Time Is Illmatic

Thanks in large part to their debut massive hit first single “Jump Around”, House of Pain was able to snag a platinum plaque for their self-titled debut album. Not only did the album do well commercially, but it also received favorable reviews from the critics (read my thoughts on the album here). The Irish trio would return in 1994 with their sophomore effort, Same As It Ever Was.

For Same As It Ever Was, House of Pain would use the same (no pun intended) formula as their debut album: Production by DJ Lethal and Cypress Hill’s Deejay and producer, Muggs (with assists from a few others) and Everlast manning the mic with minimal help from Danny Boy (and one other special guest that we’ll discuss in a minute). SAIEW failed to produce a hit anywhere near as massive as “Jump Around”, but it would earn the trio a gold plaque, despite the mixed reviews received from the critics.

I missed this one back in ’94 when it came out, and honestly only recognize one of the songs on the album’s track list. A few years ago, I bought it used for a dollar,but I haven’t listened to it, until now. And after hearing Everlast steal the show with his cameo appearance on Nice & Smooth’s “Save The Children”, I’m kind of excited to see if he was able to build on that momentum.

Back From The Dead – House of Pain kicks SAIEW off with an intense thick Muggs’ bass line laid underneath rough drums (Tha Baka Boys get a co-production credit) that Everlast uses to address his haters and the rumors of his death, both figuratively and literally. Everlast’s distinct rugged vocal sounds great over Muggs dusty production work.

I’m A Swing It – Lethal hooks up a dope mid-tempo groove that Everlast uses to get “funky like the Neville Brothers” over (a statement which I found amusing and I’m sure no one else in hip-hop has ever said), while Danny Boy sneaks in a couple of mediocre bars in between E’s verses. Everlast once again mentions the rumors of his death (was “Everlast is dead” really a thing that I missed in the nineties or was dude just being paranoid on a Geto Boys type level?) and he response to DJ Quik’s diss record “Can’t Fuck Wit A Nigga” from the Menace II Society Soundtrack with a few bars at the end of the song’s final verse. His blows are light jabs at best, but at least he was brave enough to defend himself.

All That – I thought this was a weird spot to place a random instrumental interlude…but, whatever.

On Point – This one sounds like HOP may have been trying to recapture that “Jump Around” energy. Everlast adds to his list of enemies, taking a shot at Marky Mark, who was an easy target for rappers back in the nineties (probably second only to Hammer…but don’t sleep, Hammer was a G. Just ask MC Serch). All in all, this was pretty dope.

Runnin’ Up On Ya – Lethal mixes up a vintage thick Muggs-like bass line with a loop of what sounds like bagpipes, giving the instrumental an Irish touch. Unfortunately, Everlast’s rhymes are forgettable (except for the part where he says “I used to rock a skin head” which sounded kind of white supremisty) and the hook is one big contradiction.

Over There Shit – Muggs hooks up a dusty backdrop with heavy drums, a haunting bass line and an ill vocal loop from the classic Audio Two record, “Top Billin'”. Everlast cleverly manages to shoutout both Milk D and Gizmo along the way, and his rugged vocal sounds perfect over Muggs rough production work.

Word Is Bond – The legendary Diamond D stops by to provide the backdrop and spit a verse alongside Everlast. Diamond D is a very dope and underrated hip-hop producer, but this one almost put me to sleep. Yes, it was that bad.

Keep It Comin’ – In my head, this will forever be the song that Everlast used the N-word on and got away unscathed. During his second verse he quotes his dad, who was speaking about Everlast and says “He’s a bum, kick the nigga out”. Regardless of the context, there is absolutely no way a white rapper would have got a pass for using “nigga” in this current day of social media and Black Twitter (side note: Everlast would use the n-word again a few years later while playing the racist cop, Bitchkowski, on Prince Paul’s “The Men In Blue” from his conceptual album A Prince Among Thieves). They would have hung him by his balls out the window like Big Red from The Five Heartbeats. Even though I feel some type away about Everlast’s use of the N-word, you can’t front on Muggs dope backdrop.

Interlude – Decent little DJ Lethal concocted instrumental that should have been title “Drunken Jazz”.

Same As It Ever Was – This title track feels like a darker version of Cypress Hill’s “Insane In The Brain”. Everlast and Danny Boy take turns rhyming about absolutely nothing over Muggs bouncy backdrop. I’m sure frat boys were loving this one in the nineties.

It Ain’t A Crime – Everlast is definitely not the go to rapper if you’re looking for a dope story line. This one could have been left on the cutting room floor.

Where I’m From – Everlast reminisces and raps about the importance of true friendships and weeding out the shady people in your circle (I laugh every time I hear him tell his Judas “If you wanna fuck me, first you have to kiss me”). But the true star of this one is DJ Lethal and his production work. He builds this backdrop around a nasty bass line, an ill break and a beautiful horn loop (I actually thought Diamond D produced this one before reading the liner notes). Despite the nonsensical hook, this is easily my favorite song on SAIEW. 

Still Got A Lotta Love – Everlast comes up with a clever way to shoutout his peeps on this one. Instead of just speaking them over an instrumental, he actually raps them in couplets over an inconspicuous snare and bass line (it was cool to hear him give props to the Ultramagnetic MC’s on his final shoutout). Well done, Erik.

Who’s The Man – This was originally released on the Who’s The Man? Soundtrack in 1993 (remember that cornball comedy starring Yo! MTV Raps hosts, Dr. Dre and Ed Lover?). Lethal sticks with his formula of thick bass lines and heavy drums, while Everlast and Danny Boy continue to spew hardcore rhymes.

On Point (Lethal Dose Remix) – DJ Lethal remixes his own track with a menacing bass line, snapping drums and a mysterious horn loop, giving the song a darker vibe that the lighthearted original mix. Both mixes are dope. The remix sounds more cohesive with the rest of the album, while the original mix breaks up the album’s monotony. Choose your own adventure.

Same As It Ever Was lives up to its title in more ways than one. Like their debut album, House of Pain stays true to their Irish pride and gutter image over hard beats. And with a few exceptions along the way, they keep the same thick bass line, heavy drums, dark vibe format for the length of the album, giving it a cohesive sound, even though at times it can feel a bit redundant. Everlast is no Rakim (and Danny Boy’s limited verses doesn’t even warrant a mention), but he does a solid job navigating through Muggs and Lethal’s quality batch of dark and dusty instrumentals, even if he never matches the scene stealing magic he displayed on Nice & Smooth’s “Save The Children”. Same As It Ever Was isn’t spectacular, but its a decent album that is easy to miss or overlook, since it came out in a year packed with a slew of classics.

-Deedub

The last time we touched base with Nice & Smooth was in 1991 with their second album Ain’t A Damn Thing Changed, which if you read my review on that album, you already know I thought it was pretty mediocre (but, if you would like to read my thoughts on its mediocrity, click here). The album did produce a couple of pretty decent sized hits, and things would only get better for the duo when they teamed up with the legendary Gang Starr to create the B side record turned classic, “DWYCK.” That would only help build the anticipation for their third full length release Jewel of The Nilein the summer of 1994.

Like their first two projects, Nice & Smooth (more so Greg Nice) would handle most of the production work with a few helping hands lent here and there. Ultimately, Jewel would do modest numbers and was met with mixed reviews. I actually loved the lead single from the album (more on that in a bit) but didn’t buy it until I found it used a few years ago at one of the records stores I frequent, so this is my first time listening and living with the project until now.

