Time Is Illmatic

If you read this blog faithfully then you are already fully aware that I believe the UMC’s debut album Fruits of Nature is severely underrated (and if you didn’t you know now; but you can read my full thoughts about Fruits of Nature by clicking here). Even with two pretty well received singles, the album didn’t move a ton of units and most hip-hop heads didn’t know what to think of the Staten Island duo’s everyday Joe persona. If nobody else believed in the UMC’s, their label Wild Pitch did, as they would return two years later to release their follow-up album, Unleashed.

Haas G and RNS (a Staten Island producer who would go on to produce tracks for some of the Wu-Tang Clan affiliates) handled all the production work on Fruits of Nature, but this time around Haas and Kool Kim would keep the production work in-house and are both credited for the entirety of Unleashed‘s production. The album would go on to make even less noise than it’s predecessor, as it would produce no hot singles, nor would it sell enough copies to even earn a wood plaque, thus marking the end to the short-lived era of the UMC’s (Kool Kim would reinvent himself in the early 2000’s as the solo hardcore/conscious emcee, NYOIL, but that was short-lived as well).

I’m not sure if Unleashed‘s failure was do to poor marketing on Wild Pitch’s behalf or if it was just a trash body of work. The fact that I didn’t even know Unleashed existed until a few years ago makes me feel it may be the former. But since this is my first time listening to the album, I’ll…unleash my finding when I’m done.

Time To Set It Straight – The UMC’s start things off with a solid mid-tempo groove, as both Haas G and Kool Kim spit two verses, and it quickly becomes apparent that they’re moving with a different energy this time around. They actually sound a lot like the post-Diggidy era Das EFX (Kool Kim more so than Haas G), with Kool Kim sounding more polished than his partner, as he serves you “hot buttered soul” on his “hip-hop roll” (shout out to Isaac Hayes). Even with the obvious swagger jacking, I like this one.

We Go – The UMC’s hook up a hard backdrop with a nasty bass line, as they go back and forth trying to demolish it. They don’t quite accomplish their goal, but they do a decent job with the dope instrumental. It would have been nice to hear Das EFX jump on this track with our hosts.

Evil Ways – The UMC’s take the energy level down a bit with this slick backdrop, complete with a catchy vocal sample taken from Santana’s song with the same title. Haas and Kim spit darker rhymes than UMC fans are accustomed to hearing, but they still sound decent.

Hit The Track – The duo continue to delve into their new-found high-energy rapid pace flow over a less than spectacular instrumental. Haas and Kim sound cool, but the instrumental is barely passable, and that vocal sample gets annoying as hell after the first listen.

What’s Up – Our hosts hook up a rough backdrop that they use it to talk shit and spit unbelievable battle rhymes over. This one could have been left on the cutting room floor.

Staten Island Comes First – Kim and Haas rep for their borough over a laid back jazzy instrumental. Kim cleverly sneaks in a shout out to Martin Lawrence for putting up a poster of the Fruits of Nature album cover in his apartment for the first few seasons of the classic sitcom Martin, as he raps “I get up (ya gets down) that’s what I’m about, then hang around Martin Lawrence’s house, niggy check me out”. Side note: Martin also had a poster of Tupac’s 2Pacalypse Now album cover in his apartment for the first few seasons.

Ill Demonic Clique – Haas and Kim invite 3.,2.,1., Gold Rush and RUX, collectively known as the Ill Demonic Clique, to join them on this posse joint. The five emcees bypass an unnecessary hook and relentlessly spit high energy bars, keeping the microphone moving around the cipher over the stripped down, but very dope, instrumental. 3.,2.,1., outshines his hungry bredrin with lines like “I grab the mic emcees start surfin’, let your rhymes collect unemployment checks cause they ain’t workin'” and “I get the urge, I kill you with my verbs, so put on a condom and fuck what ya heard” or “And beware when I get the rough vibes, I killed a nigga twelve times, because he had nine lives”. This was sick. I would have loved to hear an album from the trio, that the UMC promised was coming in the liner notes but never materialized.

Some Speak Ill Thoughts – The UMC’s hook up an ill bleak backdrop reminiscent of some Premo-in-his-prime-type shit. They match the instrumental’s dark vibes and live up to the song’s title as Kim spits rhymes like “I be a real hypocrite, low-life, yet male chauvinistic, sexist sleazebag my best characteristic, I’m a pathological liar, my father don’t trust me, shit if I were you I’d bust me, cause even I disgust me” and Haas rhymes :”Elevatin’ from the pits of hell screamin’, I’m the demon, created by society’s evil semen”. This was sick (in a good way) and easily my favorite song on Unleashed.

Whoa Now – This song is so forgettable that even though I’ve listened to Unleashed from beginning to end at least ten times in the past few weeks, I still can’t remember what the song sounds like when I see the song title.

Pleasure In The Dark – This song must have been recorded before Haas and Kim decided to morph into the dark and edgy emcees they’ve been for most of Unleashed. The instrumental is pleasant and the duo both rap in a style similar to how they sounded on Fruits of Nature, only more polished. I like this one.

Can You Feel It – This sounds like it could have found a home on Fruits of Nature. Well, at least the instrumental, which is a mid-tempo groove with an understated soul feel to it. Kim and Haas sound comfortable rhyming over it as they ride it nearly to perfection.

How It Gotta Be – The instrumental has nice warm feel good vibes written all over it, but don’t let that fool you. Haas and Kim (more so Kim) are in asshole mode, as they take off the gentlemen like tendencies they displayed on Fruits of Nature‘s break-up song “Woman Be Out” and get super blunt on this one, telling the ladies “if you ain’t fuckin’ than get out”. If the verses from the once “nice guy” emcees weren’t harsh enough to make you clutch your gold chains, wait until you hear the perverse adlibs from the duo and their crew as the song fades out; 2 Live Crew would even feel uncomfortable listening to them.

Gotta Be Sure – Much like “Pleasure In The Dark”, the instrumental and the UMC’s flow has Fruits of Nature’s energy dripping all over it. I love the soulful backdrop on this one.

My Thing – The final song of the evening has the self-proclaimed “undisputed masters of charisma” rhyming over a trash instrumental and shouting an extremely corny hook. This was not a good way to end the album.

Gone are the wholesome emcees that UMC fans became accustomed to on Fruits of Nature. Unleashed finds Haas G and Kool Kim running wild, as they turn into hardcore foul-mouthed ruffnecks with no morals, which is why Kool Kim probably didn’t feel guilty for stealing Das EFX rhyming style. As much as I love Fruits of Nature, I like the duo’s edginess and their rhyming sounds more polished on Unleashed. Pound for pound, Fruits of Nature is the better body of work, mainly due to better overall production and two classic singles in “Blue Cheese” and “One To Grow On” (which Unleashed lacks). But like Fruits of Nature, Unleashed is a solid album that should have gotten more love than it received.

-Deedub

Jorge Alvarez, better known to the world as Kurious (taken from the children’s book character Curious George), is a Puerto Rican-Cuban rapper from Manhattan. I first heard Kurious in 1993 when he made a quick cameo on Del The Funky Homosapien’s No Need For Alarm (see “Boo Boo Heads”), and that same year he also spit a verse on Prime Minister Pete Nice & Daddy Rich’s album Dust To Dust (see “3 Blind Mice”). Kurious’ relationship with Pete Nice would play a part in him signing a deal with Columbia, where he would release his debut album A Constipated Monkey. 

