Chaundon - Carnage [2008]

Groups, whether that be duos, trios, clans, or super-groups, are a keystone to the hip-hop experience. Let’s be honest, not everyone is a good rapper, but within the confines of a group the weakest member is but a piece of a grand puzzle of interest. Groups like A$AP Mob, Wu-Tang, The Firm, Three Six Mafia, etc. all have members (not naming names for any of those groups) that wouldn’t meet the standards of the group on their own. But, on the flipside of that coin, there are those who’s skill levels far exceed the others, and who people will scratch their heads at saying “why they don’t go off on their own?” Chaundon fits this description, and the group we’re speaking of is the Justus League, but that’s not to say the other members of the group didn’t have their talents: obviously Little Brother (Phonte in particular is a riveting solo artist), and Cesar Comanche had his moments too being one of their oldest members. But Chaundon was the member, to me, that had the most star power; he had wit, the infectious microphone presence, and a penchant for telling quick tales and anecdotes that very few emcees have been able to pull off as effectively. In a lot of ways, Chaundon is the perfect rapper you’ve never heard of, and his debut album, Carnage, is a varied, well produced, fantastically rapped, and relatively hidden gem among the spread of mid 2000’s soul-sample based albums springing out of the ground at the time.

One of the funniest parts of this record is it’s back cover; it’s just so out of place with Chaundon dressed as a maniac butcher, while on the record he’s a moderately wholesome individual.

As a child of the Bronx, and by default a child of New York, Chaundon has the most interesting influences in his rhymes that other members of the Justus League didn’t quite get. Most NY rappers at the time had one of two men to look up too, and you usually didn’t look up to both: 50 Cent, or Jay-Z. Chaundon decidedly falls into the Jay-Z camp, with a lot of his vocal inflections and accent obviously coming from listening to a lot of Hov’s music. I wouldn’t call it a rip-off, but he wears this influence on his sleeve wherever he raps, whether that’s in the way he tells a story or reflecting on the nature of the streets. The biggest difference between Hov and Chaundon, and what sets him apart entirely, is the humor and wit that Chaundon comes up with and peppers throughout the album. It’s almost a caricature of a New York accent that he puts on, and the wall of self-seriousness that Jay puts up is completely lost in Chaundon’s character. Which is why I say another good point of reference for pinpointing Chaundon the rapper is Kanye West, who I can tell had a profound impact on Chaundon’s bars. His humor is in his delivery, giving off an extremely cocky vibe. He seems to have a switch though: sometimes he is able to pull off a compelling story track that is surprisingly deep despite his silly tone, and other times he can be talking shit with the most outlandish of punchline rap. You really don’t know what you’re going to get from track to track, which is one of the largest appeals of the record.

Let’s go through the features on the record, which contain some names that people nowadays will recognize in different contexts. First off, Skyzoo and Torae are both on this album twice; the two were set to be the next big thing golden age rap had to offer, and when Carnage first came out they were at the height of their popularity. Their voices are younger and the flows are fiery; their appearance together on Three Kings is one of the best lyrical cuts on the record. Skyzoo’s second appearance is with the late-great Sean Price, which is super confrontational, obviously taking a cue from not just Ruck’s appearance but also the Boot Camp Clik at large. Speaking of Price, it’s so good to hear this dude over a classic beat like this, which he rips apart in his dirty jukyard flow. Darien Brockington, of appearances-on-Little-Brother-albums fame, comes through to lay down stellar hook on Don’t Take It Personal and Understanding.; the latter is impressive in how expressive the man can be with his voice, and makes me wish the dude was able to take it farther (he’s also joined by “Percy Miracles” aka Phonte on this track). Joe Scudda is criminally underrated, and his appearance here on Selfish only reinforces how fantastic he was back in the day; definitely the most gutter appearance on the record. The last track, We Are Here, is a triumphant posse cut with dudes that I honestly have no idea who they are; the three (G.O.D., Sha Stimuli, and DV Alias Khryst) aren’t really anything to write home about, and they even bring down Chaundon’s pen game a bit as well. Jean Grae should be a name everyone knows, having become an icon in the underground hip-hop scene and married Quelle Chris in the time since Carnage was released. She’s mellowed out a lot since those mid-2000’s days, so it’s gonna be fun going back to listen to her older self, especially since the track she’s featured on, Gone, is such an explosive melodrama. Emilio Rojas and MAG on the title track will have you scratching your head on who these dudes are, but just know that Emilio hasn’t had a moment since 2006, and MAG hadn’t had a moment since 1998, so these features (while being just ok) were simply dudes that Chaundon fucked with.

This gives me hope that others in the Justus League can make a comeback, and with Chaundon being on it himself as a character the hype is real

While a lot of records affiliated with 9th Wonder sound pretty sonically consistent, Carnage draws not only from soul-sample background, but also a more theatrical and bombastic New York production style. All of the beats here and fantastically lush, with a lot of attention paid to the layers of sound that come at you. Tracks like Don’t Take It Personal, Understanding, and We Are here are grand performances, with big band horns, soulful buildups to a drum climax, and feelgood saxophone/woodwinds on the three tracks respectively. The horn is actually one of the more common elements of the album, giving the project a gladiatorial arena feel, with Chaundon battling his enemies for our entertainment. Three Kings is a heavy New York vibe, with a regal fanfare of brass introducing us to three of Brooklyn/Bronx’s finest. Don’t Take it Personal is a more of smouldering horn cut, with an increased edge of drama pointed at all of Chaundon’s haters. Can I Live truly feels like a band working it’s magic, with it’s perfectly placed horns accenting the amazing flute sample that wails away in the front like Ron Burgundy. But it’s the slower cuts that keep me coming back, because what makes Chaundon better than most is his versatility on these differing beats. Angie is a depressing, looped soul sample; a mournful melody of keyboard keeping us engaged in the front, over which Chaudon tells one of the most compelling and tragic tales on the album. Gone is another solemn cut, with a killer instrumental from 9th Wonder keeping a quick pace through this multi-faceted story that Jean Grae and Chaundon tell. It sort of has an old-school funk/blaxploitation vibe to it, playing up the story maybe not to where you feel for the characters as much as you are engaged in the Tarantino-esque storyline.

Chaundon has largely been lost to history at this point, but his skills on the mic were incredibly impressive for the time, and being able to pull quality beats like these into a project is no laughing matter. I don’t know what the man is doing now, but with Little Brother making their own successful comeback, I think more of those Justus League legends can come forward and grab what was meant for them. He was recently on the latest Little Brother album on one of the skits, so I know those dudes still talk to each other. Maybe 9th Wonder is out of that scene, but there are plenty of other (arguably better) producers that would kill to work with these people. One can only hope… or maybe people aren’t ready for the Carnage that a return from Chaudon would bring to the game.

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