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We are just over 3 weeks away from hearing the entire MNE collab album: Year Of The Sword!  In case you haven’t heard, this 2 disc, 19 track (plus bonus disc) “Wu-Tang style” album featuring every artist on Majik Ninja Entertainment is now available for pre-order at Twiztid-Shop.com!

If you haven’t seen the track list with all of the collabs that you might not see on the regular, check it out below:

1. Test Of Time (intro)
2. Heads Will Roll (Gorilla Voltage & Jamie Madrox)
3. Turn It Up (Jamie Madrox, Blaze, Lex & Bonez Dubb)
4. Fucked (The R.O.C., Boondox & Gorilla Voltage)
5. Level Up (skit 1)
6. Their Fault (Jamie Madrox & Young Wicked)
7. Ignite (The R.O.C., Mr. Grey, Monoxide, Blaze & King Gordy)
8. Cut Em Up (Young Wicked & Twiztid)
9. Lights Out (Twiztid, G-Mo Skee & Mr. Grey)
10. Harassment (skit 2)
11. Don’t Fuck Wit Us (Twiztid, The R.O.C., Lex & Clockworc)
12. Better Than Ever B4 (Twiztid, Blaze, Lex, G-Mo Skee & AMB)
13. Flix N’ Chill (Young Wicked, Blaze & Twiztid)
14. Get High (Young Wicked, Mr. Grey, Twiztid, Blaze, Bonez Dubb & LARS)
15. Galaxy (G-Mo Skee, King Gordy & Jamie Madrox)
16. Don’t Tell Me (Twiztid, King Gordy & Boondox)
17. Summon The Majik Ninja (skit 3)
18. B.N.U. (Jamie Madrox, G-Mo Skee, Bonez Dub, Gorilla Voltage, Blaze, Young Wicked, & LARS)
19. Did You Unplug It? (outro)

So let me set the scene real quick.  At The Majestic (the large venue where Fright Fest would take place on Devil’s Night), ninjas were already lined up outside waiting for VIP.  It was about 3:00 PM. Right next door at the Majestic Cafe, there were a handful of ninjas in line where MNE employee Mike Winegar was checking to see if they were on the list.  The list for what though?

Early last month, it was announced that there would be a Listening Party for those lucky enough to win a raffle and be at either Fright Fest show in Detroit or Sauget.  I was able to snag a listening party laminate and join my homies Cherry Bomb, Matt, and Joanna to hear what would be coming down the pipeline with MNE.  At this point, it was only rumored what album we’d be listening to, but most signs pointed to Year of the Sword.

Once we got our laminates, that was confirmed:

Click to enlarge!

The 30 (give or take) of us were let into the venue.  MNE employees, most wearing their fresh varsity leather jackets, were inside.  We didn’t really know what to expect.  After we all got seated and situated, it was about time for us to get our sneak preview of the entire Year of the Sword album!

In entered Monoxide, Madrox, Blaze, and Young Wicked.  They went to the small stage inside the Majestic Cafe, welcomed everyone in attendance, and asked if they should speak on the album or just let us listen.  Not long after, they agreed with each other that we should just check it out from front to back and then get our thoughts afterwards.

They thanked us again, and then the intro started to play.

Now you may or may not know this, but prior to coming to the venue, we were asked to not have any cell phones or recording devices on us.  So upon entry, we were frisked, and if we had our phones on us, had to return them to the car.  Yup, I went without my phone for like 90 minutes…hard to believe, right?  Mike also joked to the door guy to frisk me extra thoroughly.  You know, because I’m just that untrustworthy.  lol.

Back to the listening party though.  The intro played through, and then we got the first actual track of the album.  God DAMN that “Heads Will Roll” track was a banger!   It’s the first track, so it does its job grabbing your attention!  But seriously, this one is gonna be a problem for your neighbors if you have a system in your ride. Good shit!

Not long after that, MNE provided several pizzas and some of those delicious 12 oz glass bottle Faygos for everyone! That was a nice touch! In the meantime, Monoxide was just chillin’ at the bar seemingly lost in the music that was echoing through the building. Jamie and Blaze smoked, and Young Wicked found a spot to just kick it and scope out the reactions to the album.

It was the middle of the day, so the streets of Detroit were fairly busy.  Every once in a while you would see a passerby peek into the window to see what was going on inside.  It had to look pretty odd seeing 30 or so ninjas just sitting at tables, not really talking or looking at anything.  lol.  If they could only hear what we were though…

If you have been following along with this album on Apple Music, you’ve already heard snippets of the tracks “Fucked” and “Lights Out”, so you’ve got a good vibe on both of those tracks.  For everything else though, with no notes, I can’t tell you much except that I really dug most of the album. You get a few solo appearances from Bonez Dubb, some major chopping skills flexed by Young Wicked, Jamie Madrox, Clockworc, and Mr. Grey, ruthless gangsta shit by Blaze, some of my favorite verses upon first listen by Monoxide, and….well….just about everyone seemed to be on top of their game.  I will say that I’m still not sold on Bizarre. I’m sorry…I know he’s a Detroit legend, but his flow, if you will, isn’t my cup of tea.  Maybe it’ll grow on me.

I was impressed by Boondox, G-Mo, The R.O.C., Lex, and Gordy as well.  I think that covered everyone.  I seriously don’t want to leave anyone out, because I know how hard everyone worked on this, and they deserve that shine!

So while I don’t have the full album to listen to repeatedly to give my overall thoughts on, I will say that upon first listen, Year of the Sword is one that you SHOULD add to your collection!  At $10.00 for 19 tracks + a bonus disc with 9 more…that’s not asking much!

Again, we’ve got 3 weeks or so until we get it delivered to our mailboxes or whatever digital media outlet you use.  Just know that you’re about to get some flavor pumping through your ear buds!

You can get this with everything from the CD only, to the CD with sublimated jersey at this link: http://www.twiztid-shop.com/Pre-Order_c_1.html

Before I end this, thanks to George and everyone at Majik Ninja Entertainment for allowing Faygoluvers to be a part of the initial listen!

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