Kurious would bring along his deejay, Lord Sear (who you can catch on Shade 45 on SiriusXM) and his sidekick Kadi aka the man with the yellow hat (those familiar with the Curious George Book series will get it, but it’s still super corny), who plays a similar but less significant role on A Constipated Monkey that Consequence played on Beats, Rhymes and Life. Kurious would call on the Beatnuts, The SD50’s (aka The Stimulated Dummies) Bosco Money and his buddies Pete Nice and Daddy Rich to sonically shape A Constipated Monkey. The album didn’t move a ton of units but it did receive solid reviews, and is still held in high regards amongst hip-hop heads alike.

I haven’t listen to A Constipated Monkey in years, so let’s see if it still sounds as good as I remember it.

Spell It Wit A J (Yes, Yes Jorge) – A Constipated Monkey starts with some weirdo rambling on in an annoying voice about being “full of shit.” Then what I like to call a “base model” Beatnuts instrumental (which means it’s solid, but doesn’t have all the additional bells and whistles that they have the ability to add to make an average instrumental a superb one) comes in and Kurious uses it to introduce himself to the world. And in case you were curious (no pun intend), he spells his first name with a “J”, not with a “G”.

Top Notch – Kurious must have coughed up a little more bread for this Beatnuts track, cause it has all the bells and whistles that were missing on the previous song. Jorge invites his sidekick Kadi, Psycho Les (from the Beatnuts) and the Frenchmen that A Tribe Called Quest made a song about, Lucien (see “Luck of Lucien” from Peoples Instinctive Travels) the self-proclaimed “French nigga” to join him on the mic. While his guests fail to impress (Lucien actually sounds terrible), Kurious sounds decent; but it’s the Beatnuts crispy clean perfect dosage of slickness that carries this song.

I’m Kurious – Pete Nice & Daddy Rich get their only production credit on A Constipated Monkey, and they make sure it counts, constructing this very serious sounding, but extremely dope instrumental around a slick Blackbyrd’s loop and a Midnight Star vocal sample. Kurious tries to match the track’s seriousness and does a decent job, as he does some reflecting and gets introspective. This is definitely one of my favorite songs on A Constipated Monkey.

Uptown Shit – This was one of the singles released from A Constipated Monkey, and man does this record bring back good memories. Kurious, The Omen (which is a terrible alias; his verse was mysteriously left off of the video edit and replaced by another Kurious verse) and Kadi represent for Uptown on this one. Again, none of them give us mesmerizing bars, but the Beatnuts’ instrumental is dope enough to carry the song by itself.

Leave Ya’ With This – The SD50’s keep what has sonically been an enjoyable listen so far, enjoyable with this mellow instrumental that Kurious uses to pay respect to KMD’s late deejay (and Zev Love X aka MF Doom’s brother) Subroc. Most of Kurious’ bars have nothing to do with Subroc, as he goes from talking random shit to quickly tying the last few bars of each verse together as a dedication to the fallen deejay, but it’s still cool. I absolutely love the horn loop brought in during the hook (MC Lyte used the same loop on Ain’t No Other’s “Lil Paul”). RIP Subroc.

Fresh Out The Box – The Beatnuts keep A Constipated Monkey chugging right along with more solid production, and average rhymes from Kurious.

Walk Like A Duck – This was the lead single from A Constipated Monkey. The Beatnuts hook up a drowsy instrumental that our host uses to take subliminals at somebody he feels had “vicious” words to say behind his back (as he states in the opening seconds of the song). I hated this song back in the day and I still don’t care for it.

Tear Shit Up – Kurious continues to spew random rhymes over some beautiful Beatnuts production work. That’s all I got.

Baby Bust It – The SD50’s hook up a cool mid-tempo groove, which includes a very catchy vocal sample from the lead emcee of my favorite hip-hop group of all time (I’ll let you guess who…Tribe Degrees of Separation:Check). Kurious invites Kadi and Grim Reaper (who would later change his alias to MF Grimm) to join him on the mic. For some reason Kurious decides to take a shot at Marky Mark during his verse (“I think I keep it sharp like a sword, unlike a two-bit punk in his drawers on a Billboard…Calvin Klein’s, no friend of mine”), which doesn’t earn you any street cred (but I definitely think Mark Wahlberg would whoop Kurious’ ass in a fist fight, back then and even more so today). Kadi shows why he’s only a hype man, while MF Grimm delivers the most intriguing verse of the three (I still chuckle at his threat to choke dudes out “like Radio Raheem”…those unfamiliar with Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing won’t get it). All in all a solid song.

Nikole – Bosco Money constructs a beautiful backdrop for Kurious to speak about a girl named Nikole that’s left him heartbroken. This is a very well-crafted song, and probably my favorite song on A Constipated Monkey.

What’s The Real – Hieroglyphics crew member, Casual stops by to tag-team the mic with Kurious. I’ve never been a huge Casual fan, although up to this point I’ve probably only heard him spit on three songs. In the last few years I’ve picked up a couple of his albums, including his debut Fear Itself, that I’ll be listening to for the first time in the next few weeks. He sounds like a less talented version of Del The Funky Homosapien. He and Kurious exchange respectable verses on this one, but I really like the SD50’s jazzy backdrop. This song (mainly the instrumental) sounds so much better today than it did back in the nineties. Time is truly, illmatic.

Jorge Of The Projects – The final song of the evening finds Kurious reminiscing about the Projects that he grew up in, which I found interesting considering he’s from the upscale area of Upper Manhattan…but what do I know? The SD50’s finish A Constipated Monkey strong with a dope rumbling bass line and a beautiful horn loop to warm your heart.

Even though most of his content is juvenile, repetitive and lacks depth, Kurious proves to be a decent emcee on his debut album, but the production work are the shoulders that truly carry A Constipated Monkey. With the exception of “Walk Like A Duck”, the Beatnuts, The SD50’s, Bosco Money and Pete Nice & Daddy Rich string together a batch of great instrumentals for Kurious and his guests to spill their verses over. A Constipated Monkey may not be a classic album, but it’s definitely a complimentary patch in the quilt that made 1994 arguably, the best year in hip-hop.

-Deedub

What is a Yaggfu Front? Well, it was a short-lived North Carolina based rap trio consisting of D’Ranged & Damaged, Spin 4th and Jingle Bel. “Yaggfu” is actually an acronym for “You are gonna get fucked up” (if you) front. I’m not super familiar with their back story but the trio managed to snag a record deal with Mercury and released their debut album Action Packed Adventure in 1994, which I’m pretty sure would make them the first hip-hop group out of North Carolina to release an album on a major label (feel free to hit me in the comments if I’m incorrect).

With the exception of three tracks, all of the production work on Action Packed Adventure was handled by Yaggfu Front. The album did receive favorable reviews upon its release (including a respectable 3.5 mics from The Source), but didn’t do so well on SoundScan. The poor sells would lead to the trio eventually fading away forever like George Jefferson’s hair-line (RIP Sherman Hemsley).

