Audio Two was a duo out of Brooklyn, New York consisting of the brother duo of Kirk “Milk Dee” Robinson and Nat “Gizmo” Robinson, who will forever be remembered for their biggest record, “Top Billin’.” The record was released in October of 1987, and while it wasn’t a hit in a commercial sense, it became a hood staple and certified hip-hop classic that has stood Teflon strong through the test of time. Everyone from Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Kanye and Jay-Z, Fergie, Compton’s Most Wanted, Cassidy, Luniz, 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Ne-Yo, Ruben Studdard, and numerous others have sampled and borrowed elements of the definitive record over the past thirty-five plus years. The enormity of the record has overshadowed Audio Two and the rest of their contributions to hip-hop. Many forget that they helped spark the career of MC Lyte (they produced several of her early records and Milk Dee is credited with penning a large chunk of her rhymes) and released two albums of their own: their 1988 debut album, What More Can I Say, and the subject of today’s post, I Don’t Care: The Album.

Ironically, the album title was taken from a line from “Top Billin’.” Audio Two would be responsible for the bulk of the production on I Don’t Care, with a few assists, including a couple coming from King Of Chill, and a few cameos that we’ll discuss later. I Don’t Care didn’t move a ton of units and would peak at 74 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Charts. The duo recorded a third album, titled The First Dead Indian, but they would go their separate ways before its release and the album would never see the light of day. But with a little research, aka googling, you can find some of the unreleased tracks online.

I bought a used vinyl copy of I Don’t Care for a couple of bucks a few months ago at a local record store. This post marks my first time listening to the album, and if the zany album cover is any indication of what the music will sound like, I’m anticipating a bizarre audio appearance.

On The Road Again/ Interlude One – I had to check the liner notes to make sure Teddy Riley wasn’t responsible for the New Jack Swing seasoning sprinkled over the instrumental of this opening track. Thankfully, TR had nothing to do with the low-budget knockoff; you can blame it all on Terence Dudley and Audio Two. Speaking of Audio Two, Milk Dee sounds like someone put a gun to his head and forced him to rap over this bullshit. Even in reluctancy, he entertains with a few humorous lines (“Hold your girl ‘cause I might pull her, it doesn’t matter what the color, I take them white, light, brown, and duller, what I’m saying is I don’t discriminate, any size or color’s great”) and witty battle bars (“Step in clubs with Milk Dee tactics, flying kicks and double backflips, many styles will come to play, when Milk Dee must destroy and slay them”). The song is followed by a short skit with some dude who sounds like Leon Phelps from The Ladies Man, scolding Milk Dee for his “I don’t care” attitude.

Get Your Mother Off The Crack – Over a muddled low-quality instrumental, Milk chops it up with an anonymous person, discussing their mother’s crack addiction: “Boom! I’m here to talk about your mother, she ain’t nothing but a cheap crack sucker, suckin’ on a pipe like a pipe is a straw, she’s gotta extra pipe in the hall by the drawer.” I can’t tell if this is a PSA on the dangers of smoking crack or a dis to the anonymous person’s mom (the reinterpretation of The Temptations’ “War” chant was definitely a dis). All these years I thought Whitney Houston coined the phrase “Crack is wack.” Who would have known she stole it from Milk Dee? Regardless, I hope Milk’s comedic commentary helped prevent someone from smoking crack and motivated a crackhead or two to quit the deadly habit.

Undercover Hooker – Milk Dee uses this one to call out all the closeted freaky ladies, boasts about his “customized condoms, fitted to perfection” and “enticing young ladies with his best eye lingo.” He also proudly admits to being a part of the promiscuous community that he shames through most of the song: “Cause love is a game that you play to win, there are hookers in the house, so let the games begin.” Unfortunately, King Of Chill’s drab instrumental doesn’t match the liveliness of Milk’s rhymes.

Worse Than A Gremlin – Other than a few ad-libs from Giz, Milk’s been the only voice we’ve heard from to this point. He takes a backseat on this one and lets his partner and group deejay, Gizmo shine (hence the song title), as he gets off a quick verse over a sleepy backdrop. And we quickly find out why Milk Dee is the emcee and Giz the deejay.

Whatcha’ Lookin’ At? /Interlude Two – Milk Dee runs into a mesmerized male fan that can’t take his eyes off our host, leaving Milk all the way pissed off as he angrily addresses the male groupie on this record: “I understand you’re a little excited, if you want an autograph, yo, I’ll write it, but don’t stare like you have no sense, or you might get dead, and dead’s past tense, if you see me walkin’ down the street, say “hi” if it’s me that you wanna meet, if not then don’t say jack, keep your eyes to yourself and stay the hell back!” Speaking of pissed and angry, Milk drops a few homophobic slurs that would surely get the LGTBQ community riled up calling for his cancellation if this record came out today (no pun intended). The underlying revamped “Go Brooklyn” chant from “Top Billin’” (which Audio Two borrowed from Stetsasonic’s “Go Stetsa I”) was unnecessary, but the bodaciously arrogant vibes on the instrumental match Milk’s cocky “lay-my-dick on the table” bravado. The track is followed by a skit of Milk using the bathroom while another man (maybe Gizmo?) rushes him to get back in the studio to lay his vocals, while the instrumental for the next song plays in the background.

