Nature Sounds has been building as strong a catalogue as any New York based independent label could ever hope for. Their past benchmarks include the acclaimed Black Market Militia self-titled debut, what is heavily regarded as the last ‘true’ Wu-Tang album - Masta Killa’s No said Date - a walk on the wild side with RA The Rugged Man’s Die Rugged Man, Die and the ever enchanting MF Doom’s Special Herbs collection. So for such a relatively young label, they’re definitely on the right track.

You can add one more solid release to your shelves, because Natural Selection is quick to please. Important for any growing label, it captures the truly unique and definitive resonance Nature Sounds has, easily establishing itself by differentiating from others. The ‘raw New York feel’ is so strong and so consistent on this record this might as well have had a 1993 release date attached. Living legend Pete Rock made sure of this, lacing one incredible instrumental to support Masta Killa and Raekwon on “The PJs”; this song is a must-cop for all of you who miss that “NY State of Mind,” “D’evils,” and “C.R.E.A.M” imagery and are tired of today’s artists painting flowery images of street life by writing shitty songs about how cool it is to shoot people. Underdog producers Dev 1, Dj Fakts and Bronze Nazareth more than hold their own when supplying for RA the Rugged Man who absolutely destroys his parts – have your rewind button finger ready when he, Bootcamp, and Black Market Militia come on.

“Angels” provides exactly what can be expected from a MF DOOM and Ghostface Killah collaboration. A sampled beat crafted to perfection by the Mask, and Ghost doing what he does best – spitting a bunch of shit that sounds dope. As far as DOOM’s verse goes, well... it’s a DOOM verse. The only tracks that don’t seem to mesh with the rest of the album are the two Strong Arm Steady joints. It’s not that they’re of any less quality, but the Cali sound comes thumping through, and if you know anything about hip-hop, you know that L.A. is not N.Y., and N.Y. is not L.A. The first thing that came to mind for me when listening to “You Aint Me,” produced by Da Riffs and featuring Ras Kass and Chamillionaire, was “this is ill…but what’s Xzibit doin’ here?”

All in all, solid production, a Brooklyn style that’s seemingly been forgotten in this day and age, and a stellar cast list make this a dope release any label should be proud of. “Angels,” and Rugged Man alone make this better than most of the crap that clogs the airwaves today. Be prepared for the complete opposite of the flash and theatrics modern Hip Hop has become because the aptly named Nature Sounds presents Natural Selection does nothing more than provide us ‘that raw shit’ that used to the defining feature of Hip Hop music.