So without further ado, let’s do what we do…

Return Of The Hip Hop Freaks – The first song of the evening finds Greg Nice ripping the drums from Schoolly D’s “P.S.K. What Does It Mean?” and laying the slick xylophone loop from KMD’s “Peach Fuzz” (that KMD actually borrowed from an O.C. Smith song) over it. The concoction turns out to be melodic banger as he and Smooth B drop respectable verses over it.

The Sky’s The Limit – Greg Nice builds this backdrop around a loop from Prince’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover” (rip). Greg Nice delivers a solid verse, keeping pace with his partner in rhyme Smooth B, who is clearly the better emcee of the two. This song might not grab you at the first listen, but the more you listen to it the better it sounds.

Let’s All Get Down – Slick Rick stops by and joins Nice & Smooth on this one as each of the three spit a quick sixteen. Unfortunately, none of the three sound that impressive on the mic, and Greg N-I’s instrumental is boring as shit.

Doin’ Our Own Thang – Nice & Smooth spew more playful random rhymes over this animated Mark Sparks production (Smooth B even mentions in his verse that “this beat reminds me of Hansel and Gretel,” which made me chuckle). I wasn’t crazy about this one.

Do Whatcha Gotta – Showbiz (as in Showbiz & AG) gets his first of two co-production credits on Jewel along side Greg Nice, as they give this instrumental a Latin touch that they hope will provoke you to get up and do the Lambada (as stated in the song’s hook). It definitely didn’t make me want to do the Lambada, but it was cool.

Old To The New – This was the lead single from Jewel, and it’s easily in my top five Nice & Smooth songs of all time. Luis “Phat Kat” Vega provides the smooth and brilliant backdrop that Greg Nice freaks first before his partner Smooth B completely bodies it. Classic.

Blunts – Showbiz and Greg N-I loop up a portion of Jack Bruce’s “Born To Be Blue” (that you probably remember being used on Smif-N-Wessun’s “Bucktown”) and place some rough drums underneath it, while Nice & Smooth each spit verses about…I’m sure you can figure that out based on the song title. This wasn’t terrible, but definitely not one of Jewel‘s strongest songs.

Get Fucked Up – Well, if you’re going to have a song about getting high it’s only right that you have one dedicated to getting drunk too. Too bad the song is trash, though.

Save The Children – Everlast (from House of Pain) jumps in the cipher with our hosts. All three of the emcees deliver solid verses, but Everlast completely murders Greg Nice’s fire backdrop built around frantic drums and some sick rock guitar licks. This is easily the best verse I’ve ever heard (no pun intended) Everlast spit. I’m not sure what this song has to do with saving children, but its dope, and tied for my favorite song on Jewel (next to “Old To The New”).

Cheri – Smooth B tests out his singing chops as he attempts to belt out a song dedicated to a woman named Cheri that he apparently hasn’t seen in some time. Mark Rooney and Mark Morales (aka Prince Markie D) get the production credit for this heavily R&B seasoned backdrop, while Rooney and JoJo (from Jodeci) add background vocals. Smooth B definitely shouldn’t quit his day job. This song is complete and utter trash.

No Bones Remix (Bonus Track) – This song may have the worst hook in hip-hop history. I’ve never heard the original version of this song, and after listening to this remix, I don’t ever want to hear it. Side note: Greg Nice starts his verse off on this song shouting out the legendary late comedian/actor/dancer Nipsey Russell and rhymes his name with “do the hustle”, which made me think about the recently murdered rapper/entrepreneur/activist Nipsey Hussle, who I’d be remiss not to acknowledge. Even if you weren’t a fan of his music, you have to respect the work he was doing in his community. May he rest in peace.

Let me start with the good (whenever you hear someone preface a statement with that line, brace yourself for the upper cut that is soon to follow): I love that throughout their catalog, Nice & Smooth has never extended songs with useless verses or bridges, but consistently sticks to the format of one verse each, the hook in between the verses and then they get the hell outta Dodge (unless of course, they have a guest come through). When all the songs are short, even listening to the bad ones is easier to digest. Speaking of bad songs, Jewel of The Nilehas way too many of them. Maybe “bad” isn’t the right adjective, but when six or seven songs on an eleven track album sound like filler material, the results can’t be good, and definitely doesn’t earn you the right to title it Jewel of The Nile.

-Deedub

In 1992 the Atlanta-based teenage duo Kris Kross took the world by storm with their own unique swag and their monster hit single “Jump”, which helped catapult their debut album Totally Krossed Out to multi-platinum status. The mastermind behind the duo’s success was a young up and coming producer named Jermaine Dupri, who wrote and produced the entire album. The success of Totally Krossed Out opened the lane for Jermaine (who I’ll refer to as JD from this point on) to produce Kris Kross’ follow-up album and become a highly sought after writer/producer for other hip-hop and R&B acts. He would also seek out and sign more acts to his So So Def imprint, including the R&B group Xscape and a young female emcee from Chicago, and the subject of today’s post, Da Brat.

While Kris Kross came off as a cute innocent kid act, Da Brat (who looked like a kid but was twenty years old when her album dropped) came with a harder edgier gangsta persona that JD would help manufacture. With JD as her Geppetto, Pinocchio, I mean, Da Brat would release her debut album Funkdafied in the summer of ’94.

JD would handle all the production and write most of Da Brat’s rhymes on Funkdafied.
Despite the album’s mixed reviews, Funkdafied would earn Da Brat a platinum plaque, making her the first solo female rapper to accomplish this feat.

A few years ago I found a cd copy of Funkdafied at Cheapos for a buck and bought it on the strength of the title track which I liked back in the day. This is my first time listening to the album in it’s entirety…I think.

Random factoid: Da Brat is the lovely actress, Lisa Raye’s little sister.

Da Shit Ya Can’t Fuc Wit – After Da Brat pledges her allegiance to the funk, JD drops a hard backdrop that has a little “Deep Cover” feel to it, and he even sprinkles Dr. Dre’s signature synth sirens over the track. Da Brat introduces herself to the world, spitting two verses displaying her hard no-nonsense persona.

Fa All Y’all – This was Funkdafied‘s second single. JD digs back into his west coast bag of tricks and pulls out this funky instrumental for Da Brat to continue her heavily Snoop Dogg influenced flow. JD’s funk groove carries this to being a decent song.

Fire It Up – This song finds Da Brat rapping praises to marijuana (at the end of the song some random dude even pledges his allegiance to it) and talking random shit, and she sounds pretty convincing in the process. But the true star of this song is JD’s instrumental. I absolutely love his smooth backdrop, and the Boss vocal sample on the hook is a nice added touch. The content isn’t groundbreaking, but this song is pretty damn entertaining.

Celebration Time – Super short quiet storm jazz interlude that Da Brat and JD get lifted on. This bleeds into the next song…

Funkdafied – This title track was also the lead single. JD’s instrumental, as the liner notes read, “embodies a portion of “Between The Sheets””, which has to be one of the ten most sampled songs in hip-hop history. Da Brat and JD use it to pass the mic back and forth and “freak this duet just like Ashford and Simpson”. In my opinion, this song is a classic, and it has surprisingly aged well.

May Da Funk Be Wit ‘Cha – JD continues the laid back mood he set on the previous track with this smooth funked out mid-tempo groove, as Da Brat rides it almost flawlessly. Lyrically, she doesn’t cover any new ground, but she still entertains, regardless. LaTocha Scott from Xscape stops by to contribute the hook and adds a few adlibs. This isn’t my favorite song on Funkdafied, but it’s still solid.

