Here we have the 5th solo LP from Staten Island, New York lyricist & producer Inspectah Deck. A member of the almighty Wu-Tang Clan as well as 1/3 of CZARFACE with 7L & Esoteric, he would eventually drop his solo debut Uncontrolled Substance in the fall of 1999 under Loud Records & Relativity Records. Which I found myself enjoying more than the MNRK Music Group-backed The Movement as well as Manifesto & Chamber #9, although The Resident Patient marking the launch of Deck’s own label Urban Icons Records & Cynthia’s Son both came pretty close for their own separate reasons. I was nonetheless intrigued by P.A. Dre being brought in to fully produce Dragon’s Breath.
“Never Fold” featuring Raekwon, Sauce Money & Skyzoo after the “Dragon’s Intro” finds the quartet over a murderous boom bap instrumental talking about their refusal of backing down whereas “H.E.C.T.O.R. (Hustle Everyday Can’t Trust Or Rely)” discussing the daily grind & trusting nobody. “Lighter Fluid” featuring Eto, Mickey Factz & RJ Payne links up over a venomous boom bap beat continuing to spit hardcore lyricism just before “Shaolin Rebel 2” hits us with a soulful sequel to the Chamber #9 joint.
Ankhlejohn & Brizz Rawsteen both pop out for “Between the Lines” soulfully talking about seeing the signs God’s trying to send you although Ankhlejohn had my favorite guest appearance of the 2 personally leading into “The System” taking a more intricately conscious approach topically. “Up At Night” featuring Peedi Crakk switches it up by showing a more sensual side to both of them which is alright, but “Day in the Life” soulfully talks about being thankful for every day because it’s a dream to him.
“1 of 1” featuring G4 Jag, KXNG CROOKED & M.A.V. comes together for an eerie boom bap cut filled with all 4 artists detailing their unique skills while “Disrespectful” featuring Murkemz & NEMS gets in their shit-talking bags to reach the halfway point except NEMS is outrapping Murkemz & coming close to Deck bar-for-bar. “Burgundy” kicks off the 2nd leg of Dragon’s Breath incorporating guitars to not let Satan steal his joy while “Cold Case” featuring Gripz & Ransom jazzily yet dustily puts us inside the shoes of detectives.
Che Noir & Sa-Roc teaming up during “Divine Protection” was an exciting moment talking about aiming the firearm & blasting to protect what’s theirs while “Solitude” featuring BVNGS, Flee Lord & Hus Kingpin coldly flexes that they be rollin’ around the parts muhfuckas can’t even hit up. “Anointed” featuring Bahamadia & 7xvethegenius fiercely demands everyone honors them like the royalty they are while “Possession” featuring Cappadonna & Hell Fire would’ve been more enjoyable without the latter.
“Funny Style” symphonically talks about muhfuckas acting weird hoping to catch him down & out while “Czariana Grande” by CZARFACE produced by none other than 7L boasts of taking over car speakers whenever INS Ya Highness & 7LES unite. The closing track “Explicit Material” also by CZARFACE officially sends off Dragon’s Breath spending the remaining 3 minutes having Esoteric accompanying Deck going full battle rap mode ahead of their upcoming collab album with Tom Hardy at the end of the month.
Exhibiting the razor-lyricism that’s made Inspectah Deck a cornerstone of the Clan’s entire 36 Chambers mythology, Dragon’s Breath acknowledges the connecting theme of his storied career from his Shaolin foundations to the comic-book-noir world of CZARFACE & back again. Excluding a select handful of mediocre features, I can appreciate one of the most technically gifted & underappreciated MCs in all of hip hop doing his thing over P.A. Dre production for this full-circle moment.
Score: 7/10