A few months ago I found a used copy of Action Packed Adventure for a couple of dollars and figured I check it out since I vaguely remember seeing one of their videos on BET’s Rap City (remember that show?) back in the day. This post marks my first time listening to the album, so let’s see if Action Packed Adventure lives up to it’s name.

Fanfare & Previews – Since Action Packed Adventure is supposed to play as a movie, it’s only right that it starts off with some fanfare and previews, right? After a ghetto chick gives instructions to the audience how to conduct themselves during the movie (before anyone gets their panties all in a bunch over the term “ghetto chick”, listen to the song and then you’ll understand what I mean) a preview for a movie, that I don’t know the name of due to poor clarity on Yaggfu Front’s behalf, about a 2 legged police dog (one in the front and one in the back) plays, followed by a song from that fictional movie’s fictional soundtrack by the fictional rap group The Really Hard Muthafuckas. After that bit of comic relief, a slightly somber but very epic instrumental plays, while a distorted voice introduces the members of Yaggfu Front to the listener, or the audience. This reasonably entertaining intro ends with some girls dissin’  Yaggfu’s kicks, setting up the next song…

Where’d You Get Your Bo Bo’s? – For you younger readers (if I actually have any younger readers), “Bo-Bo’s” is a slang term for cheap sneakers (i.e. Kangaroos or any sneakers you can buy at Payless or Wal-Mart). Yaggfu’s rhymes have absolutely nothing to do with the song title and hook, as they pretty use this one to introduce themselves to the world, shoutout their peeps and their home state, North Carolina. The jazzy backdrop is cool, but it would have been nice for the first real song of the evening to have a little more energy.

Trooper 101 – New Vibe Messengers (I’ve never heard of them either) hook up a funk backdrop with jazzy horns sprinkled in for additional flavor. It sounds like something EPMD and A Tribe Called would concoct if they did a production collaboration. Our hosts use it to light-heartily discuss their run ins with the po-po. Not a terrible song, but it also doesn’t have much replay value.

Mr. Hook – On this one the NC trio are apparently captured by pirates (“Mr. Hook” as in Captain Hook) and forced to walk the plank to their deaths. I’m not sure if their story is supposed to be taken at face value or if there is a deeper hidden meaning. I really could care less, but the instrumental for this track is a thing of beauty.

Busted Loop – By this point of Action Packed Adventure it’s very clear that 4th Spin, Damaged and Jingle Bel are not great emcees, but they definitely know how to craft quality instrumentals. The trio hooks up yet another enjoyable jazz flavored backdrop with a dope swing vibe to it.

Fruitless-Moot – Dope drums, bass line and flute loop (courtesy of New Vibe Messengers). Everything else about this song is fruitless and moot.

Black Liquid – Jingle Bel and Spin 4th share a weird tale about a college science course experiment that takes an unusual twist after Spin 4th drinks the black liquid concoction from one of the beakers and (wait for it) it turns him into a lyrical monster. Well, we know this story is fiction. The storyline is very cheesy, but I love Yaggfu’s drowsy jazz instrumental work on this one.

Slappin’ Suckas Silly (LP Remix) – I’ve never heard the original, and after listening to this remix I’m in no rush to hear the original.

Action Packed Adventure – I have no idea what our hosts are rhyming about on this title track, but I’m a sucker for xylophone loops in hip-hop songs.

Left Field – On this one Jingle Bel, Damage and 4th Spin take turns to talk about a time when they were pussies, I mean, scared to step to woman that they were attracted to. I love the organ loop laced throughout this song.

Hold ‘Em Back (What’s The Meaning?) – This song has one of the funkiest bass lines I’ve heard so far for my ’94 posts. And when you combine the bass line with the angelic-like vocal loop and the high energy hook (damn I miss all those super-hyped group chant choruses from the nineties), this song is pretty entertaining.

Uptown Downtown – Yaggfu Front continues to impress with their production. They take a break from the heavy dosage of jazz loops and lay down a funky little diddly to spit their below average rhymes over.

Frontline – On this one the trio talk about how men front about who they are and what they have in order to impress the ladies and get what they want. None of their verses are memorable, but the instrumental, which is built around a wavy Roy Ayers loop, is beautiful and as smooth as a baby’s ass.

Sweet Caroline – Yaggfu Front builds the instrumental around a dope loop from the Gap Band’s rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”. And even though Charlie Wilson sings “Caroline” instead of “Carolina”, it still works as a slick shoutout to the trio’s home state. Speaking of shoutouts, that’s exactly what Yaggfu Front uses this instrumental to do. Well done, fellas.

My Dick Is So Large (Bonus Track) – The final song of the evening is hi-larious. Damage, Spin and Jingle are in full clown mode as they take turns boasting about the size of their jimmies. Minnesota (who would go on to produce songs for Grand Puba, Lil’ Kim, Big Pun and Mos Def, just to name a few) gets the production credit and hooks up a decent backdrop for the trio, but this may be the only song on Action Packed Adventure that Yaggfu Front actually sounds more entertaining than the production.

Action Packed Adventure proves Jingle Bel, D’Ranged N Damage and Spin 4th all to be sub-par emcees. None of the three establish their own identity on the mic, as they all rap in the same monotone voice, and more often than not, their vocals are overtaken by their production and get lost in the instrumentals. You won’t get any lyrical mastery from these guys, but if you’re looking for quality nineties production, you’ve come to the right album. From beginning to end the production work on Action Packed Adventure is solid with a large chuck of it being really damn good. There really is no reason why Yaggfu Front should have made a second album, but I’m shocked they didn’t go on to produce for other artists.

-Deedub

The final backlog post. Look for the start of 1994 in the next few weeks!

I’m sure most of you are not familiar with T-Bone, so allow me to give you a brief background. Born Rene Francisco Sotomayor to a Nicaraguan father and a Salvadoran mother, T-Bone is a Christian rapper born and bred in San Francisco. A few of you may remember him for his scene stealing role as the rapping convict Briggs in the Beyoncé/Cuba Gooding Jr. movie The Fighting Temptations (dude made Lil Zane sound like an amateur…wait, Lil Zane always sounded like an amateur). He is also the only rapper I can currently think of that murdered KRS-One on his own shit. You thank I’m crazy? Check out “The Struggle Continues” from KRS-One’s Spiritual Minded album and tell me different.  After coming to the Lord in his teens, T-Bone signed a deal with the small Christian label, Metro One, where he would release his debut album, Redeemed Hoodlum.

T-Bone would tap the LA Posse (best known for their production work for several of the tracks on LL Cool J’s BAD album) to produce the entirety of Redeemed Hoodlum. Even though at this point, Big Dad, Bobcat and DJ Pooh were no longer part of LA Posse, original member Muffla still remained, and his new partner, Chase (who receives co-production credit on Redeemed Hoodlum) would make up the new LA Posse roster.

My brother-in-law hipped me to this album in the late nineties at a time when I was searching and super hungry for God and truth. I had it on cassette back then, and years later when I ran across a used cd copy for a few bucks, a brother had to make that minimal investment.

Hopefully Redeemed Hoodlum lives up to the nostalgia.

