Heads unfamiliar with the name Defari probably have not been paying much attention to the resurgence of West Coast Hip-Hop over the past few years. A deejay-turned-teacher-turned emcee, Defari Herut has gained respect in Hip-Hop the old-fashioned way  through skill, hard work, and determination. Though his noteworthy relationship with Tommy Boy Records ended shortly after his 1999 Focused Daily debut dropped, Defari continued to toil at his craft solo and with Tha Liks as a Likwit Crew member.  
 
With high-profile verses on Dr. Dres Chronic 2001 and Dilated Peoples much-admired 2001 release, Expansion Team hipping a larger audience to Defari, the artist returned to the lab to craft his new album, Odds & Evens. An amazing mix of impressive lyricism, devastating beats, and exciting collaborations, this release should establish O.G. Duane Johnson as a major fixture in the Wests rap scene from this moment on. Having survived a long and turbulent career, Defari has beaten the odds; now its time to get even.  
 
Since its an album from a member of the Likwit Crew, you know you can expect collaborations with Tha Liks, and Defari definitely delivers in this department on Odds & Evens. Featuring lyrics and production by E-Swift, Inner City is a great album opener. On this percussion-driven head-nodder, Defari and E rhyme extraordinarily well together, even when Swift spits sobriety-questioning lines like, mind been corrupt since I was a young buck/ getting caught with my pants down beatin it up. Tash brings his inexhaustible energy to Xtra Thump, the perfect personality for taking Fredwrecks archetypal keyboard-crafted party anthem to a higher level of rowdiness. Likwit Crew member Phil Da Agony also manages to jump in a session for Stay Bubblin,' though he might have been better waiting for a different song to appear on. The production work on this is far too innocuous to properly complement the combined venom Agony and Defari lay down, killing the collabos potential. With vocals that almost cry out hard drums and a grinding bassline, hopefully a remix will pop up as a bonus on a later release.  
 
However, the Likwit Crew are not the only ones to bless Odds & Evens with an appearance; Dilated Peoples makes their presence felt on one of the singles from this album, the remix of Behold My Life. Babu outdoes himself here, producing a rich soul track laced heavily with old-school strings, and even whispers of Al Green drifting in from the shadows. Lyrically, Rakaa, Evidence, and Defari describe incidents in their lives that drove them to be successes today. Defari reminisces, behold my life, a deejay turned emcee/ T La Rock Its Yours blew my m-i-n-d/ made me want to be the D-to-the-E/ crowned 310 king of Los Angeles city.  
 
Despite the impressive roster of guest artists, Defari is certainly capable of tearing down the mic without any collaborators and does so often. Hooks is yet another powerful banger that allows the emcee to show the appropriate lack of respect for fruity, catchy hook-addicted commercial rappers over Barbershop Kizs dramatic, string-driven composition. He continues the hostilities with Spell My Name, the lead single, co-produced by Evidence and Porse. This track is essentially an anthem for the Likwit emcee as he flexes raw braggadocio in his highly adaptable rhyme style, commanding you to spell his name in the chorus. Musically, Ev and Porses work sounds a bit like a fresher rendition of some of Dr. Dres best work; a defiant march with critical musical points fortified supplementary samples, including a strangely appealing blubbery trombone.  
 
Without a doubt, Odds & Evens is a nothing less than stellar release for Defari. The production is excellent, pulling some of the sharpest beats from respected names and relative unknowns (hell, none Alchemists cuts even made it onto the final release, and you wont miss em). Evidence proves to be just as solid an asset behind the boards for Defari as he is on the mic for DP; his remarkable production work here can only heighten the anticipation of Dilateds next effort. Lyrically, Defari knows exactly how to complement the beats with a versatile and dexterous flow, rocking rhymes that blend only the best of Cali Hip-Hop  aggressive without the trite gangsta posturing, fun-loving but with an undeniable sense of responsibility. Even if Defari has long since abandoned teaching as a profession, his new album Odds & Evens proves that theres still much to learn from this man. 
