“Top Indy Albums 2006″ @ HipHopSite- APOS comes in at number 8

Top 10 Album Cover : Certified Hip-Hop- Number 3

“Top 10 Albums of 2006″ : RapReviews.com- 6. CunninLynguists: A Piece of Strange

From the “Southernunderground” comes a group effort by the Cunninlynguists that can be considered an awe-inspiring work. They are easily the least known of my top 10, but they have made a name for themselves now. Their previous work had some of the funniest and most clever punch-lines ever recorded, but this album succeeds in what I was skeptical they could do, by going full circle into fleshed out conceptual music. The songs “The Gates” featuring Tonedeff, their fiercely flowing ally, and “Nothing to Give” create nothing but chills. Kno, the producer, decides to step back and focus his attention on the boards, while Natti and Deacon the Villain rip the tracks. The elements of this album are all in perfect place.

DO NOT MISS THIS RELEASE!

BUY @ [Amazon] [Barnes & Noble] [FYE] [HipHopSite] [UGHH] [HMV Canada] [Tower] [Sam Goody] [Virgin Megastore] [SandboxAutomatic]

Posters, Tees and More Information Available @ QN5.COM

For their third album, Cunninlynguists have issued a concept album that’s far more ambitious than early efforts such as 2001’s Will Rap for Food and 2003’s Southernunderground. A Piece of Strange is about a black man who is back on the streets after being incarcerated. “He meets a girl, they have a baby. The girl he meets, her father is racist. The father ends up passing away,” explains producer Kno, who along with rapper Deacon make up Cunninlynguists. “And he ends up making a choice. I’ll let you listen to it so you can see what that choice is.”

Some listeners who have heard A Piece of Strange (it hits record stores on Jan. 24, but has been available online since November) interpret it as a parable about sin and salvation. One fan even set up a website, www.whatisapos.com, dedicated to the album’s Christian references and metaphors. Kno says that its spiritual themes come from Deacon, who is currently working for his father, Pastor Willis G. Polk, at Imani Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky. “Deacon’s roots are more heavily relied on with this album,” says Kno, who adds that he has “Christian beliefs” but isn’t overtly religious. Kno is also living in Lexington so he can record with Deacon, but plans to move back to Atlanta soon.

But A Piece of Strange also functions as a traditional hip-hop album. Even “Hellfire,” which, in the story, alludes to the place the girl’s racist father is sent, can be heard on the surface as a lyrically adept song about fire. “You know how a lot of concept records, especially in hip-hop, beat you over the head with skits and stuff?” says Kno. “It’s not really like that. It doesn’t have any skits on it at all. But it definitely has a story.” The group is also making a companion DVD for release later this year.

Sonically, A Piece of Strange hearkens back to the soulfully somber and muted tones of ATLiens-era OutKast. Goodie Mob’s Cee-Lo appears on the album’s first single, “Caved In,” an introspective number mourning the world’s ills, which Cunninlynguists distributed over the Internet last September to raise awareness for their Hurricane Katrina benefit auctions. All in all, Cunninlynguists have come a long way since Will Rap for Food. Article

“evokes vintage UGK and Dungeon Fam” – XXL Magazine
“beautiful” – CMJ Magazine
“masterful production…a sound as big as Texas and a lyrical palette that stretches from heaven to hell” – The Onion
“4 out of 5…a piece of beauty” – URB Magazine
“top-shelf…artistically alongside Outkast and Goodie Mob” – Scratch Magazine
“9 out of 10…one of rap’s premier duos” – IGN.com
“will definitely be known by all very soon” – Elemental Magazine
“4.5 out of 5…[will change] rap music for a lot of artists” – TheOG.net
“4 out of 5…mesmerizing”" – Okayplayer.com
“one of the best produced hip-hop records of 2005″ – Impose Magazine
“9 out of 10…astounding artists” – Hip-Hop Kings
“8.5 out of 10…southern boys deliver funk with a conscious” – Rap Reviews
“4.5 out of 5…rare and remarkable” – Word Of South