Baseball Intro – Short intro that T-Bone uses to tell the world where he’s from and what his expectations are for this album.

Saved To Da Bone Prelude – I’m not sure why this wasn’t just tacked on to the “Baseball Intro”. But as the title suggest, it’s a quick sampler of a song to come a little later down the sequenced road.

Jabbin the Jaw – The first actual song on Redeemed Hoodlum finds T-Bone displaying his nimble tongue, as he takes shots at Muslims’ theology, slays a few demons, does a little witnessing and gets goofy with the wordplay. The LA Posse lays down a solid instrumental for our host to do his thing on, and I love the understated horn loop brought in during the hook.

Redeemed Hoodlum – T-Bone gives his testimony as he talks about his youth, coming up in the hood amongst gangbangin’, selling drugs and (*clutching my pearls*) spewing secular raps (I’m very curious to hear what T-Bone’s rhymes sounded like pre-Jesus), until he met Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road. On the song’s final verse our host hits one of my pet peeves when he claims, “I’m never stuck up, I’m always humble.” I absolutely hate when people say how humble they are, since the act itself is very prideful. LA Posse puts some stank on the mid-tempo funk instrumental, giving validation to Bone’s hardcore edginess.

Rugged Rhyme Sayer – Muffla and crew slides Bone some old soulful loveliness for this one. T-Bone uses the melodic backdrop to spew randomness over the course of three verses, but keeps it Jesus. I did find his lines about Catholic School and Virgin Mary pretty interesting. T-Bone sounds solid on this one (minus the hook where he sounds like a poor man’s B-Real), but the instrumental is the true star.

Commin Of Da Judgment – T-Bone takes us to church on this one. Literally. Bone invites The (or as the liner notes state “Da”) First Missionary Baptist Church Choir to sing the hook, and the instrumental includes a live organ that makes you feel like you’re sitting in the pews on Sunday morning. Our host basically preaches a sermon over it, as he casually refers to Jesus as “JC” (a term that my dad, who happens to be deeply involved in church, views as a form of disrespect). The spirit even falls on T-Bone during his first verse as he goes into tongues (if you’re not familiar with the whole “speaking in tongues” thing, turn in your bibles to Acts 19:6), mid verse, and amazingly, it fits perfectly into his rhymes (look at God!). This is not my favorite song on Redeemed Hoodlum, but it’s decent.

Lyrical Assassin – This is the first real mishap of the evening. T-Bone goes on a demon killing spree and completely rips B-Real’s nasally delivery and flow, and even steals some of his rhymes. To make matters worse, Muffla and ’em hook up a track that’s sounds like a generic replica of the “How I Could Just Kill A Man” instrumental. This was bad.

Saved To The Bone – The “Saved To The Bone Prelude” gave a glimpse into the dopeness of the song’s instrumental, but just a glimpse. I’ve heard this Eddie Harris “Turbulence” loop used before (see Heavy D’s “A Buncha Niggas”), but the way the LA Posse flips it is absolutely bananas! T-Bone matches the track’s energy every step up of the way and at certain points raps circles around it. This is easily the best song on Redeemed Hoodlum.

Da Protecta, Da Fixa – LA Posse hooks up a nasty boom-bap production, complete with Premo-esque scratches on the hook, as T-Bone (who proclaims himself as the “Christian John Wayne” on the song’s second verse) gets loose and takes on emcees and demons. I didn’t remember this song being on Redeemed Hoodlum, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Virginia Watson Interview – Plays exactly as it reads.

Divided We Fall – T-Bone calls for his Latino gangbanging brethren to come together in peace and unity. Our host sounds confident and comfortable over the dope mid-tempo backdrop. This was solid.

Barrio Blues – “Barrio” is Spanish for “neighborhood.”  Based on Bone’s content, I believe he saying he’s got the “hood blues.” This wasn’t a great song, but it makes for decent filler material.

Gloria Estefan Interlude – This was super corny and very useless.

Predicador de la Calle – Translates to “Street Preacher”. T-Bone spits the entire song in Spanish, so I’m not sure what he’s saying, but his flow and the instrumental are on point.

Hoodlums Prayer – Redeemed Hoodlum ends with a very drab instrumental and T-Bone rapping in a cadence and flow reminiscent of 1984. I don’t care if this was supposed to be a prayer, this was terrible.

You may not agree with T-Bone’s theology or content (I’ll even admit that the whole “buckin’ demons down” is kind of cheesy), but after listening to Redeemed Hoodlum there’s no denying that the dude can spit. And when you combine T-Bone’s skill and charisma with the quality production that LA Posse laced Redeemed Hoodlum with, you got a winner. And the church said…amen.

Deedub

We last heard from the Oakland based collective, Digital Underground, in 1991 with their homage to P-funk album, Sons of The P. They would return at the tail end of 1993 with their fourth project, third full-length album, and their final release on Tommy Boy, The Body-Hat Syndrome.

As usual, D-Flo (which is the collective of Shock-G, Gary Katz and DJ JZ ) would handle all of the production work on The Body-Hat Syndrome. Along with the usual suspects of Shock-G, Humpty, Money B and Schmoovy-Schmoov on the mic, newcomers Clee and Saafir (who I will always associate as Harold from the classic hood movie Menace II Society, but is often revered for being a sharp lyricists and known for his classic battle with the Hieroglyphic crew back in the nineties) appear on several of the album’s songs, and O.G. member of DU, 2pac stops by to make a couple of appearances as well.

The Body-Hat Syndrome did receive favorable reviews upon its release, but the album’s sells weren’t as favorable. It would be the first project in DU’s catalog that did not earn at least a gold plaque (which is 500,000 copies sold for those not familiar with record business jargon).

Up until a few years ago, I had no idea The Body-Hat Syndrome even existed, until I stumbled across a copy while diggin’ through the used cd bins at one of my favorite spots. I’m still scratching my head on how I missed this album from a time when Digital Underground was truly poppin’, still on Tommy Boy (so there had to be promotional money behind it) and released at a time where I kept up with everything hip-hop related.

The man who knows something, knows that he knows nothing at all.

The Return of The Crazy One – DU kicks off The Body-Hat Syndrome with a funky beat and the crew’s’ resident clown (also Shock-G’s alter-ego) Humpty-Hump clowning all over the track. Hump doesn’t say anything mind-blowing on this one, but his nonsensical rhymes will keep you entertained.

Doo Woo You – Saafir makes his rap recording debut on this one, as he and Shock-G take turns calling out all of their closed-minded haters, though the hook could lead one to believe this is a love song. D-Flo’s instrumental sounds like a drowsy stripped-down-filtered version of the backdrop for 2pac’s “I Get Around” (which D-Flo also produced), and that’s not a bad thing. At seven and a half minutes, the song may run a bit too long, but I still dug it.

Holly Wanstaho – Saafir teams up with Shock-G again, and this time their shittin’ on a girl named Holly and her hoeing hobby. Shock and Saafir fail to impress on the mic, and the instrumental sounds like a bunch of noise.