Ain’t No Thang – Y-Tee, one half of Da Bush Babees (remember them?), joins Da Brat on this one, as he adds a little reggae flavor with his chant at the beginning of the song, setting the stage for our host to continue her relentless tough guy (or girl) shit talking. Y-Tee and Da Brat sound cool, but its clear that JD was intentionally going for a Dr. Dre feel with this instrumental, and it comes off extra cheesy.

Come And Get Some – Mac Daddy of Kris Kross (the dark skin one aka Chris Kelly…rest in peace) joins Da Brat as they swag out over JD’s funky instrumental built around a loop from Lenny Kravitz’ “Fear”. That’s all I got.

Mind Blowin’ – JD continues to bring the head noddin’ funk while our host attempts to blow your mind with her lyrics. Her rhymes aren’t mind blowin’, but they are mildly enjoyable.

Give It 2 You – JD hooks up a smooth backdrop with a dope Al Green like vocal loop sprinkled in to give the track a little touch of soul. Da Brat continues to display her polished flow, even though she trips up a bit with her lyrics (on the final verse she refers to herself as “the baddest new bitch in this hip-hop biz” and then in the very next bar calls herself an “O.G.”).  This was a great way to end Funkdafied, and is easily my favorite song on the album.

Ignorance is bliss. At face value, Funkdafied displays a confident emcee with a polished flow and a great voice bodying a batch of clean and quality JD produced instrumentals. But if you have eaten from the tree of knowledge and go beneath the surface, you’ll see JD trying to duplicate Dr. Dre’s G-funk brand of production and stealing Snoop’s flow, slang and mannerisms, only to force feed them to Da Brat to regurgitate. I think Da Brat is talented, and I will eventually track down the rest of her catalog to see if she ever found her footing as a true emcee. With all that said, Funkdafied is entertaining even if it’s not authentic.

-Deedub

In 1991 Terminator X released his solo debut album Terminator X & The Valley Of The Jeep Beets, which was a compilation album that featured Terminator X as the producer with his guests rapping over his beats (or beets). The album produced a couple of singles that made a little noise, but ultimately the album bombed, both critically and commercially (click on this link to read my thoughts on that album). But no worries, his label would still greenlight a follow-up, so in the summer of ’94 Terminator X returned releasing Super Bad.

Super Bad follows a similar format to The Valley Of The Jeep Beets, with TX providing the instrumentals (for the most part…he has a few special guests produce a few of the album’s songs) for his guests to rap over. Unlike TVOTJB which featured mostly new artists, Super Bad features new artists, current (at the time) artists, and old school artists (thus the “GodFathers Of Threatt” credit). Like its predecessor, Super Bad failed commercial and critically, and would be the last time a label trusted Terminator X with his own solo project.

I came across a CD copy of Super Bad a few months ago, and since it was only a couple of dollars, I recognized a few songs that I liked back in the day, and because I’m obsessive with collecting hip-hop artists complete discographies, I made the purchase. Let’s see if Super Bad fairs any better than it’s predecessor.

Terminator’s Back – Just your basic hip-hop album intro.

Kidds From The Terror – The first song of the evening features a group called Punk Barbarians, who’s gimmicky grimy style sounds a lot like Onyx and comes off super cheesy. Groovy Productions’ instrumental is decent, but not decent enough to give this song any replay value.

Godfather Promo – Quick interlude.

Sticka – The all-star cast of Chuck D, Ice-T, MC Lyte and Ice Cube join forces and each of them spit solid verses, while the Punk Barbarians are assigned hook duties. If only Chuck D’s plain Jane instrumental had more flare to it this might have been a dope song. As is, it’s just passable.

Money Promo – Interlude that sets up the next song…

It All Comes Down To The Money – I believe this was the lead single for Super Bad. The legendary trio, Whodini joins TX as they discuss that green stuff that everyone respects. Jalil and Ecstasy’s rhymes sound a bit dated by mid-nineties standards, but they actually work over the dope Terminator X/Larry Smith concocted backdrop. The song’s thick bouncy bass line is super addictive and Khadejia Bass completely bodies the hook and her adlibs at the end of the song.

Thumpin’s Goin On – The first Kool Herc interlude of the evening finds him discussing the old school, now school and the importance of unity.

Krunchtime – Our host introduces the world to a young Long Island emcee named Melquan with this one. TX hooks up some vintage dirty and dusty east coast boom-bap for Melquan to spit two quick verses on, and the dude can actually rap. This was a pretty dope record. I’d love to hear more from Melquan.

G’Damn Datt DJ Made My Day – This interlude has TX mixing it up with Grandmaster Flash, as they scratch up the record and Flash adds some additional commentary.

Stylewild ’94 – Our host brings the pioneering hip-hop groups, Cold Crush Brothers and The Fantastic Five together for this one, as they exchange verses over TX’s stripped down backdrop. By the way, am I the only one who didn’t know Grandmaster Caz (who in my opinion is arguably the greatest emcee of hip-hop’s first decade) became a part of the Cold Crush Brothers in their latter years? Must respect to The Cold Crush Brothers and The Fantastic Five for what they’ve contributed to hip-hop and their legacies, but by 1994 both groups were well past their prime, and you can hear it. It’s like watching Shaq play his last season as a Celtic with a garbage instrumental playing in the background.

Funky Piano – Another interlude that pretty much plays as it reads.

A Side Final Promo – For good measure, Terminator X throws in one more interlude to close out side A of Super Bad, if you’re listen to it on vinyl or cassette.

Make Room For Thunder – Side B of Super Bad starts with yet another Kool Herc interlude.

Scary-Us – Similar to the Gravediggaz, the Flatlinerz were a “horrorcore” hip-hop group in the nineties that actually released an album on Def Jam, titled U.S.A. (which is an acronym for Under Satan’s Authority…spooky) a few months after Super Bad. This is my first time hearing a Flatlinerz song. I wasn’t crazy about their rhymes, but the instrumental was decent.

Learn That Poem – Not sure what the purpose of this interlude was but, whatever.

Under The Sun – Remember Joe Sinistr? This was the song that seemed would launch his rap career. The song is decent and made mild noise, but the blatant borrowing of Redman’s style (even the Jam Master Jay co-produced backdrop screams Whut? Thee Album) was probably too much for the hip-hop community to swallow, hence the reason they spit him out and he vamoosed from the scene, forever.

1994 Street Muthafukkas Gong Show – The song starts off well with TX’s hard backdrop, but things quickly fall apart with sub par performances from a few uncredited guests. Then the song abruptly goes into an unwarranted skit, and things only get worst after that.

Don’t Even Go There – Remember the female duo Bonnie & Clyde from Valley Of The Jeep Beets “Homey Don’t Play Dat”? Well, our host decided to bring them back and feature them on this track. TX provides a decent instrumental and the ladies give passable performances, but the hook is embarrassingly bad.

Herc Yardman Word – More thoughts from hip-hop’s daddy.

Mashitup – I’ve never been a huge fan of reggae, and Prince Collin chanting over this dreadful (no pun intended) TX instrumental doesn’t change my stance. Someone should mash this shit up and throw it away, forever.

Say My Brother – This was a cute play off of the Hey Love classic soul compilation collection commercial that used to play late nights on BET in the eighties. “No my brother…you gots to get your own.”

Put Cha Thang Down – I hope this was a joke. TX creates a Miami bass instrumental for the Punk Barbarians to do their best 69 Boyz/95 South/Tag Team impersonation over, which is a drastic change from the Onyx energy they provided on “Kidds From The Terror”.  Whether serious or a joke, this shit was terrible.

Herc’s Message – Super Bad ends with Kool Herc sharing some parting thoughts on hip-hop and life. And we’re done.

