Why? Crookers manage to collect 20 tracks, 25 different guest features from some of the hottest artists and groups in the game from the past couple of years like Major Lazer, Miike Snow, Rye Rye, Drop The Lime, Poirier, Face-T, Róisín Murphy, Steed Lord, Spank Rock, mix and blend all kind of genres together into one giant bowl of sparkling cocktail punch and throw a big cohesive party of pure good clean fun from to first sound, which is like that sound you hear when it’s time to turn the page (all who had sound-books from Disney back in the 1980′s will get what I mean), to finish.

Might I add, it’s not the easiest task. Many have tried, few have succeed. Genre mixing and 25 guest features sounds like hot mess of the Timbaland-”Shock Value 2″-variety, but as said, it isn’t, far from. While Timbo’s genre-hopping is annoying as hell and his guest features are more predictable than what day it is tomorrow, “Tons of Friends” is that type of album every good producer should be wanting to have on their resume and discography list.

Bot and Phra of the Crookers first became famous and a hot topic in the blog sphere for their great remixes from the house/electro-land but “Tons of Friends” is way more intriguing than just great remixing skillz and plain dance-music. As I said above, it’s fun and surprising at the same time but yet not goofy or silly and explores more than a land, bombastically put: it’s music of the whole wide world. The great mix of people all makes sense, where else would you hear Kelis on dubstep? Malawian Esau Mwamwaya together with the baile funk princess Marina Vello? B-more breaks having sex with Miike Snow? Quite simple, nowhere.

Even if most of the featured friends are artists and groups bubbling around in the post-underground-sphere “Tons of Friends” features some huge stars like Pitbull, Will.I.Am and KiD CuDi. The Will.I.Am joint ‘Let’s Get Beezy’ is quite interesting, way better than I first expected it to be.

Actually, the only tracks I have some trouble to digest is the Carie-featured ‘Have Mercy’, ‘Lone White Wolf’ ft. Tim Burgess as it gives me way too much grumpy old man-vibes and feels more like being at the sordid after party with scruffy rednecks than being at the actual party, and the two Róisín Murphy features. Don’t know why, Róisín and I clash, ‘Royal T’ is quite a good track if I put her verses aside, the chorus is crazy catchy. Sticky K’s remix of it definitely does it for me.

Speaking of remixes for that matter, remember Busy P’s horrible and generic (to say the least) remix of ‘Hip Hop Changed’ ft. Rye Rye that was on that Ed Banger Christmas EP? I truly hated it back then, however, the original is brilliant.

And let’s give the mic to Rye Rye for a while:

“They say hip hop changed, but you know we still talk that language,
it’s just another twist in the shit that we bring,
hip hop saved my life so I framed it“

Hip hop has truly changed, whether or not Nas like it, and Crookers is like the perfect example, “Tons of Friends” is hip hop for 2010. It’s not electro, not house, not hip hop. It’s everything mashed up into pure greatness with plenty twists to the game. Like ice cream with that extra sprinkles.

Yeah even if I like the rest of the 16 tracks there’s a handful that makes my heart beat a little faster than the others: ‘Cooler Couleur’ ft. Yelle, perfect for early spring walks in the sun, ‘Birthday Bash’ ft. The Very Best, Marina Vello and Dargen D’Amico, what can go wrong when you put Marina on a track? NOTHING! Poirier & Face-T’s ‘Arena’, the first single off the album: ‘Put Your hands on Me’ ft. Kardinal Offishall & Carla-Marie and the ‘Tee-Pee Theme’ ft. Drop The Lime as the production is absolutely mad.

Another one that’s worth an extra mention is the acapella version of the production to their remix of Kid CuDi’s ‘Day ‘N’ Nite’ as it’s absolutely hilarious and I’m so glad that ‘Embrace the Martian’ is the last track of the album, even if it’s been sent around like a zoot for years it still manages to feel fresh and good.

So to wrap it all up, Crookers debut album “Tons of Friends” is well worth five hearts out of five possible, I couldn’t wished for more to be honest and I really don’t know what you haters are on who comment that the album sucks.

Buy “Tons of Friends” over at iTunes or Amazon.

	Crookers ft. The Very Best, Marina & Dargen D’Amico – ‘Birthday Bash’ YSI | zShare
	Crookers ft. Drop The Lime – ‘Tee-Pee Theme’ YSI | zShare
	Listen to Crookers – “Tons of Friends” via Spotify