Timetable

Editorial Reviews
From URB Magazine
Mikah 9's relaxed coif is misleading: It's the only part of him that isn't tightly coiled. His mind is taut, not restricted, but ready to pounce. The Freestyle Fellowship co-founder is one of hip-hop's most gifted microphone fiends and one of its most elusive. The notorious Mikah has been cultivating the reputation of legend in absentia. Yes, absence makes the heart grow fonder, but this rapper deserves the reverence.

With the alternately languorous or lightning-quick touch of his tongue, Mikah makes language his. Timetable is a succulent, if apparently random, collection of freestyles (over borrowed rhythms like O.C.'s "Time's Up"), a cappellas, previously unreleased tracks and new work with producer Daddy Kev.

Though the Fellowship has often been posited as the polar opposite of the G-funk scene that also emerged in early-'90s LA, Mikah 9's lyrical persona represents the troubled-but-loving marriage of poetic glimmer and gangsta strut. His flights of lyrical fancy are tempered by street wisdom, separating him from self-indulgent word wankery. Check this freestyle from the Wake Up Show: "Hands of a gangster/knuckles all scraped up/sandpaper fingerprints counter burns or razorblade cuts/there is no heart to speak of just cold black steel/the blood is circulated by the will to kill or be killed . . ." And then there's an unabashedly jazzy version of "Danger," which originally appeared on the Fellowship's Inner City Griots, with Mikah delivering endearingly off-key jazz incantations. As always, the man has no patience for boundaries. Now that's gangsta.

Lizz Mendez Berry

Timetable,Mikah 9,Meanstreet,East Coast Rap,Political Rap,Pop,Rap,Rap & Hip-Hop

Timetable

Tracks:

The Love
Tonight
Let Him Talk To You
The Love (pt.2)
I Love Her Just The Way I Am
Can I See You Again?
The Love (pt.3)
Too Much TV
Classical Idea
Honeymoon In Monterey
The Love (pt.4)
It Ain't Worth It
Queen Of Style
Can I See You Again? (reprise)
Groove Grow Move Know (for T.T.W.)
The Love (finale')
Jesus Loves Me
Passin' It On...

Album Description

If any reader has seen this young man live with his brother, Kirk, you already know what he can do. No one has ever left the concert disappointed. Get ready. His lyrical content provides thought-provoking storylines which go deeper in substance than one would first assume. His compositional style is reminiscent of Steely Dan, Bill Withers, Michael Franks, Al Green, James Taylor, Sly Stone, and Sting all rolled up into one. As for his vocal ability...well, it's absolutely GYMNASTIC! He can scat with the best doing it today. Kevin Whalum is poised to make a good, loud noise in the music industry. Plus, he's not a kid. He's a road-tested, "dues paid" musician who has been around the circuit a while. Ask around. You won't regret your purchase.

Average customer rating:

One of the most important albums of the last decade
FINALLY!!!
A perfect piece of Los Angeles Underground

Timetable
Mikah 9
Manufacturer: Meanstreet
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

East Coast | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Work in Progress
Haiku d'Etat
Shockadoom
Project Blowed
Project Blowed: 10th Year Anniversary

ASIN: B00005OAFY
Release Date: 2001-10-09

Tracks:

Let's Fly (Live At The Good Life '93)
Breath Control
Black Man Swing (Live At The Good Life '93)
Ultra Bap
Darkle/U.N.I.T.Y. Committee Party Pt.1
Danger (OG Version)
Way Cool Acapella (Live At The Good Life '93)
Free Energy (Scat Version)
We Came From Beyond Pt.1 (Live On KXLU 88.9 FM)
Life Or Death (Click Track Version)
Island Acapella Pt.1
Park Bench People (Alternate Version)
Speechless (Live On KZSU 99.1 FM)
Darkleaf/U.N.I.T.Y. Committee Party Pt.2
What You See Is What You Get
American Nightmare (Live At Rico's Loft)
Wake Up Show Freestyle
Sand To The Beach
Darkleaf/U.N.I.T.Y. Committee Party Pt.3
We Came From Beyond Pt.2 (Live On KXLU 88.9)
Fruit Don't Fall...
Island Acapella Pt.2
First Things Last

Customer Reviews:

One of the most important albums of the last decade.......2006-04-23

In an age when audiences have deep-set expectations of all hip-hop albums to be produced and polished to perfection, Timetable is a breath of fresh air. Composed of 23 tracks at an average of one and a half minutes each, Mikah creates an eclectic mix of freestyles, random thoughts, and acapellas.