Bran Nu Swetta – DU keeps things light, as Shock, Money B and Saafir each spit a verse about their experiences with women whose interest in them was so intense it bordered on stalking. I’ve never really listened to a lot of Saafir’s lyrics before today, but I’ve heard many call him a master wordsmith. I have to admit I’m not that impressed with what I’ve heard from him on The Body-Hat Syndrome, up to this point. Money B actually delivers the strongest verse on the song, in my opinion. The instrumental is barely decent, and there is really no reason to listen to this song more than once.

The Humpty Dance Awards – This is the first of three bonus tracks only included on the CD format of The Body-Hat Syndrome. Fresh off of his new-found success in Hollywood, 2pac reunites with his Digital brethren, as he and Humpty host the first ever Humpty Dance Awards. You ask, “what are the Humpty Dance Awards”? It’s a faux award given to artist that Digital Underground feels borrowed elements from their hit record “The Humpty Dance”. The CD insert even includes an elaborate ballot with different categories (i.e. “Best Use By Group Or Duo”, “Best R&B Usage”, “Hidden Use Award”, “Boldest Jack-Move”, etc.). Pac and Hump play a quick clip off all the songs up for the award, and I must admit, I never new how many different songs borrowed the drums from “The Humpty Dance”. It appears to all be done in jest with no hard feelings from DU, considering the long drawn out thesis in the album insert about all musical ideas being free and that no one can own a beat, melody or musical phrase. This was cute.

Body-Hats (Part One) – I guess this is the working title track, which DU breaks down into three parts. For Part One, D-Flo hooks up a decent up-tempo backdrop that Shock-G, Hump, Money B and Saafir use to, abstractly, discuss all the threats (both physical and mental) the “body-hat” can protect you from. Or, as Shock says at the song’s close: “Barring abstinence, the Body-Hat is the best known protection against FADES” (which he explained on “Doo Woo You” is an acronym for Falsely Acquired Diluted Education Syndrome”). The song is decent enough, I guess.

Dope-A-Delic (Do-U-B-Leeve-In-D-Flo?) – This is the second of three bonus songs only included on the CD format of The Body-Hat Syndrome. Clee and Humpty, tag-team the mic as they fire shots at all the “bland” emcees and “weak rookie rappers”. The duo actually sounds okay, but the instrumental lacks energy.

Intermission – Quick mash-up of short clips taken from the DU catalog.

Wussup Wit The Luv – It’s rare for Digital Underground to get serious on a record. Matter of fact, up to this point in their career the only other serious record I can recall them being a part of was “All In The Same Gang” as part of the West Coast Rap All-Stars (remember that one?). On this song Shock-G, Money B, Clee and 2pac get very serious as they address the many evils that exist in this world and call for more love amongst humanity. Shock-G does provide one unintentional moment of comic relief when he sings “One brother speaks in African”, which is hi-larious to me, considering African is a person’s descent not a language. But I digress. I like the song’s sentiment and I “luv” the laid back piano chords and melancholy vibe of the production.

digital Lover –  Not sure why DU decided to spell “digital” in the song title with a lowercase “d”. Typo or intentional? I guess it’s one of those mysteries the world will never know. Or someone could just ask Shock-G. When I first saw the song title, I thought “digital” was going to be a double entendre for the first word in the group’s name and as in fingers…catch my drift. The album insert (no pun intended) has an illustration of what appears to be a female robot bent over with an arrow labeled “enter here” pointed between her legs and the title “digital lover (NO CONDOMS NECESSARY)” above the drawing. So, maybe I was wrong on both ends. But who cares? The song is trash.

Carry The Way (Along Time) – DU blows their own horns on this one, as they pay homage to their contribution to hip-hop. Shock-G, Clee, Saafir and Money B all take turns patting themselves on the back. No one’s lyrics are memorable and the instrumental is so drowsy and terrible I don’t even think the god Rakim could have sparked my interest rapping over it.

Body-Hats (Part Two) – DU picks up right where they left off with Part One, bringing back the same instrumental, as the same parties from the first go round discuss the same damn thing.

Circus Entrance – Short skit that sets up the next song…

Jerkit Circus – Money B, Humpty and Shock-G annoyingly scream their way through most of this ode to masturbation. And if our hosts weren’t annoying enough, the garbage D-Flo instrumental only makes things worse. Geez…I’ve never heard anyone make jackin’ off sound so miserable.

Circus Exit (The After Nut) – An unnecessary interlude to wrap up the disaster that was “Jerkit Circus”.

Shake & Bake – More juvenile sex rhymes from Humpty over a mediocre funk track.

Body Hats (Part Three) – Same thing as Part One and Two, but only Shock and Humpty show up for this one.

Do You Like It Dirty? – For this one Shock-G and Humpty take turns on the mic, and I believe on the same chick. Years before “eating someone’s groceries” became a “thing” in hip-hop, Shock and Hump give intimate details on a freak that likes to do more than just toss their salads. Their rhymes are mildly entertaining, but the instrumental is super trash.

Bran Nu Sweat This Beat – DU brings back the instrumental from “Bran Nu Swetta” for this quick thirty-second interlude.

Wheee! – The final song on The Body-Hat Syndrome (at least on the CD format…this is the third of the three bonus songs only included on the CD) finds Shock-G (well, it starts off as Shock-G, but by the middle of both his verses he transforms into Humpty without notice), Money B, Clee and Schmoovy-Schmoov living their best lives just having good old fashion care-free fun. The heavy drums and the melodic piano chords help create the perfect atmosphere for their playful-unformatted-nonsensical rhymes. This is probably my favorite song on The Body-Hat Syndrome. Great way to end the album.

The Body-Hat Syndrome is definitely not Digital Underground’s best body (no pun intended) of work. At twenty tracks (at least the CD format), its way too long, and with most of the songs being sub par (both lyrically and production wise) with juvenile content, it makes an already lengthy project even more testing on the attention span. There are a handful of dope songs sprinkled in to the pot, but not enough to say The Body-Hat Syndrome is a good project. This definitely would have worked better as an EP.

-Deedub

Part two of my Mellow Man Ace posts. Enjoy.

What’s It Take To Pull A Hottie (Like You)? – Mellow Man Ace kicks off The Brother With Two Tongues with a heavily r&b flavored track, and sounds thirsty as a man with an empty canteen walking through the Atacama Desert, as he tries to put together the perfect formula to get an extremely hot female to go out with him. Bronek Wroblewski (which may be the illest name in the history of the world) gets credit for the bootleg New Jack Swingish instrumental. The song is pretty cheesy, but I can’t stop singing the catchy hook.

Brother With Two Tongues – Julio G (not to be confused with Mellow Man Ace’s other production partner, Tony G) steers things back to more of a hip-hop feel for the title track. Mellow Man Ace uses the decent instrumental to spit more of the Spanglish rhyme styling that he created. I’m not crazy about this song, but it wasn’t terrible.

Linda – Julio G borrows from the often used Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” for the instrumental. Ace uses it to sing praises to the woman who has him open for the moment, Linda. Every time I hear Ace say “Linda” (with his accent its pronounced “Leenda”), I immediately thank about that viral YouTube video from a few years ago of the little boy telling his mom “Leenda, you’re not listening”. Oh yeah, back to the song. It sucked.

