by John Bush
Though Dego is helped by a varied cast of collaborators -- Manifest & Cheewa, his partner, Mark Mac, even Butterfly of Digable Planets in an uncredited vocal -- this album is his and his alone. It's Not What You Think It Is!?!! mostly consists of futuristic hip-hop, with Dego winding sampled raps around occasional live contributions. When not edging into rap, the album is split between easy-listening/R&B -- on vocal tracks with divas Carol Crosby and Kinnor Eve -- and the relative underground appeal of darkstep jungle, on &Beast Within,& &74' Above Sea Level,& and &Spring.& It's difficult to appreciate the innovative breakbeats when they're sandwiched between Muzaky sex talk, and the album mostly fails because of it. The true highlights come only on the CD edition: the bonus of a second disc containing 13 tracks of Tek 9's ragga breakbeats.