The Hammer Bros., Free Palestine!

Political hip-hop can be quite good, if it’s done correctly. Take Public Enemy or Rage Against the Machine, for example. With Free Palestine!, unfortunately, the Hammer Bros. fall short.

As painful as it is to write, very little about this album impresses. The production is mediocre, with simple, repetitive beats that are anything but engaging. The songs lack hooks and choruses, and the rhyming ability of the MCs is decent at best. There’s hardly anything to catch the listener’s attention. And it doesn’t help that the MCs’ “wrong-side-of-the-tracks” accents sounded artificial, even forced.

Two tracks do manage to stand out, however — one in a positive way and another negatively. The first one, “Rollin’ with the Hulk,” is just the slightest bit catchy, and the other, “ucaneatmydoodoo,” is a disturbing, childish romp. The song’s message is metaphorical, I’ll grant, but it still gives the listener a disgusting mental image.

The Hammer Bros. don’t shine on this album, but they show that they know how to get out there and make a record. The lack of this is what holds many aspiring artists back. If they work on their songwriting skills, production, and rhyming abilities, they could release some great songs in the future. For now, though, Free Palestine! is not recommended for listening pleasure.