Babalu Bad Boy – DJ Muggs gets his only production credit on The Brother With Two Tongues on this one. He builds his instrumental around a loop from Herbie Hancock’s “Fat Mama” (that you’ve heard before: see 2pac’s “If My Homies Call” and Chi-Ali’s “Step Up”) and turns it into an enjoyable backdrop, while our host speaks about his humble beginnings and boasts about his Cuban coolness. This was solid.

Gettin’ Funky In The Joint – Ace never finds his footing on Julio G’s horrible instrumental. Wait. Did Ace just say “I come off like niggas”? What does that even mean?

Hypest From Cypress – Cipher time! Ace invites Krazy D, Tomahawk Funk from Funkdoobiest (credit as “Chief T” in the liner notes) and his big bro, Sen Dog (from Cypress Hill) to join him on this one, as they rep for their hood. On paper, it doesn’t sound like an impressive combination: Mellow Man Ace, a relative unknown (in Krazy D) and two sidekicks in their respective bands. But don’t sleep. Everyone puts in work on this one (even though Sen Dog regurgitates most of his verse from “Shoot ‘Em Up”), with the exception of Ace, who sounds way to laxed compared to his focused and hungry compadres. Julio G lays down a raw and funky backdrop that satisfies the rumblings in the bellies of Ace’s guests. This song should have wrapped after Ace’s verse. Instead, Ace and his crew go old school, rhyming over a simple clap, but none of them come close to recapturing the magic they had on Julio G’s instrumental.

Funky Muneca – By this point it’s clear that Mellow Man Ace enjoys combining Spanish words with English words for his song titles. In this case, he combines “Funky” with “Muneca”, which is a term of endearment for a woman you’re fond of (it translates to “doll” or “dollish”). Yeah, I think the song title is pretty corny too, but the song is even worst. The instrumental is the audio equivalent of faucet water (without a filter) and Ace’s rhymes are arguably cornier than the hook and the song title combined.

Boulevard Nights – The Baker Boyz and Julio G collab to create the dark backdrop,  underlined by a mischievous rumbling bass line. MMA uses it to discuss what goes down at night on the streets of L.A., which pretty much doesn’t go beyond partying, chasing girls, flossing and more partying. In his final verse, Ace says: “So many hotties in the house if you were sick you’d wanna rape ’em, but keep it cool homeboy and um, video tape ’em”. This line sounds a little creepy (especially the part about rape), and if The Brother With Two Tongues was released in 2018, I’m sure Capitol would have been forced to pull it off the album. All in all, this was a decent listen.

Me La Pelas – “Me La Pelas” is Spanish for “suck my dick”. Ace starts the song off by saying this is part two of “Mas Pingon” (which is Spanish for “Go Fuck Yourself”) from Escape From Havana. Our host spits most of the song in Spanish with a muffled effect on his mic that makes it sound like he recorded this in his basement on a karaoke machine. Speaking of basements, Julio G’s instrumental has a dusty quality to it, and it’s actually pretty decent. But if I had to pick between this and “Mas Pingon”, I’m rollin’ with the latter. What? You don’t agree? Me la pelas!!!

Ricky Ricardo of Rap – The song sounds just as corny as the title reads.

Welcome To My Groove –  Tony G gets his only production credit of the evening, and it happens to be a house beat that MMA uses to drop pick up lines over. Ace sounds corny, the female vocalist (credit as “Jeaneete” in the liner notes) on the hook sounds godawful, but I kind of enjoyed Tony G’s instrumental, even though I feel like I shouldn’t.

Mellow Says Hello – MMA gives his shoutouts over a Julio G produced instrumental that recycles the same Lowell Fulson “Tramp” loop that Muggs used for “How I Could Just Kill A Man”. Since Muggs adds some adlibs to this song, I’m sure he gave Julio his blessings for the blatant jack.

There is a hidden track on the cd version of The Brother With Two Tongues, which apparently is titled “Time To Get Busy, Busy”. Ace sounds a lot more animated that anything else on the album, and strangely sounds like a mixture of Onyx and Mr. Cheeks from Lost Boyz. This song is proof that animation doesn’t always equate to entertaining.

Mellow Man Ace didn’t sound spectacular on Escape From Havana, but he did have some solid moments. And even though the majority of the production wasn’t great, it still felt like the album’s foundation was cemented in hip-hop. On The Brother With Two Tongues, Ace sounds like a man struggling to find his identity throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks, all in the name of trying to make a hit (bars!). While he does have some true blue hip-hop songs, he has just as many experimental ones, as he tries his hand in r&b (“What’s It Take To Pull A Hottie (Like You)?”), house (“Welcome To My Groove”), intentional pop (“Linda”) and comedy (“Ricky Ricardo of Rap”). Needless to say The Brother With Two Tongues fails, and would have been more suitably named The Brother With Multiple Personalities.

-Deebub

Ulpiano Sergio Reyes, better known to the world as Mellow Man Ace, is a Cuban born rapper who moved from Cuba to Los Angles with his family at the age of four in the early seventies. He’s often credited as being the father (or godfather) of the Spanglish (or bilingual) style, which combines Spanish and English words together in rhyme, within the same bar, verse or song. He’s best known for his 1989 hit debut single “Mentirosa” and for being the younger brother to Cypress Hill’s hype-man and secondary emcee, Sen Dog.

I’ve heard of Mellow Man Ace, but I’ve never listened to one of his albums, and honestly couldn’t name a single song of his, other than the single I mentioned above, but I’ve still never heard that song, either. I’m not sure what moved me to buy his second release, The Brother With Two Tongues, almost a year ago. Maybe my curiosity was sparked because of the role I knew he played in the history of Latino influenced hip-hop. Or the fact that I knew he was down with Cypress Hill. What ever the reason was, I bought the album.

A few weeks ago I was getting ready to dig into The Brother With Two Tongues for the blog, and while at one of my music spots, I ironically came across a copy of Mellow Man Ace’s debut album Escape From Havana. And since I already had his second album its only right that I start from beginning. So, respecting time and all of it’s illmaticness, I’ve decided to review his first two albums, back to back.

So, without further adieu, let’s jump into them, shall we?

Hip-Hop Creature – The Dust Brothers lay down a hard backdrop for the first song of the evening. Mellow Man Ace will never be confused for Rakim, but he actually sounds pretty sharp on this one. But the Dust Brother’s instrumental is the true star of this one. Great way to start Escape From Havana.

Mentirosa – This was the lead single from Escape From Havana that would go on to become the only top twenty hit on the Billboards Hot 100 for Mellow Man Ace. Tony G builds the instrumental around a slick loop from Santana’s “Evil Ways” and our host uses it to call out a lying and conniving female acquaintance. Ace raps most of the song in English, occasionally sliding Spanish words into his rhymes at the right time. This was dope.

Rhyme Fighter – Mellow Man Ace’s rhyme pattern sounds a lot like Kool Keith’s off-beat off-kilter stylings on this one. Come to think of it, even Tony G’s instrumental sounds a little reminiscent of a Ultramagnetic MC instrumental. Ace does a decent job imitating Keith on the first verse, but then quickly loses focus and his rhymes and flow get choppy. I still enjoyed Tony G’s instrumental, though.

