Absent from the scene since 1999’s Inna City Pressure (recently re-released by ROIR), Brooklyn-based emcee/producer Dr. Israel returns with a masterpiece. That is an understatement: his dub texturing on the low-end counters guest vocalists Lady K and Chemda brilliantly. The vocal interplay between friends and Israel, who toasts with an upbeat consciousness, balances this superb recording. Political awareness abounds-as on the “Hebrew-led Tetze” and searing guitar lines of “Interference”–but that does not dissuade a softer side. Hearing Lady K’s sensuous vocals on “Cover Me” is enough to subdue and subvert any wicked naysayer.