On Super Bad Terminator X is able to cook up a couple of dope songs, but they quickly get buried in mediocrity, trash and way too many useless interludes (message: if your album has more interludes than actually songs, more than likely it’s not going to be a winner). While it was a cool gesture for TX to pay homage to some of hip-hop’s pioneers, I wish he could have found a way to use them in a more meaningful and entertaining way. Super Bad isn’t, super bad…it’s just mildly terrible.

-Deedub

By 1994 The Beatnuts had strongly established themselves as one of the best east coast production teams in hip-hop by producing tracks for several different artist (Common, Da Youngstas, Chi-Ali and Kurious just to name a few, and the list would only continue to grow). The trio of JuJu, Fashion and Psycho Les were so respected as producers that they were able to parlay their clout into a record deal with Violator Records, releasing their debut project Intoxicated Demons: The EP in the spring of 1993 (read my thoughts on that project here). The EP didn’t do major numbers, but it was well-received by the hip-hop community and set the stage for The Beatnuts first full-length album, Street Level, released the following year.

With the exception of two tracks, The Beatnuts would handle all the production duties for Street Level. What may come as a surprise to some is that the trio would handle all of the microphone duties with only two guests stopping by to contribute cameos. Like their debut EP, Street Levelreceived favorable review with only modest album sells.

But forget sells, it’s all about the Street Levelreaction. Right?

Intro – The Nuts kick Street Leveloff with a hard backdrop that ends just in time not to get annoying.

Ya Don’t Stop – Lucien (yes, the same Lucien that ATCQ’s “Luck Of Lucien” was written about…Tribe Degrees of Separation: check) hooks up a dope xylophone loop and builds this ill dark instrumental around it. Each of the trio spit a verse and manage not to embarrass themselves, but you’ll definitely enjoy the backdrop.

Props Over Here – This was the lead single from Street Level. The trio lay down a smooth groove with a dope bass line underneath it, as each of them spit a verse. JuJu, who is easily the best rapper out of the three, outshines his buddies and sounds comfortable spitting over the mid-tempo backdrop. Despite the lazy hook, this song still sounds great 25 years later.

Hellraiser – The Nuts hook up a (no pun intended) fire instrumental for this one. Again, you don’t listen to a Beatnuts’ album for their stellar lyricism, you listen to it for stellar instrumentals, like this one. As the song fades out the instrumental for the original version of this song plays (you can easily find that version on the web or streaming sites). I actually like the subdued vibe of the O.G. version, but they made the right decision putting this version on the proper album.

Are You Ready – Can I get a question mark for the song title, please? Anyways…Grand Puba stops by and joins JuJu and Les on the mic as they each spit a verse, and Puba easily out performs his gracious hosts. Unfortunately, the V.I.C. produced instrumental is too boring to waste a Grand Puba verse on.

Superbad – Well, I wouldn’t say it’s super bad, but it was mildly unenjoyable.

Straight Jacket – The Nuts beautiful instrumental sounds like a little taste of heaven, and the Ol’ Dirty Bastard vocal sample on the hook was a nice added touch.

Let Off A Couple – The fellas lay down an extremely pretty instrumental and do exactly what the song title suggests on the mic. As usual, JuJu outshines his intoxicated companions, but the instrumental is the true star of this one.

Rik’s Joint – This is my favorite song on Street Level. Fashion and Juju each spit verses and don’t say anything worth quoting, but every time I hear this smooth instrumental it touches my soul and feels so damn good.

Fried Chicken – I love fried chicken (living up to stereotype), but this batch could stand to cook in the oven a little longer.

Yeah You Get Props – Not to be confused with “Props Over Here”, even though it does recycle a part of that song’s hook for the hook on this song. This is clearly filler material (which really isn’t necessary for a 17 track album), but it’s still decent.

Get Funky – The Nuts steer the ship back in the right direction with this one. They build the smooth instrumental around a laid back funky guitar loop, and like most of Street Level, they spew nonsense over it.

Hit Me With That – This shit is hard. The Nuts hook-up rough drums, lay a thick bass line and sprinkle the illest xylophone loop I’ve ever heard (at least this week) over it. This one is super sick.

2-3 Break – A la Gang Starr’s “I’m The Man” and “Speak Ya Clout”, The Beatnuts hook-up three different instrumentals and each take one of them to spit a verse over (with JuJu being the generous guy and sharing his verse with Gab from Triflicts). But unlike Guru, Jeru, and Lil’ Dap, The Beatnuts (and Gab) fail to delivery, lyrical or musically.

Lick The Pussy – Fashion goes dolo and speaks about one of his favorite pastimes. Props to Fashion, as most rappers in the pseudo masculine hardcore hip-hop world that was the mid-nineties would never admit to taking part in this sexual delicacy. But even more tasty is the Nuts instrumental, which is built around a sexy loop from Tyrone Davis’ “In The Mood” (which was also the source material for MC Eiht’s “All For The Money”, released later the same year…but I digress). Listening to this was almost as enjoyable as…eating pussy.

Sandwiches – This is Psycho Les’ solo joint. Over an instrumental that sounds a lot like something Muggs would have created, Les spits one lone verse filled with complete and utter nonsense (at one point he brags about having an “ostrich size dick”). This was super juvenile and pointless.

Psycho Dwarf – This was also included on the Intoxicated Demons EP, and it sounds just as trash as it did the first time around.

On Street LevelThe Beatnuts give you exactly what you expect from them: Passable rhymes over a quality batch of beats. Like most albums, there are a handful of tracks that should have been left on the cutting room, but the majority of Street Levelwill keep your face screwed and your head bobbin’.

-Deedub

Arrested Development came on the scene in 1992 and made a huge impact with their debut album 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of… which sold over 4 million copies, produced a few major pop hits and earned the group a pair of Grammy (you can read my thoughts on that album here). With all of the accolades and commercial success that 3 Years garnered, the hard to impress and always suspicious hip-hop community didn’t fully embrace AD, as they were perceived as soft rap hippy weirdos, similar to how A Tribe Called Quest was received when they first hit the scene (Tribe Degrees of Separation: Check!). Regardless of what the heads felt, 4 million units sold pretty much guaranteed Chrysalis Records would give them a follow-up. Arrested Development would return in 1994 with their sophomore effort, Zingalamaduni.

Zingalamaduni, which means “a beehive of culture” in Swahili, would follow the same format as 3 Years, with Speech producing, rapping and singing for the entire album while the rest of the team stood by and watched (j/k). Unlike it predecessor, Zingalamaduniwasn’t a commercial success, as it didn’t even reach gold status, and of course the heads weren’t checking for it.

I’ve never listened to Zingalamaduni in its entirety. Lets give her a few spins and see if the album is as bad as its sells reflected.

WMFW (We Must Fight & Win) FM – Zingalamaduni opens with Baba Oje (the old grey haired/bearded grandfather like gentleman in the group) playing the DJ for the fictitious FM radio station WMFW (see the acronym in the song title), which apparently only plays conscious music. This also doubles as a short intro to the album.

United Minds – Over African tribal drums and chant and emotional keyboard chords, Speech calls for all races to become like-minded so we can collectively make change in the world. He also sprinkles some jewels into his verses along the way (“I try to eat healthy to avoid the cancer, one ounce of prevention beats 100 pounds of cure, pure ways of living is not hippish, it’s not white, not black its just conscious, conscious of your health, conscious of your self, instead of being so damn conscious of your wealth”). Nice way to kick things off.

