My first post of 2024 was on Ant Banks’ second solo album, The Big Badass. Ant Banks is known as a producer, but on Badass, he not only controlled the boards but also stepped behind the mic, handling most of the album’s rhyming. Unlike Diamond D, Pete Rock, and Large Professor, Ant Banks is not in the running for best producer on the mic. Lyrically, I wasn’t expecting much from Banks on Badass, but I was looking forward to the dense funk I’d heard him create on Too Short and Spice 1 tracks. There were a few great funk moments on Badass, but they were few and far between. Banks would release one more solo project (Do Or Die) and was a part of The Dangerous Crew album, Don’t Try This At Home, before parting ways with Jive, the label home for his first three solo projects. He would begin his next chapter on Priority Records, releasing Big Thangs in the summer of 1997.

Big Thangs is a compilation project produced by Banks with a pretty impressive guest list: Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Ice-T, Spice 1, and King Tee, to name a few. The hefty guest list must have helped, as the album climbed to number 20 on the Billboard Top 200. But even with a top twenty position, the album wasn’t a huge commercial success and would end up being the only album Banks would release on Priority. Other than a few collab albums with the vanity group T.W.D.Y. (an acronym for The Whole Damn Yay) released on Thump Records, Big Thangs would be the end of Ant’s album career. He would continue to produce tracks for other artists, though.

Big Thangs is another first-time listen for me. Let’s get into it and see if them thangs are as big as Ant claims. Pause.

Intro – The album begins with our host sharing a few words to introduce and hype up the album. He also invites us all to take a whiff of his funky “poot” (“poot” is his word, not mine) while Otis and Shug (the album’s house singers) harmonize the album title over super mid instrumentation.

Big Thangs – The first song of the night pairs Ice Cube with Too Short as the two exchange thrown-together misogynistic bars tied together with a beyond-elementary hook. It’s fair to say the duo doesn’t recapture the magic they created on “Ain’t Nothin’ But A Word To Me” (see Short Dog’s In The House). At least Ant’s breezy Kool & The Gang’s “Summer Madness” interpolated backdrop was pleasant.

Coolin In The Luff – The legendary Bay Area radio host Chuy Gomez stops by and drops a few lines on this short interlude.

Can’t Stop – Sticking with the duet theme, Ant brings E-40 and Mack 10 together to form E-Mack 50. Mack 10 gives a decent performance, and E40 sounds like he has split personalities. At the end of the record, 40 sounds like he may also suffer from Tourette’s Syndrome. I’ve never been a fan of E40, and after hearing him rhyme over Banks’ underwhelming instrumental, my opinion hasn’t changed.

West Riden’ – Here’s a pairing I didn’t know I needed to hear: King Tee and Spice 1. The Likwit Crew founder and The East Bay Gangsta bring L.A. and the Bay together, respectively, and ride for the West Coast. The duo sounds good rhyming together, and Ant’s smooth groove behind them only makes the track more enjoyable.

Hard Knox – W.C. shows up for this one, making him the third and final member of Westside Connection to contribute to Big Thangs. He’s joined by a rapper named J-Dubb as the two take turns gangster posturing because, as the hook says: “Bitch, I know my ABCs, but all I ever did in life was fuck with Gs.” Both Dubbs give a serviceable performance on the mic, but Banks’s semi-dark G-Funk-esque instrumental was way more entertaining than the rhymes. Warning: if you listen to this in your car, beware of the nagging beep embedded in the instrumental that might make you think the door is ajar or your seatbelt is unfastened.

Gamblin’ Wit Ice T – Ice-T sends Ant a line from a yacht floating on the Mediterranean Sea. Allegedly. It sounds more like it was recorded in somebody’s home studio with sound effects thrown in for good measure.

4 Tha Hustlas – Ant chefs up one of his standard stank backdrops, but it’s Shorty B’s understatedly funky guitar riff that really makes this track smell (understated goes out the window at the end of the record when he goes full-on rockstar with the licks). Too Short, Tupac, and MC Breed take turns jabbing at Banks and Shorty B’s funk. All three hold their own, but I was thoroughly impressed by Breed’s closing verse. It’s crazy to think that two-thirds of the guests on this track are no longer with us. May Pac and Breed continue to rest in peace.

