Visions of Gandhi

Visions of Gandhi is the third studio album from underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks, and their first album on the Babygrande record label. Jus Allah split from the group after the release of their album Violent by Design (2000), returning the group back to its original lineup of Vinnie Paz, Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind and DJ Drew Dollars. Producer Stoupe expands his dark sounds, including beats with grand orchestral samples and Latin-tinged production. Vinnie Paz lessens his lyrical topics to focus on his thug persona. Album guests include Canibus, Kool G Rap, Percee P, Ras Kass, and Tragedy Khadafi, as well as underground peers Crypt the Warchild, Planetary of OuterSpace, and Non Phixion members Ill Bill, Sabac Red, and Goretex.

Visions of Gandhi
Studio album by
Jedi Mind Tricks
ReleasedAugust 26, 2003
GenreUnderground hip hop
Length63:25
LabelBabygrande
ProducerStoupe the Enemy of Mankind
Jedi Mind Tricks chronology
Violent by Design
(2000)		 Visions of Gandhi
(2003)		 Legacy of Blood
(2004)
Singles from Visions of Gandhi
  1. "Animal Rap"
    Released: 2002
  2. "Kublai Khan"
    Released: 2002
  3. "Rise of the Machines"
    Released: 2003
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllHipHop[1]
AllMusic[2]
The A.V. Club(favorable)[3]
Pitchfork Media4.9/10[4]
RapReviews9/10[5]
Robert Christgau[6]
The Situation3/5[7]
Sputnikmusic3.5/5[8]

Title significance

The album title was inspired by Foxy Brown's verse on the song "Affirmative Action" from Nas' 1996 album It Was Written, in which she raps "They praise Allah with visions of Gandhi". Vinnie Paz explained that it was "always something that stuck in my head but I never applied it to anything. Then I thought with everything going on in Palestine, the war with Iraq, Mumia's in jail. I just felt this is a time right now that the world and society need someone like Gandhi. So Visions of Gandhi just kind of reflects that."[9]

Track listing
# Title Featured performer(s) Time
1 "Intro" 1:06
2 "Tibetan Black Magicians" Canibus 4:50
3 "Blood in Blood Out"[nb 1] 4:06
4 "The Rage of Angels" Crypt the Warchild 3:22
5 "Demonwomb (Interlude)" 0:37
6 "Animal Rap" Kool G Rap 3:39
7 "Nada Cambia" 4:58
8 "A Storm of Swords" Planetary 4:00
9 "Boondock Saints (Interlude)" 0:37
10 "The Wolf"[nb 2] Ill Bill, Sabac Red 3:45
11 "Walk With Me" Percee P 3:26
12 "Rise of the Machines" Ras Kass 2:50
13 "Pity of War (Interlude)" 1:14
14 "Kublai Khan" Tragedy Khadafi, Goretex 3:37
15 "What's Really Good" Rocky Raez 3:22
16 "The Heart of Darkness (Interlude)" 0:52
17 "Raw Is War 2003"[nb 3] 17:04
17a "I Against I (Revisited)" OuterSpace
17b "Animal Rap (Micky Ward Mix)" Kool G Rap
17c "The Army" Esoteric, King Syze

Charts
Charts (2003)[10] Peak
position
U.S. Top Heatseekers 19
U.S. Independent Albums 11
U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 61

Notes
  1. Samples from Tolis Voskopoulos – "Ke si tha figis" (intro) and Edita Piekha – "Our Neighbor" (main)
  2. Sound effects and dialogue from the video game Max Payne
  3. Samples from Javier Solís – "Tú Voz"
  • "Blood in Blood out" samples "Ki Esy Tha Fygeis" ("Και Συ Θα Φύγεις") by Tolis Voskopoulos, "Ego Trippin'" by Ultramagnetic MC's, "Lyrics of Fury" by Eric B. & Rakim, "I Don't Care" by Audio Two, "Flava in Ya Ear" by Craig Mack, and "Piosenka o sasiedzie" by Irena Santor
  • "Animal Rap" samples "Coma" by Dave Grusin
  • "The Rage of Angels" samples "Nothing Else" by Archive
  • "Boondock Saints" samples "The Escape" by Burgess Meredith
  • "A Storm of Swords" samples "La Cumparsita" by 101 Strings
  • "The Wolf" samples sound effects and dialogue from the 2001 classic video game, Max Payne
  • "Heart of Darkness" samples Mike's speech from Twin Peaks
  • "Kublai Khan" samples "Winter Warz" by Ghostface Killah
  • "Raw is War 2003" samples "Tu Voz" by Javier Solis
gollark: They *work*, just not well.
gollark: I got a used laptop for £140, and put in £30 of upgrades (extra RAM and SSD) and it works great, even for light Minecrafting.
gollark: You could build a desktop which massively beats that for < £400 nowadays, and even a £300 laptop or something will probably destroy your ancient... thing.
gollark: That's old enough that they should probably let you make reasonable decisions about how you spend money.
gollark: You get maybe a 15% improvement every year or two if you're lucky now.

References
  1. AllHipHop review
  2. Visions of Gandhi at AllMusic
  3. The A.V. Club review
  4. Pitchfork review
  5. RapReviews review
  6. Christgau, Robert. "Jedi Mind Tricks". Robert Christgau.
  7. The Situation review
  8. Sputnikmusic review
  9. Joel & Andy."Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 28, 2006. Retrieved January 28, 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: unfit url (link) . Art of Rhyme. Accessed April 13, 2008.
  10. allmusic ((( Visions of Gandhi > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums ))). Allmusic. Accessed April 13, 2008.
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