With his debut album, In the Line of Fire, Fatal attempts to bridge the musical gap between the coasts, creating an appealing blend of laid-back West Coast funk and lyrically dense East Coast rap. It's an audacious mix, but for the most part it works, thanks to Fatal's lyrical gifts and his sharp production team, who create dense, intriguing soundscapes for Fatal and his crew to grace with their rhymes. Occasionally, In the Line of Fire bogs down in clichés, but on the whole, it's a first-rate debut.