Ache’n For Acres – Speech speaks (no pun intended) on the importance of owing land which can be passed down from generation to generation, thus creating generational wealth. He raps: “ache’n for acres, plenty of acres, money spent on rent ain’t earning me a cent, Ain’t gettin’ no caddy, no Benz, no Jeep, until I got some money for some land to keep”. Speech and company’s uptempo backdrop has a twangy slightly drunken feel to it that actually works. This is a song I wouldn’t have appreciated in my teens, but definitely respect the message as a full-grown man.

United Front – This one pretty much follows the same theme as “United Front”, only with a more Afrocentric focus, as Speech ends each of his verses shouting out “the red, and the black, and the green”. I didn’t care for Speech’s singy delivery or the music backing him on this one.

Africa’s Inside Me – According to Wikipedia, this was the second single released from Zingalamaduni, although I don’t remember it from back in the day. Speech and company hook up a melodic mid-tempo backdrop that samples the same Joe Sample record (sample of Sample…funny) that would later be used as the musical foundation for 2pac’s classic record “Dear Mama”. Speech and Fulani from a group called Gumbo (and even though I’ve never heard of him or the group, Gumbo is an ill ass group name) take turns spittin’ verses about the African spirit that still lives inside of all of its descendants, no matter how much we African-Americans try to deny or suppress it. Good message, and a great song.

Pride – The African tribal singing and drums set the mood for this one, which continues the African pride theme from the previous song. The message was redundant and I didn’t care for Speech’s delivery of the message, either.

Shell – This song has a great message (“Just a shell, until you decide to rebel”), but Speech’s rhyming, the annoyingly repetitive hook and the underwhelming musical backing quickly bury it.

Mister Landlord –  Speech sounds as militant as I’ve ever heard him on this one, as he warns the white man that he won’t standby and passively watch him mistreat black people: “Just to bring peace, do I have to get a piece? And in the break of dawn I guess I’ll pray to the east, Cause I’m not the one to get slapped on the cheek, without my fist curling up to hit you back in your teeth”. I like Speech’s unexpected strong stance, and he and his team’s folk meets hip-hop instrumental was dope.

Warm Sentiments – This song would have had all of feminist Twitter’s panties in a bunch and hanging Speech in a cyber lynching had it been released today. The story line is Speech’s lady decides to get an abortion without his blessing and he spends the entire song politely, reprimanding her for her actions. I personally like Speech’s male perspective on the sensitive topic, and the soulful instrumental is enjoyable as well. Let me know how ya’ll feel about the song in the comments.

The Drum – Short instrumental interlude that pays homage to the foundation of every song…well, at least 99 percent of them.

In The Sunshine – Over quality live instrumentation, Speech sings about a life free of corruption and strife. This kind of sounds like something Bob Marley would have written if he were still alive and recording music today, or in 1994 (Speech’s adlibs on this song actually sound a lot like Bob Marley’s). Not my favorite song on the album, but it’s decent.

Kneelin’ At My Altar – Over a sick uptempo instrumental (I absolutely love the horn loop laced throughout the song) Speech stresses the importance of prayer in order to keep his peace and get him through the challenges of every day life. This was a pretty dope record.

Fountain Of Youth – Speech’s rhymes are too abstract for my taste buds, but I like the big zany horn loop laced throughout the solid instrumental.

Ease My Mind – This was the lead single and the only song I was familiar with before going into this post. Over a beautifully melodic instrumental, Speech addresses the importance of taking time to maintain your inner peace while living in this crazy world. This was dope, and it sounds way better than in did back in ’94. Give it a few spins and let me know if you agree.

Praisin’ U – Speech and company close out Zingalamaduni with this gospel-like joint that has Speech singing praises to God over some pleasant instrumentation. Nice way to end the evening.

Zingalamaduni has a lot more African pride and black upliftment themes than its predecessor (even the Swahili album title is testament to that), which may have scared some of Arrested Development’s white supporters away. That and the fact it doesn’t have any undeniable bangers or big crossover pop hits are probably what caused the dismal album sells. But in my opinion, Zingalamaduni is a stronger project than 3 Years. Speech and company string together a batch of their own unique brand of instrumentals that Speech uses to enlighten the listener through meaty messages. A few of his messages get lost in poor delivery, overly abstract rhymes or mediocre production, but more often than not, he does a solid job behind the mic and the boards. Zingalamaduni is far from a classic, but it’s a solid album that’s aged well.

-Deedub

The world first heard of Warren G from his guest appearance on Mista Grimm’s “Indo Smoke” from the Poetic Justice Soundtrack. But before he got his break with Grimm, Warren was grindin’ in Long Beach and the surrounding area trying to get into the game with his group 213, which consisted of himself, Nate Dogg (rip) and Snoop Dogg. In fact, Warren G (who is Dr. Dre’s step brother) is responsible for introducing Snoop to Dre, and we all know how monumental that introduction was to hip-hop. Snoop would soon ascend to hip-hop’s pinnacle in the early nineties as a solo artist, leaving Nate and Warren left to fin for themselves (even though Snoop did throw them a bone (no pun intended), with Nate getting a chance to croon on The Chronic’s “Deeez Nuuuts” and he and Warren would both get an invite to get on the misogynistic classic “It Ain’t No Fun”). No worries, as they would both land on their feet, with Nate signing with Elektra and Warren inking a deal with Violator Records, where he would release his debut album, Regulate…G Funk Era.

With the help of a handful of musicians, Warren G would follow in his big brother’s foot steps and produce the entirety of Regulate, inviting some new artist to help carry the weight on the microphone. Thanks in large part to the monster lead single, Regulate would go on to earn Warren G a platinum plaque, selling over 3 million copies, and receive critical acclaim from the critics.

Lets revisit Regulate and see how it’s held up over the past twenty-five years.

Regulate – This title track and lead single was also the lead single for the Above The Rim Soundtrack. Warren G and company (which is Greg Geitzenauer on keyboards and Andreas Straub on guitar) hook up an interpolation of Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin (Every Time You’re Near)”, as Warren G and his 213 bredrin Nate Dogg rap and sing a tale, respectively, about a night (with “a clear black night” and “a clear white moon”) where a mission to “consume skirts” takes a turn for the worst. It’s clear from the jump that Warren G is not a great lyricist, but Nate Dogg does prove to be a dope vocalist, as he completely bodies the dope instrumental work. If you don’t agree that this is a classic record, than you’re a buster and worthy of some regulating.

Do You See – This was the third and final single released from Regulate. Warren and company lay out a clean laid back instrumental that our host uses to discuss his childhood and coming into the game with his 213 click (back when Snoop Dogg was going by Snoop Rock, according to Warren). Warren’s corny rhymes quickly become a reoccurring theme, but the smooth sounds of the Warren G/Geitzenauer/Straub concocted backdrop, along with the catchy hook (which is just as corny as it is catchy) will make you overlook just how bad our host’s rhymes are.

Gangsta Sermon – A juvenile interlude with B-Tip (not to be confused with A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip…you like how I snuck that Tribe Degrees of Separation in there?) and the late comedian Ricky Harris. This definitely hasn’t aged well.

Recognize – Over some smooth G-Funked instrumentation, Warren introduces the world to The Twinz, Tripp Loc and Wayniac, who are actually twin brothers. Our host and The Twinz each spit a verse, and while Warren struggles (the man rhymes “era” with “era”) The Twinz actually sound decent. But the true star of this one is the smooth groove laid behind them.

