The Leeuwarden/Amsterdam band re-released their debut album through CMC-Soul Relation and Edel after their original label went bankrupt. If you missed the album you should really check it out. It’s getting high rates and good reviews. This crew hit the tele’s with a wicked video sponsored by Nike during the European Football Championships in Belgium and The Netherlands. Nike choose their song to be the soundtrack for their ‘Welcome In Masterdam’ campaign.
So, why is it laying around the editorial office for so long now before I took it up to write something about it? Well, as I tried to forward it to any of the review reporters I couldn’t find anybody willing to write about it. All found it a good album but there was something missing… Nobody else than me to pick it up put it once more in my CD player and study it. I did my research onall other sites, guess you should do it too:

As we got in from Fillin’ The Gap Agency:

“De reakties van de vaderlandse pers:
* 'Dit album mag aan niemand voorbij gaan met een hart voor soulvolle hiphop. De composities klinken moody als de blues en jazzy als de roots, doordrenkt met gevoel!' - (www.theboombap.nl, April '01)
* 'Hip hop wordt in Nederland doorgaans pas serieus genomen als het niet door Nederlanders wordt gemaakt. Het zijn vooral de nederhoppers waar de aandacht naar uitgaat. The Proov bewijst maar weer eens dat je niet uit Amerika hoeft te komen om goede hiphop te maken'. - www.livexs.nl April'01
*Met het debuutalbum (..) sluit de Amsterdamse/Leeuwarder formatie zich makkelijk aan bij de nationale top&Mac226;. /De muzikaalste hiphop van Nederland&Mac226;. / Laidback, zelfbewust, soulvol en jazzy&Mac226;. - www.oor.nl Feb.&Mac226;01
*Sterke raps en een goede productie maken van Traditions&Mac226; een bijzonder debuut&Mac226;. - www.volkskrant.nl 25 Januari 01
*Met het vijftien tracks tellende Traditions&Mac226; zet The Proov een ijzersterke hiphop cd neer&Mac226;. / Tekstueel en muzikaal gezien is het een uitstekende cd&Mac226;. - FRET www.popinstituut.nl Jan. 01
* …een van de betere hiphopalbums van dit jaar, en dan bedoel ik niet alleen die uit Nederland&Mac226;. /Ik kan geen slecht nummer ontdekken op Traditions&Mac226;. /Ik ken in Nederland geen enkele andere band op dit niveau&Mac226;. - www.alles-op-tien.nl Jan.&Mac226;01”

When I play it, hearing skillfull rhymes with a great flow over dope beats coming through my speakers. When Melvin and I saw them perform at Prospects, they proved to have a good line-up of skilled musicians. With a lot of Jazz influence in their live performance. And on record they bring a dope ass Jazz sound to you. But still I couldn’t figure it out why it took so long before anybody of us took the record up and started to write about it. It was sinning and spinning in the soundsystem. Till I noticed that, although impressed of te high quality of the album, only the last song on it attract my attention. This song is less clean. It’s more raw. I interputed it as a live studio session. It got me moving. It was the only song on the album I really could feel without forcing myself that I have to feel this album because it’ s so good.

To round it up. The album is a masterpiece in skillfull elements. No wack things and a must-have-in-your-collection. But it’s borring. It’s so clean, to clean. Traditions are important and often fun but with this Tradition… The sparkle only jumps over on the less clean hidden track on the end. So in technical points they win but it keeps me surprising everybody up here in the office seems to find it a so borring album. The live act was borring and the album is borring. And that is sad and it’s a damn shame because the content is and the artists are very good.

Boombox AQ