If You Were Mine – This is Mellow Man Ace’s version of LL Cool J’s “I Need Love”, as he raps about making the woman of his dreams his lady, in the same soft tone LL used on his groundbreaking rap ballad. Ace’s rhymes are dated but decent, but the Kool & The Gang “Summer Madness” loop the instrumental is built around, sounds way more entertaining than LL’s cheesy Casio keyboard created backdrop.

River Cubano – Cuban from the river? Hmm…I’m not sure what that means, but Ace sounds comfortable and energetic spittin’ over DJ Muggs’ (who is credited as Grandmixer Muggs in the album’s credits) funky backdrop. This was decent.

Rap Guanco – Mellow Man Ace sticks to his Spanglish M-O, spitting his first verse in Spanish and the second in English. Tony G’s instrumental has a strong Caribbean feel, and he gives the listener some extended instrumentation before, in-between and after Ace’s verses. This isn’t a great song, but it makes for decent filler material.

Mas Pingon – Mas Pingon translates to “big dick”, “more dick”, “go to hell” or “go fuck yourself”. Again, Ace is rhyming in Spanish, so I’m not sure what he is saying, but he sure makes it sound raw as he yells his lyrics for the entire song. Matt Dike and Michael Ross hook up some stripped down drums and give the song a rock feel when they bring guitar licks in during the hook. This song is kind of like the Spanish version of LL’s “Rock The Bells”, and that’ a compliment.

Gettin’ Stupid – For you younger readers, “gettin’ stupid” back in the late eighties and early nineties was slang for “going hard” or “gettin’ busy”. Again, Mellow Man Ace is not a great lyricist, but he shows once again that he has a decent pen game. Johnny Rivers’ instrumental has a zany feel to it, but I like the horns he brings in on the hook. Overall, this was a decent listen.

Talkapella – B-Real gets credit for penning Ace’s rhymes for this one, so it should be no surprise that MMA sound pretty nice. But since Tony G uses the same Headhunters’s loop that KRS-One and Freddy Foxxx (aka Bumpy Knuckles) would completely annihilate a few years later (see Sex And Violence‘s “Ruff Ruff”), I can’t help but compare Ace’s rhymes to theirs. And of course, Ace pales in comparison. By the way, the song title is corny as hell.

B-Boy In Love – MMA picks up where he left off at on “If You Were Mine”. Tony G rips a loop from Rufus’ “Sweet Thang” for the verses and borrows a piece of The Isley Brothers’ “Groove With You” for the hook. Two safe samples, but they sound dope meshed together. Mellow Man’s love raps are a little cheesy, but you’ll definitely enjoy the instrumental work.

En La Casa – Mellow Man spits in Spanish for the entire song, and I have no idea what he’s rhyming about, but the song’s title translates to “in the house” or “at home”. So, I’m assuming he’s getting his “Rev Run on” on this one. Def Jef gets his only production credit of evening and unfortunately its very mediocre.

Enquentren Amor – Our host brings back the instrumental from “If You Were Mine” and talks about the same thing (I think) as the original, but this time he spits all his rhymes in Spanish. (Enquentren Amor in English translates to “find love”). And with that, Escape From Havana is done.

Escape From Havana starts out strong, with solid rhyming from Mellow Man Ace and dope production from his team. But by the beginning of the second quarter of the album until the end, things stay in that dreaded range of “decent to mediocre”, only occasionally showing signs of life. Mellow Man Ace isn’t a terrible emcee, but he definitely needs more potent production to hold the listener’s attention for an entire album. Lets see if he does that on The Brother With Two Tongues…

-Deedub

R.M.G. (I’m not sure what that acronym stands for…hit me in the comments if you know)was a four man crew out of Baytown Texas consisting of DJ Cue, Squeak, B. Selector and the lead emcee Rom, who most of you know as the actor Romany Malco (and who I will always specifically associate with his role as the drug dealer Conrad Shepard from the Showtime series Weeds). In 1991 the four man crew decided to leave the south for Los Angeles in pursuit of a record deal, and after signing a deal with Virgin Records, they would change their name from R.M.G. to the College Boyz, and release their debut album, Radio Fusion Radio in 1992.

Radio Fusion Radio had a couple of singles that made some noise on the charts, but the album didn’t move a ton of units nor did it receive a lot of praise from the streets. The College Boyz would go onto to release one more album on Virgin (which did even worse commercially than their debut) before fading into the dark abyss that ninety percent of hip-hop acts dwell after their 15 minutes of fame in this here rap game expires.

I’ve never listened to Radio Fusion Radio before today, but bought it used for a few dollars on the strength of the lead single that I dug back in the day.

Random Factoid: Romany Malco aka Rom, wrote MC Skat Kat’s verse on Paula Abdul’s mash 1989 hit “Opposites Attract”.

Victim of The Ghetto – This was the first single from Radio Fusion Radio, and one of two songs I was actually familiar with before today. Tony Joseph and Eric “Quicksilver” Johnson loop up the same Eddie Kendrick’s loop that Kanye and D-Dot would use many years later for Nas’ “Papa Was A Playa” instrumental, and it sounds just as dope as the latter. Rom uses it to sing praises to the hood, while simultaneously admitting to being mentally trapped by the ghetto, as he raps “born and raised on the same damn concrete, and I’ll be put to sleep in these streets”. Shoutout to Brenda Jean Sims who puts her foot into singing the hook on this one. This song sounds as dope today as it did 25 plus years ago.

Interlude: Radio Fusion –  The first of many interludes that are apparently from the fictitious Radio Fusion Radio station that the album is built around.

Hollywood Paradox – This was the second single from Radio Fusion Radio. The production duo of Dez & Adonis loop up a portion of The Isley Brothers “For The Love Of You” for the backdrop, and Rom’s talking about people seeking success in Hollywood. Ironically, on the song’s finally verse Rom says “I ain’t one to front on my own kind, Hollywood ain’t nothin’ to me but a mother fuckin’ sign”, which is another paradox, considering his current occupation. But I digress. Overall, this was solid.

Politics of A Gangster – I’ve never heard of I-ROC or Jammin’ James Carter before today, but they turn a Barry White loop into a monster instrumental on this one. Rom uses it to share a tell of a young boy who gets tangled up with the Mafia. Rom’s story isn’t all that interesting, but when your instrumental bangs like this, who cares about a storyline?

Underground Blues – The CB’s slow things down a bit as Rom shares a few sad hood stories over a melodic melancholic backdrop that supports his content, perfectly. I like this one.

Interlude: The Homeless – A failed attempt at a funny interlude.

Rigmarole – This song is all over place. Over the course of three verses, Rom talks about his dislike of jeri curls and gangbangin’ and his love for bangin’ out fat girls and getting into fights on the subway. Humphrey Riley & DJ Ron Ski’s instrumental is garbage, which only adds salt to the already open wound.

Interlude: After The Messages – Useless interlude.

Interlude: Peter Pump – See comments from “Interlude: The Homeless”.

Interlude: I Gotcha – Really? Who sequences an album with three consecutive interludes? Oh yeah… the College Boyz do.

Humpin’ – Trash.