Super Soul Sis – Our host introduces yet another new artist. This time female emcee Jah-Skilz goes dolo over a very average instrumental. Jah-Skilz is not as lyrical or charismatic as say, a Lady of Rage, but she does a serviceable job on this one. Her line about “Rapper’s skills are thinner than niggas on AIDS” was kind of comical…only because I’ve never heard anyone reference AIDS as something you’re “on”.

’94 Ho Draft – See comments from “Gangsta Sermon”.

So Many Ways – Warren G and Wayniac from The Twinz, spill rhymes over this crispy clean smooth groove, while Lady Levi (whom you may remember for her opening reggae chant on The Chronic’s “Let Me Ride”) adds some adlibs and takes care of the hook. I absolutely love the fuzzy bass line on this instrumental. Every time I hear this song it makes me want to roller skate or front like I’m rollin’ through the streets of LA in a drop top ’64.

This D.J. – This was the second single released from Regulate. Before Lil’ Duval was  “Living My Best Life”, there was Warren G’s “This DJ”, which uses an interpolation of the same Midnight Star sample used on the former (which was actually first used a few years prior on the severely underrated Eric B & Rakim record “What’s On Your Mind” off the Don’t Sweat The Technique album and included on the House Party 2 Soundtrack…but I digress). Our host uses the slick and polished production to reminisce about his childhood growing up in Long Beach, California. Despite Warren’s underwhelming rhymes, the instrumental and catchy hook propelled this to become a classic record.

This Is The Shack – Warren G continues his Regulatecrew roll out plan. This time he lets the three-man team (Bo Rock, 2Scoops and C-Knight) collectively known as The Dove Shack, shine, or at least attempt to. Each of them spit underwhelming verses, but fear not: Warren G and his cast of live musicians (Sean Thomas on keyboards, Andreas Straub on guitar, Daniel Shulman on bass and Carl Small on percussion) put their collective foot in this instrumental and cook up some shit that will satisfy your soul, making you forget all about the forgettable emceeing from The Dove Shack.

What’s Next – Mr. Malik, formerly of the Philly based kid duo Illegal, jumps on this track and raps next to his gracious host. I wasn’t a fan of Mr. Malik’s rhymes when he was with Illegal or what he did with Snoop on Doggystyle’s “Pump Pump”, but he actually rides this slick Warren G and company produced backdrop pretty effectively. Or maybe when you’re rapping next to a man who rhymes “function” with “function”, makes corny train sound effectives in the middle of his rhymes and spells “next” wrong at the beginning of his final verse, you sound better than you truly are.

And Ya Don’t Stop – Warren builds this instrumental around a dope guitar loop taken from Don Julian’s “Janitzio” and turns it into a slick instrumental. Unfortunately, his elementary rhymes detract from the song’s dopeness. It would have been nice to see his former 213 bredrin Snoop Dogg spit on this one, but whatever.

Runnin’ Wit No Breaks – Regulateends with Greg G playing some infectious piano keys over a mid-tempo drum beat that Jah-Skilz, Warren G, Tripp Loc and Wayniac use to each spit a verse over. None of the parties involved embarrass themselves on the mic (with Warren being the exception), but no one sounds spectacular, either. But like most of the album, the instrumental work covers up the emcees’ transgressions.

Let me start by saying Warren G is a terrible rapper. But the dude has a great ear for music. Over the course of fourteen tracks (with two being interludes), Warren spits severely famished rhymes, while his crew of D-list emcees come through as serviceable at best. But Warren and his cast of musicians serve up a batch of polished G-Funk instrumentation that will keep your head bobbin, your ear satisfied and a willingness to overlook all that he and his team lack on the mic. If The Chronic was the main course of your G-Funk meal, Doggystyle would be the dessert and Regulate…G Funk Era would serve as the perfect appetizer.

-Deedub

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Since hip-hop’s conception, Brooklyn has produced a slew of dope emcees: Masta Ace, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Joell Ortiz, MC Lyte, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, to arguably three of the greatest emcees of all time, in Big Daddy Kane, Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z. Another dope Brooklyn bred emcee who I feel has never got his proper do is the subject of today’s post: Jeru The Damaja.

The first time I heard Jeru The Damaja was in 1992 on the Gang Starr cipher joint “I’m The Man” where he stole the show from his fellow crew members Lil Dap and Guru. After that verse it was only a matter of time before the self-proclaimed Perverted Monk would get a solo deal. He would sign to Payday Records and in 1994 released his debut album The Sun Rises In The East.

The Sun Rises In The East would be completely produced by DJ Premier and only feature one cameo, leaving the rest of the microphone duties to Jeru. The album wasn’t a huge commercial success, but it did garner heaps of praise from the critics and real heads alike, and it’s an album that I’ve held in high regards through the years.

Let’s listen and see if it lives up to all of its nostalgia.

Intro (Life) – TSRITE opens with a mystical feeling instrumental playing in the background while Jeru briefly shares his theory on life. That’s all I got.

D. Original – This was the follow-up single to “Come Clean”. Premo lays a drunken piano loop over a rough drum pattern, as our host uses it to represent all of his dirty rotten scoundrelness. It’s a decent song, but one of my least favorites on the album.

Brooklyn Took It – Jeru uses this one to represent for his Brooklyn borough. I have no idea who or what the hell Premo sampled for this instrumental, but the way he loops it and sprinkles the shit over these dope drums and ill bass line is ridiculous.

Perverted Monks In The House (Skit) – Jeru’s talkin’ his shit on this one. Over a smooth mid-tempo groove he lets the world know that he’s willing, ready and able to destroy any would be challengers who want to bring it. “Any man…any man…no matter who he be…who he be”. This skit sets up the next song.

Mental Stamina – Jeru’s Perverted Monk bredrin, Afu-Ra makes the only cameo appearance on TSRITE, as he teams up with our host and they commence to beat the shit out of the comp with their “scientifical power” and big words: “Feudalistic linguistic, check out the mystic, we’re fantistic, (ya mean fantastic) fuck it, you get your ass kicked, challenge my verbal gymnastic”. Jeru and Afu aren’t Nas and AZ on “Life’s A Bitch”, but they sound solid. Premo’s bananas instrumental is the true star of this one, though. I can’t even describe its dopeness in words. If you’ve never heard it before, go listen to this shit, immediately.

Da Bichez – TSRITE takes the intensity down a few notches from the previous track, as Premo lays out a smooth groove for Jeru to address the gold digging chicks only looking to use and abuse a man for their own personal gain: “Now a queen’s a queen, and a stunt is a stunt, you can tell who’s who by the things they want, most chicks want minks, diamonds a Benz, spend up all your ins, probably fuck your friends, high post attitudes real rude with fat asses, think that the pussy is made out of gold, try to control you by sliding up and down on the wood, they be givin’ up sex for goods”. This is a great well-executed record.

You Can’t Stop The Prophet – This is easily my least favorite song on TSRITE. Jeru shares his tale of being a conscious black super hero named “The Black Prophet” who’s waging war against his arch nemesis Mr. Ignorance and his band of vigilantes: Hatred, Jealously, Envy, Anger, Despair, Animosity and Mr. Ignorance’s wife, Deceit. Jeru’s story line is pretty clever and well laid out, but Premo’s instrumental is boring and makes it hard to follow (or care about). Side note: The Pete Rock remix for this song is fire!

Perverted Monks In Tha House (Theme) – Premo lets the same instrumental from the previous skit, rock (hence the same title), which works out to be a nice little album intermission.