I Get The Papers – AT revamps the instrumental from “Top Billin’” and Milk Dee uses it to talk more shit. It doesn’t quite recapture the magic from their classic record, but Milk turns in a serviceable performance. If you’re listening to I Don’t Care on vinyl (like me), this song marks the end of side one. If you bought I Don’t Care on CD, the following CD-only bonus track is next…

Milk Does The Body Good (Remix) – Milk turns the catchphrase from a popular eighties milk commercial into a pick-up line/endorsement of his sexual prowess with the ladies. I’m not sure what the O.G. version of this song sounds like, but I sure hope the mix sounds better than this hot mess. Milk’s mic sounds like he rescued it from a lake. And the part of the refrain where Milk says, “the matter on hand” (instead of “at hand”) annoys the shit out of me for some reason.

Start It Up Y’all – MC Lyte and Positive K join Milk Dee for this posse joint, as all three emcees get off a verse over a vibrant instrumental. All parties involved turn in solid verses (imagining MC Lyte in a bikini in 1990 is crazy) with Milk shining a little brighter than his compadres, thanks to his comedic content, which includes a clear out-of-left-field shot at MC Hammer and his female protégés, Oaktown’s 357 (remember them?). It’s not a top-tier posse record, but I was entertained.

When Milk’s On The Mic/Interlude Three – King Of Chill builds this understated funky groove around a looped bassline from Average White Band’s “T.L.C.,” as a fired-up Milk drops another homophobic slur before going for the neck of his competition and adversaries: “I play to win like the New York Yankees, so to all you emcees, I’m handing out hankies, blow your nose, wipe your snot and whatnot, you wish you could get what I give ’cause what I got, red hot, whistles like a teapot, wanna be like me, that’s sayin’ a lot.” This was dope and easily one of the strongest records on the album. The song is followed by the final interlude of the evening that finds a bootleg Robin Harris so frustrated by those with the “I don’t care attitude” that he threatens violence on them (“Put my foot so far in your ass your breath smell like shoe polish”).

Build Up Back Up – The song title is a term Audio Two uses to describe semen build up due to a dry season with the ladies. I don’t think the sexual appetite will ever override the need to eat, as Milk claims during his verse, but I get his exaggerated point. Thanks to his boy K, who sets him up with a young tender, Milk’s condition gets resolved by the end of the song, which bleeds into the next track…

The Nasty – For those under thirty, “The Nasty” was a slang term used for sex back in the late nineteen hundreds. Milk and Giz spend the length of this song talking about the subject in a playful manner (and once again, Milk irritates my ears by saying “on hand” at one point during the record). The Janet Jackson vocal snippet on the hook was a clever touch, but not clever enough to make the bland instrumental sound interesting.

6Teen – This is easily the most uncomfortable record on I Don’t Care. Milk Dee shares an encounter with a young lady, and the two eventually begin to fall for each other. There’s just one problem: Milk was at least twenty years old in 1990, and the young lady, sixteen. After finding out her age, Milk spends the rest of the song contemplating whether or not he should continue dating her, and let’s just say he doesn’t make the most sound legal decision. MC Lyte co-signs Milk’s pedophilic behavior by singing the hook and the instrumental was so insignificant, Milk might as well rapped his story a cappella.

Step – Gizmo gets another solo joint. This time around he’s on a mission to get the listener to dance and party, while Milk plays his hypeman. If you’re listening to I Don’t Care on vinyl, it makes for a pretty pedestrian way to end the album. But if you’re listening to the CD format, you get yet another bonus track…

Many Styles – The fellas loop up some classic Curtis Mayfield to create a pimp strut inducing backdrop, while Milk substitutes his ordinarily animated high-pitched vocal for a suaver tone, but the rhymes are still solid.

If a hip-hop DNA test was given to Milk Dee to determine which emcees in the game he’s fathered, Westside Gunn and Ghostface Killah would come back as 99.999 percent positive matches. Milk’s technique is a hybrid of the two rappers. His animated high-pitched nasally tone is the precursor to Westside’s, while his colorful, wildly random, and energized verbiage is undeniably the predecessor of Ghost’s style. The combination makes Milk’s charismatic banter nearly impossible not to enjoy, as he entertains throughout I Don’t Care.

While Milk Dee’s star shines brightly throughout the album, much of the production sounds like an afterthought, chalked full of low-quality bland and boring instrumentals. Most of the tracks on I Don’t Care sound like demos, begging for a better mix, and the constant revisiting of “Top Billlin’” feels like some form of brainwashing. It’s like a constant looming reminder that they made the classic record, so you should feel obliged to overlook and turn a blind eye to all the flaws and blemishes on this project.

Ultimately, the inferior production and poor mixing that plague I Don’t Care, overshadow Milk Dee’s commendable mastering of the ceremony. Maybe they should have cared more.

-Deedub

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