Time Is Tickin’ – Bad-N-Fluenz is a crew I’d never heard of before looking through the Big Thangs’ liner notes. Through a little Googling, I discovered they were an Oakland collective, and two emcees in the crew, Ant Diddley and Mr. Ill, rap on this track. Ant Diddley starts the record off shouting out his fallen comrade and former partner in rhyme, Rappin’ Ron, who passed away in a car accident in January of ‘97. Then he and Mr.Ill take turns discussing everything from the streets to the beach (and the solar system) with flows and vocabulary not usually heard from Oakland emcees (Mr. Ill raps about the “Choice words” that come from his “mandible.” I’m pretty sure I’ll never hear another rapper use “mandible” in a rhyme). The eerie, slightly mystic vibes in Ant’s instrumental complement the high-level lyricism exhibited by these two talented emcees, which I’m thankful I discovered on this track.

Cutaluff – Dr. Dre shows love to Ant Banks by doing the intro for this track. Then Slink Capone gets off one short, forgettable verse, followed by a mediocre refrain and vocal performance from Stacey Hogg.

Hoo-Ride Ant Banks – This was a cute interlude. B-Legit (from The Click), Mean Green, MC Ant (who claims to be the first rapper Ant Banks ever recorded with), and Baby D (the kid rapper that Short Dog haphazardly gave a solo track to on Gettin’ It ) all leave disgruntled voicemails for Banks, expressing their disappointment for not receiving an invite to rap on Big Thangs. The eerie background music left me waiting for Ice Cube to say, “Fuck All Ya’ll.”

Make Money – CJ Mac and K-Dee spit hustler rhetoric with so much West Coast bravado I wanted to jump on the hood of a ‘64 Impala and crip walk. Add Otis and Shug’s catchy jingle on the refrain with the slippery guitar licks, jazzy keys, and a string loop with cloudy sophistication, and you get arguably the best record on the album.

Play Paraphernalia – Coolio (RIP) intros this record, showering Ant with verbal love. Then J-Dubb (making his second cameo of the night) and Rappin’ 4-Tay team up to share some “pimpish ass shit with a gangsta twist.” Decent rhymes over a moderately funky backdrop.

Fien – AllFrumTha I was a two-man team, Binky Mack and Squeak Ru, hailing from Inglewood, California, hence the corny group name. The duo uses this record to discuss their addiction to money, hoes, narcotics, bitches, switches, and hydraulics. Ant lays a slick mid-tempo groove with discreetly funky wah-wahs to support the duo’s pimpology. I don’t fully know what it means, but I love the “My office be the streets, can’t let no grass grow under my feet” line. It sounds like some ole slick Oakland pimp shit.

You Want Me Back – Ant gives the floor to a songstress named, Audrian for the final record of the night as she sings another “You fucked up, but now you want me back, and I’m not interested” song dedicated to her ex. J-Dubb and CJ Mac add raps from the perspective of her ex and her new man, respectively, over Ant’s instrumental, which is the perfect balance of lush R&B chords and Oakland funk. Audrian reminded me of Michel’le, until she attempted to hit a big run and failed miserably. If Ant wanted an R&B record on the album, I wonder why he didn’t let Otis & Shug get their own joint.

Outro – Our host brings back the beat from the title track to share a few parting words. And we’re done.

During the album’s “Intro,” Ant Banks says, “We bout to pull off the biggest bank robbery ever known to man.” This statement could be interpreted in a few different ways. Is Banks implying that the album is so bad that he’s robbing the fans who spent their hard-earned money on it? Or is he giving the listener the inside scoop on him and his team’s planned criminal activity? Or is it just a poorly executed play on his last name and a really bad metaphor for Big Thangs being a monster of an album? If you guessed C, you’re correct.

Ant’s solo run at Jive taught him one thing for sure: rapping isn’t his strong suit. Other than the intro, outro, and a few adlibs here and there, he leaves the microphone alone on Big Thangs and lets his lengthy list of guests handle the rhyming, with mixed results. The guest list includes heavy hitters, all the way down to unknown newcomers, all with one common goal: to represent the West Coast. Most of the big guns’ contributions felt mailed in, and the hustler/pimp/gangsta themes consume most of the album. But scattered amongst the heavy hitters’ coasting and the repetitive subject matter are a few great emcee moments: see “West Riden,” Time Is Tickin’, and “Make Money.” But when the rhyming doesn’t tickle your fancy, Banks’ production bears the load. Without the responsibility of having to worry about rhyming, Ant focuses solely on the production, and it pays off. Big Thangs has a few mediocre musical moments, but most of the album is filled with Ant’s signature Oakland funk, and the stank is way more consistent than it was on Badass.

Before Banks’ horrible heist metaphor happens during the “Intro,” he asks the listener a series of times if they “can smell it,” referring to the funk in his music. On Big Thangs, Banks’ poot provides a sufficient amount of odor to keep the listener’s face scrunched up in satisfaction.

-Deedub
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