Ain’t The Devil Happy – Premo creates a dark backdrop that’s drenched in seriousness and urgency and serves as the perfect canvas for Jeru to deliver his sermon over (and the Rza vocal loop on the hook is super ill). Jeru calls out the black man for falling into the traps the white man, aka the devil, has laid out for him in America: “Devil got brother killin’ brother, its insane, going out like Abel and Cane, wising up and use your brain, they’ll be no limit to the things that you can gain”. Our host delivers his message as more of a spoken word piece than an actual rap, but it’s still potent. This song has aged very well.

My Mind Spray – Next to James Brown’s catalog, Bob James’ “Nautilus” may be the most sampled song in hip-hop history. I’ve heard some amazing flips of the record (I mean, it’s probably hard to mess up such a dope break, but still), but Premo’s flippage of the loop on this song is completely bananas. Jeru takes his unorthodox flow and tiptoes over the brilliant backdrop, flawlessly. This is definitely one of the strongest songs on TSRITE.

Come Clean – Jeru concludes the third piece of arguably the dopest three-piece combo in the history of hip-hop albums with his classic debut single. Premo lays down some heavy drums placed over a loop of what sounds likes tribal African drums, and our host completely destroys it with his “freaky freaky flow”: “Real, rough and rugged, shine like a gold nugget, every time I pick up the microphone I drug it, unplug it on chumps with the gangster babble, leave your nines at home and bring your skills to the battle”. This is an undeniable hip-hop classic, and Premo’s instrumental is arguably a top ten in hip-hop history.

Jungle Music – Our host uses this one to address how the white man has stolen and abused every form of black created music throughout history: “We went from pyramids to the ghetto, still my sounds make devils tumble like the wall of Jericho, chant my power to devour all the snakes and rats, extra sensory possession to avoid all traps, make a joyful noise unto the Lord, in the sanctuary of your caves white kids press record, as my mystic music spreads from sea to galaxy, its inevitable you can’t stop me, try to carbon copy, but it always comes out sloppy, you can’t out rap me you can’t out rock me”. This is a solid song with a lot of lyrical meat to chew on. I probably enjoyed Jeru’s rhymes more than Premo’s instrumental.

Statik – The final song of the evening finds Jeru talking shit over a Premo instrumental built around a drum beat, a bouncy bass line and a loop of what sound like the static from a record player. Not the strongest song on TSRITE, but its a solid way to wrap things up.

On The Sun Rises In The East Jeru proves to be a formidable emcee with a proper balance of consciousness, righteousness, intellect and enough lyrical Kung-Fu to kick most competition’s ass. As usual, Premo provides a quality batch of instrumentals for our host, sprinkling in a few brilliant moments along the way. My only gripe with TSRITE is the low quality mixing. A tighter mix could have made some elements stand out more, turning good records into great records and great records into phenomenal ones. In a nutshell, The Sun Rises In The East is a borderline classic album in need of a mean remastering.

-Deedub

We last heard from Heavy D & The Boyz in 1993 with their gold selling fourth release Blue Funk, which also happens to be my favorite Heavy D album. As the title suggest, Blue Funk found Heavy D and dem trying to move forward but still in a mourning state over their fallen dancing comrade Trouble T-Roy. Hev and the crew would return in ’94 in better spirits, releasing their 5th album, Nuttin’ But Love.

Nuttin’ But Love would be the final project for Heavy D & The Boyz as a group (Hev would continue releasing music as a solo artist, which is pretty much what he was doing with “The Boyz” anyways), and as the title suggests, most of the themes would be centered around love, which if you’re remotely familiar with Heavy D’s catalog, you know that falls right into his wheelhouse. Hev would call on familiar faces to produce the album: his cousin Pete Rock, Eddie F, Marley Marl, Teddy Riley and a few other special guests. Nuttin’ But Love would go one to become Heavy D & The Boyz most successful commercial album, earning the trio another platinum plaque, selling two million plus units.

I’ve never listened to Nuttin’ But Love in its entirety before today. Let’s walk through it and see if my feelings towards the album match up to the album’s title.

Friends & Respect – Nuttin’ But Love opens with a nice warm and mellow instrumental playing, while several of Heavy’s friends, from Queen Latifah to Q-Tip (I got my Tribe Degrees of Separation in!), LL, Treach, Kool G Rap, KRS-One, MC Lyte, Spike Lee and several more, stop by to drop a line showing love and respect for the Overweight Lover. This is a very heartfelt and touching piece, that’s even more intensified now that he’s gone.

Sex Wit You – The first actual song of the evening (which was also the fourth single released from the album) finds Heavy’s cousin Pete Rock jacking the same Whatnauts loop that De La Soul used for their classic “Ring Ring Ring” record, but of course the Chocolate Boy Wonder adds his signature horns to it. Heavy Dwight stays true to his lover boy persona, as he spits game to a potential love prospect. I love PR’s production work on this one, and Hev accommodates the track, perfectly.

Got Me Waiting – This was the third single from Nuttin’ But Love. This time around Heavy’s trying to figure out if a certain lady is really trying to be with him or just leading him on. Before reading the liner notes I had no idea that Pete Rock produced this one, as it doesn’t sound like his normal steez. It’s got a strong R&B presence (which is probably more so do to Crystal Johnson’s singing during the hook), but it’s still a dope hip-hop instrumental and Heavy sounds smooth spittin’ over it.

Nuttin’ Nut Love – This title track was also the second single released from the album, and I’ll admit I never liked it back in the day. The Heavy D/Kid Capri concocted instrumental is way too synthy for my taste buds and it just plain sounds corny. To add insult to injury, Heavy’s rhymes are all over the place, bordering on senseless. Well, at least the hook is catchy.

Something Goin’ On – Marley Marl gets his first of two production credits on Nuttin’ But Love, building this instrumental around a loop from Tonya Gardner’s “Heartbeat”, that most will recognize as the musical foundation for Ini Kamoze’s Hotstepper”. Hev uses it to reflect on the good woman in his life that left him because he wasn’t treating her right. Kudos to our host for being vulnerable and still managing to keep the song light-hearted. This was pretty dope.

This Is Your Night – The legendary creator of New Jack Swing, Teddy Riley gets his only production credit on Nuttin’ But Love, building this breezy backdrop around elements of George Benson’s “Give Me The Night”. Unfortunately, Heavy struggles to keep up with the track’s pace and never finds his footing, but I still enjoyed Teddy Riley’s instrumental, and completely understand if it’s too commercial sounding to my hardcore hip-hop folks.

Got Me Waiting (Remix) – Heavy taps Alton “Wookie” Stewart to produce this remix, and he drenches the track heavily in R&B seasoning. The 90’s R&B group Silk stops by to sing the hook while Heavy regurgitates his rhymes from the O.G. version. I’m not crazy about this song, but it definitely fits Hev’s R&B lover boy emcee persona.

Take Your Time – Erick Sermon steps out of his traditional funk realm and lays down a smooth instrumental built around a loop from Patrice Rushen’s “Take Your Time” (which happens to be one of my favorite hip-hop loops), and the lovely Vinia Mojica (whose voice you might recognize from De La Soul’s “A Roller Skating Jam Named “Saturdays”” or ATCQ’s “Verses From The Abstract” (Bam! There’s another Tribes Degrees of Separation for dat ass!), or Black Star’s “K.O.S. (Determination)”, just to name a few) stops by to sing the hook. Hev leaves the ladies alone on this one and spits light-hearted freestyle rhymes. This is easily one of my favorite songs on the album.

Spend A Little Time On Top – Heavy brags about his freakiness while some brave young ladies ask the Overweight Lover to spend some time on top of them during the hook. Marley Marl completely butchers the classic Sylvers “Misdemeanor” loop (see The D.O.C.’s “Funky Enough” and Gang Starr’s “Soliloquy of Chaos”) that he builds this terrible instrumental around. This was horrendous.

