Universe was from Botswana!) 500 MC's is a dedication to the hip-hop industry and with his cadence, delivery, wordplay, and knowledge of all the hip-hop pioneers mentioned, it should be recognized just as a single alone. Wone has a penchant for making anthem type recordings because after a subject is tackled, we would all refer to Wone as the artist who met the challenge to deliver the message in full. The Revolution STILL Will Not Be Televised is remarkable in respects to the legend Gil Scott-Heron's 1972 original and Wone size fits all touching on war, Jerry Springer, sports, political prisoners, natural disasters (psychological and physical) with the revelation at the end "the revolution STILL will be LIVE!!!" How one man can place so much knowledge, respect, live instrumentation and psychotic bumpnosis on one compact disc is a marvel to behold (check out track 11 Man is a Marvel). What's even more marvelous is after 80 minutes in one continuous state of smooth, you won't hesitate to play back this 19 track mother lode. This is certainly a phenomenal freshman effort and I'm anxious to see how the universe responds to Audio-Isms & Deja Grooves. -Jeremy Sheridan-Culture Council