Although emerging on De La Soul's "Pony Ride" in 1996 -- the tail end of the Native Tongues movement -- Truth Enola's husky and charismatic delivery on his debut, 6 O' Clock Straight is an anachronism, harking back to the "Golden Age" epoch. Similar to De La, Enola's reflexivity denies cliches; he demonstrates his lyrical depth --contrasting De La's playful irony, self-deprecation, and sarcasm -- in his own darker personal reporting and troubled histories on bounce-heavy "Here I Am," "Know My Name" and "Ain't Changed." Building on this narrative, Enola grapples with emotional experiences on memorable tracks such as "All Alone" and "Voicestress," which features De La Soul and stellar production from Geology and Dj Spinna. A few banalities aside (uneventful "Lighters Up" and "I Need to Know"), 6 O'Clock Straight -- drenched in self-reflection, but far from egotistic -- revives a native-tongue dialect that's sorely missed.

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