A line that will forever stick with me is, "I'm Vast Aire Kramer, top billin'." As I played my custom skate parks (because mine were better than the game designers') on Tony Hawk's Underground, Mr. Lif's "Phantom", Deltron 3030's "Positive Contact", Quasimoto's "Low Class Conspiracy", Living Legends' "War Games" and of course Cannibal Ox's "Iron Galaxy" were on an endless loop. This was my first introduction to true underground hip-hop back in 2003 at age 15. This is where an entire quest of discovering hip-hop spawned. Vast Aire's verse on "Iron Galaxy" was so strong, it converted a Trapt, Chevelle, Three Days Grace obsessed kid into a fan of a genre of music that would quickly become my favorite, leaving those terrible rock bands in the rear-view.

Today marks the release of Vast Aire's lates EP, A Space Iliad. The project is a collection of remixes and B-sides from the rapper's previous album, OX 2010: A Street Odyssey. Even though they weren't worthy enough to make the album, the tracks that make up A Space Iliad are all quality selections. Tracks like "Royal Purple Bag" are spacey, moody head-nodders with real ambiance, while "Monster (Adrenaline Mix) invades your ears with a dusty, old soul electric guitar and a menacing, distorted chorus. Those are just the EP's samplers. The other 8 tracks prove that Vaste Aire is still a force to be reckoned with in the world of hip-hop. He remains sharp, clever. and lyrically challenging. Sample, and buy, A Space Iliad on iTunes.




- Matt