Some may be turned away by albums without a clear-cut direction yet listening to Mikah 9 purveys the same feeling that Mozart’s parents must have felt when their son used to doodle on his piano. It’s not always easy to listen to, nor is it well defined, but a myriad of flash-in-the-pan moments of brilliance are ample reward for listeners trying something new.

It’s clear that Mikah is struggling between his love of jazz and positivity and the ego-pressing, seemingly harder, street edge. On tracks such as “Ultra Bap”, he releases a menacing gangster alter-ego to the tune of, “Zap\Zoink\Zoom\Pow\Kaboom\Crash\I’ll wax that black ass”. Yet, he never loses any of the lyrical flair that has made him such a legend of the hip-hop scene. However, this is an experimental album, and Mikah leaves no stone unturned. From half-scatting, half-humming “Free Energy” to a deliciously jazzy “Danger” (the original version of which appeared on Freestyle Fellowship’s Innercity Griots) – we see clearly that this is a man unafraid to break boundaries, conventions, and expectations; a true representation of the hip hop rebel.

Timetable showcases just how far the boundaries of hip-hop can be pushed. It’s not perfect – many people will complain of the grainy beats and general lack of a standout must-hear “message” – but for those that can see past minor imperfections, this is perhaps the perfect soundtrack for forcibly breaking the mould.

FINALLY!!!.......2001-11-27

Those in the know have been waiting at least 10 years(has it really been that long)for Microphone Mike to put out a disc all on his own. This ISN'T the hot off the presses slab you might most desire but, this is a welcome sort of retrospective of a career still in progress.

Timetable has a great selection of 'lightning in a bottle' recordings of Mr.Nine's freestyles over the years at various locales and radio stations. It also has some in the studio tracks which are a tad more polished but equally impressive.

For those of you notknowin', Mikah Nine is one of the Heavyweights behind the megatalented Freestyle Fellowship. His vocal style is one of the most distinct and expressive in all of that thing called hip hop. This isn't just some rapper spittin' words, he is a musician, as lyrical and experimental as Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane. This guy has got mercurial mind and a quicksilver tongue capable of scatsinging and slaughtering an MC all in one circular breath. This guy is mad(and that's good) and quite possibly THE most horrifically underappreciated MC's out there.

The thing that irks me about this disc is that it is finally bittersweet. How many years of fantabulous songs were we denied simply because the music industry is one gigantic ignoramus?

Hopefully, Mikah will return -sooner than later- and give us that great solo record that we desperately need.

A perfect piece of Los Angeles Underground.......2001-11-18

this is a classical album. it has within it historical characteristics of mikah9's foundations. it has the profound aspects of an album deemed to be accoladed as "justified hiphop". unlike music coming from more contemporary hiphop groups, proceeding the rise of the LA underground, who have very little background within their social confines related to their hiphop elevation, Mikah9 reflects on this contrast. He embodies it with this solo album of very selective tracks. He provides a "timetable" of dues paid in the LA underground. I exclaim this album as "justified hiphop" for exactly this. He and the Freestyle Fellowship, cofounders of the LA underground and dare i say innovated hiphop entirely, have always presented a spectrum of style with a history to prove it. They did this with albums such as this Timetable and To Whom It May Concern and through Project Blowed and The Goodlife development workshops. If one really wants to understand hiphop one must account for why and how the artist stands at his or her present position. Mikah9 puts, facefront, a necessary piece of work for aspiring artists and fans to partake in in order to see where good and noteworthy music comes from.