Chops: Virtuosity (GoodVibe recordings/Vocab Records/available on iTunes).

GIVEN THE TENDENCY FOR MAINSTREAM HIP-HOP REVIEWERS to ignore most of the work of artists not fortunate enough to have promotional budgets to purchase front-and-center advertising and heavy radio rotation, it's rather amazing that Chops' first solo effort received the critical acclaim that it did. Originally released in 2003 on the Vocab label and distributed by the now-defunct GoodVibes Recordings, Virtuosity seemed destined to be lost except to a few dedicated fans and used-record store denizens. Fortunately, Chops' ubiquity as a producer for numerous underground and mainstream hip-hop acts (most notably Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon and super-producer Kanye West) has kept his work in heavy demand and in regular rotation on college radio and beyond.

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First coming to public attention as the multi-instrumentalist/turntablist/producer of the late 1990's Asian-American hip-hop crew, the Mountain Brothers, Chops (Scott Jung) quickly developed a reputation for a cinematic-keyboard and horn-driven production style that recalled "Blacksploitation" era soundtracks and the work of Motown Records house producers Willie Hutch ("The Mack") and Norman Whitfield (The Temptations, Edwin Starr, Gladys Knight and The Pips). Chops' later contract work on campaigns for Nike and ESPN led to connections with many of the artists featured on Virtuosity, and the musical textures present are as varied as the styles of the emcees.

Opening with the funked-out string heavy instrumental "Git Dat Mutha" (this reappears as an extended outro), ...