Keep It Goin’– Heavy D and Troy “Druppy Dog” Williams get co-production credit for this smooth jazz-tinged groove that our host uses to get loose over and demonstrate how nimble his tongue is. This was pretty dope.

Black Coffee – This was the lead single from Nuttin’ But Love. I’ve probably said it once or twice before on this blog, but Easy Moe Bee is an extremely underrated producer. He lays down this silky smooth instrumental that Heavy uses to rap praises and express is commitment to the black woman. This record actually sounds better today than it did twenty-five years ago.

Move On – On this one Hev stresses that no matter what life throws at you, you gotta keep your head up and keep it movin’. Tone (half of the often overlooked and under-credited production duo, Trackmaster or sometimes spelled Trak Masterz) gets credit for the soulful mid-tempo groove built around a loop from Diana Ross’ “Love Hangover”. Side note: Hev previously rapped over this loop on the Marley Marl produced track “The Lover’s Got What You Need” off the Peaceful Journey album. I like what Marley did with it, but Tone’s flippage of the loop mixed with Heavy’s content makes for a stronger song. Another side note: Vinia Mojica gets her fourth and final vocal credit of Nuttin’ But Love, as she and Maurice Lauchner handle the hook and adlibs. All in all, this was a pretty dope song.

Lord’s Prayer – Nuttin’ But Love ends with Heavy’s nephews saying the Lord’s Prayer while Soul For Real (remember those guys?) sings behind them. And this concludes the catalog of Heavy D & The Boyz.

I mentioned earlier that Blue Funk is my favorite Heavy D album, mainly do to the fact that it’s the purist hip-hop album in his catalog, but after living with Nuttin’ But Love for the past few weeks, pound for pound, it may be a better album than its predecessor. There are a few missteps (mainly “Spend A Little Time On Top”), but overall, the team of decorated producers recruited to create the soundscape for Nuttin’ But Love do a great job, and Heavy spits over the batch of bomb backdrops with charisma and confidence. There are several emcees who have a better flow and stronger bars than Heavy D, but only a few have been better at consistently crafting commercially successful albums that are equally quality and entertaining than the Overweight Lover.

-Deedub

New York is the mecca of hip-hop music and culture. Originating in the Bronx (1520 Sedgwick Ave to be exact…shoutout to Kool Herc!) in the seventies, it would soon blossom and blow up in the other four New York City boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island) and Long Island, birthing several hip-hop legends and classic records. Before going west to California and becoming a universal phenomenon, hip-hop would also spread to other east coast cities and states (i.e. Philly and New Jersey), but it’s safe to say only one emcee has ever repped for White Plains, NY on a national level. Ladies and gentlemen, Top Quality.

Top Quality was a featured artist in The Source‘s once coveted Unsigned Hype column back in April of 1991. The column praised the White Plains emcee for being “faster than The Jaz (as in Jay-Z’s mentor, Jaz-O) when it comes to speed rhymes.” Thanks to the exposure from The Source and a copy of his demo getting into the hands of Parrish Smith (one half of the legendary duo EPMD), Top Quality would sign to Parrish’s PMD imprint  under RCA Records where he would release his debut album, presumptuously titled Magnum Opus.

Parrish Smith served as the executive producer for Magnum Opus, but surprisingly he doesn’t produce any of the album’s tracks. Instead, Top Quality would rely on a handful of producers to craft the soundscape for the album. Magnum Opus would produce one minor hit, but I doubt you can find three people who actually own a copy of the album.

Well, you found one in me.

Messages From Uptown – Magnum Opus begins with a hard backdrop that some how makes the pretty sample from The Emotions’ “Blind Alley” (which has been used in quite a few different hip-hop songs over the years: see Big Daddy Kane’s “Ain’t No Half-Steppin'” and Wreckx-N-Effect’s “Rump Shaker”) sound dark. Top Quality puts his underwhelming choppy flow and random lyrics on display and manages not to distract from the illness of Hell Raisin’s instrumental.

Someone So Fly – Top Quality uses no less than four different rapping voices on this song, spittin’ a portion of his rhymes in Pig-Latin, and still manages to say absolutely nothing. Khaalia Allah’s instrumental isn’t spectacular, but it will grow on you after a few listens.

Caught Up In The Flizny – Everything about this song is rashtay.

Magnum Opus – This title track was the only song that I was familiar with before this post. Keivan Mack builds a beautiful instrumental around a smooth loop from a Roy Ayers/Wayne Henderson record, and TQ plays it pretty straight with the rhymes, for most of the song. This song never really took off back in the day, but the instrumental sounds even better today than it did twenty-five years ago.

Check The Credentials – Black Zone (which is an ill ass hip-hop moniker) hooks up an instrumental that sounds like an incomplete EPMD idea, while are host talks trash, nonsense and goes on a short Pig-Latin rant during the middle of the song. Next…

What – Jesse West, who was going by his alter-ego, 3rd Eye at this point, gets the production credit and contributes a verse to the song. 3rd Eye (who manages to uses “nigga” nine times in a sixteen bar verse, which is a bit excessive) sounds a lot more grimy and animated than the smooth and conscious Jesse West from No Prisoners (read my thought on that album here), and even though his rhymes are sub par, his grimy persona fits his dark and gutter production work well. TQ bats second and for the first time of the evening he refers to his weirdo abstract rhyming style as that “Helen Keller shit”, which I find hi-larious, but I’m sure if this album came out in today’s super-sensitive society he’d get murdered by the court of public opinion, forcing RCA to shelve the project or at least pull this song from the album (Google Helen Keller if you’re not familiar with who she is). But I digress. All in all, this was pretty enjoyable.

You Gotta Check It – As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m not crazy about Top Quality’s flow or rhyming style, but he actually rides this sick Charlie Marotta produced instrumental, beautifully, leaving his swag dripping all over it. This is dope.

Something New – I didn’t care much for this one.

I Can’t Hear You – Long time Das EFX production duo, Solid Scheme get their only production credit on Magnum Opus, and they make sure it counts. They hook up this slightly dark mid-tempo groove for our host, who continues to spew his Helen Keller shit. TQ doesn’t say anything memorable, but the hook is catchy and the instrumental is dope.

Graveyard Shift – Over a boring Charlie Marotta instrumental our host discusses being mistaken for a drug dealer by both crackheads and cops when he hangs out on the block in the wee hours of the night drinking and smoking weed. Hey, I have an easy solution for that problem: keep your ass off the block at night and get drunk and high at the crib!

U Know My Name – The final song of the evening finds TQ reppin’ for his hometown, talkin’ his shit, and random other shit. Like the rest of the album, Top Quality’s rhymes and flow are all over the place, but Jesse West’s dark and smooth instrumental comes with a bass line similar to how I like my women: nice and thick.

I’m curious what the demo sounded like that made Parrish Smith want to sign Top Quality to a deal, because I’ve been living with Magnum Opus for the past few weeks and I don’t get him. His self-proclaimed “Helen Keller shit” has the White Plains bred emcee rhyming in Pig-Latin and going on random Tourette like fits throughout the album, and his antics feel forced and gimmicky. On the flip side, the handful of producers recruited to shape the sound of Magnum Opus do a solid job handcrafting a batch of quality hip-hop instrumentals, for the most part. It’s too bad TQ didn’t make the most of them. Needless to say, Top Quality doesn’t live up to his moniker, nor does the album to its haughty title.

-Deedub