Interlude: Phone Sex – I must admit that I love the seductively funky instrumental playing underneath the moaning mistress on this short interlude.

College Boyz In The House – Rom’s opening line for this one is “we be lookin’ for the lyric and the flow”; well keep looking, fellas. While you’re at it, keep your eyes peeled for a better instrumental for the song too, because this bootleg New Jack Swing shit is trash.

Interlude: Concerned Parent – This interlude was actually pretty funny. The first one that made me laugh all night.

Real Man – Rom spits sub par cliché lines about what a “real man” does for his woman, which doesn’t go beyond sexing her and providing for her. While Rom’s rhymes sound like “wah wah wah” when Charlie Brown’s teacher, Miss Othmar is speaking, the r&b tinged Dez & Adonis instrumental kind of works. And who knew that Squeak (he is 1/4 of the College Boyz) could actually sing? He sounds pretty nice on the hook. Ultimately, the song fails because of its choppy format and numerous interruptions, courtesy of females calling into the faux radio station (I did find the comments about Freddy Jackson and Luther Vandross having big booties hi-larious).

Interlude: Highroller Parade – More uselessness.

How Ta Act – The Double Platinum Production team (which consist of Humphrey Riley, DJ Ron Ski and Wiz) samples Funkadelics’ way too often tapped “(Not Just) Knee Deep” for the backdrop, and it doesn’t even sound remotely innovative or interesting. Rom doesn’t help matters by spitting corny bars like “You know I can’t stand coffee, so wake the hell up and get a sniff of this forty”. This was terrible.

Interlude: Tips of The Day – And even more uselessness.

Funky Quartet – Doo-wop meets hip-hop on this one. The instrumental (whose production is credited to a Karl F. Stephenson) borrows the bass line from Betty Wright’s “Tonight Is The Night” and adds some pretty piano chords to it. Rom’s rhymes are unimpressive (what’s up with his obsession of overdose, suicide, homicide, DOA and genocide? This is the third song on Radio Fusion Radio that he mentions what he refers to as the “five faces of death”) but Squeak and company sound dope harmonizing on the hook over the melodic backdrop.

Interlude: Who The Fuck Is This? – And this is the  final useless interlude of Radio Fusion Radio.

Politics of A Gangster Dub – This instrumental was so dope the College Boyz decided to bring it back without Rom’s rhymes, so you can enjoy it without any distractions (well, less distractions…the adlibs were left in). And Radio Fusion Radio is done.

Radio Fusion Radio could have been a strong EP, had it ended after “Underground Blues”. But it doesn’t. It continues on for 16 additional tracks, of which nine, yes, nine, are interludes (and only one of the nine is actually worth your while), and only two of the remaining six songs (excluding the “Politics of A Gangster Dub”) are worthy of your time. Hence, Radio Fusion Radio winds up being a directionless underwhelming collection of songs with way too many interludes, packaged in really bad cover artwork.

-Deedub

One of the reasons I love doing this blog is no matter how much I’m engulfed in the culture or how much of a hip-hop historian I think I am, there is always an artist and/or an album that I missed. Today’s post is one of those artist and albums. J Rock’s Streetwize.

According to the liner notes from the 2007 reissue of Streetwize, that I found at Cheapos in the used bins still wrapped in its original packaging for less than ten bucks (which is an awesome deal, since you can’t find it online for less than $100): In 1989 J Rock was a eighteen-year-old inspiring emcee out of Newburgh, NY. He was discovered by Jeff Murphy who at the time had an independent label called Ghetto Groovz. Murphy would help J Rock release his debut single in 1990 (“The Chosen One”), which didn’t make a ton of noise, but later that same year, he did make some noise when he was featured in the once highly coveted Unsigned Hype column of the December 1990 issue of The Source. J Rock and Murphy would take advantage of the newly found buzz and release J Rock’s debut album Streetwize in 1991.

J Rock would produce a large chunk of the album, with Eazy Moe Bee contributing, as well as DJ Premier. The album received favorable reviews upon its release, including a lukewarm three mics from The Source, even though Big B sung praises to J Rock throughout the review. Spine Magazine journalist, Chris Aylen was bold enough to say: “This (Streetwize) is like the Amerikka’s Most Wanted of the New York ghetto.

I say Chris Aylen was either on to something or on something.

Let Me Introduce Myself – J Rock begins Streetwize with a decent self-produced instrumental, and he sounds pretty decent on the mic as he displays some solid wordplay and witty bars.

Under Arrest – This is a short interlude with a funky piano loop that takes on a dark feel when J Rock adds what sounds like slamming bars to a jail cell. This all sets up the next song…

Streetwize – Our host uses the title song to address the daily happenings in the streets of any inner city across America. He talks about everything from baggin’ bad chicks, packin’ heat, selling drugs, dealing with cops, and sounds fly when he spits bars like “No drugs are being sold on the ave, I just laugh, cause I’m clean like a bath”. J Rock’s backdrop sounds like a slightly sped up version of the instrumental he used for “Let Me Introduce Myself”, with an added smooth horn loop on the hook, giving the track a little more life.

Brutality – J Rock spits one quick verse about what he calls “every black man’s nightmare”: getting their ass beat by a white cop for simply being black. Premo’s backdrop (with a co-production credit going to J Rock) has an eerie vocal sample that gives the song a dark feel, but I’m not crazy about the heavy drums he lays underneath it. Furthermore, J Rock forces his rhymes to fit the beat and it winds up sounding super amateurish.

The Pimp – Premo get his second production credit of the evening, and this one’s a banger. Dope bass line, sick loop and slick signature Premo cuts on the hook, are all elements that make this one a certified monster. It almost feels like Premo’s backdrop sparks J Rock’s creative energy, as he spits sharp battle rhymes and his flow sounds fresher than any of the songs prior to this one. This one goes hard, and will definitely make you want to bitch slap the shit out of somebody. #Pimpshit.

The Shakedown – J Rock clearly had some bad run-in’s with the po-po, since this is the third song out of the first six he talks about cops on. This time he calls out the crooked cops who harass and shakedown brothers in the name of the law, but really do it to pad their own pockets. J hooks up a decent instrumental that kind of reminds me of Scarface’s “Money And The Power”. J’s content is solid, unfortunately his stiff delivery derails all the positive aspects of this song.

Neighborhood Drug Dealer – I’m sure you can figure out what this song is about based on the song title, but if you can’t: J Rock paints the picture of a drug dealer from the hood and the fate that awaits all big time drug dealers who aren’t named Shawn Carter. The deep rumbling bass line gives credibility to the song, and the KRS-One vocal sample (courtesy of “Love’s Gonna Get’cha (Material Love)” from Edutainment) is a nice added touch to the hook.

Don’t Sleep On Me – Our host takes a brief break from his heavy street commentary, and lightens the mood with some light-hearted bars. J Rock’s rhymes and delivery on this one remind me of a combination of D.I.T.C members, Lord Finesse and AG. But as nice as J sounds on this one, his instrumental is the true star. This song is perfect for playing while cruisin’ (is cruisin’ still even a thing?) on a sunny summer afternoon.

Root Of All Evil – Possibly one of the most misquoted bibles verses is 1 Timothy 6:10, which reads the “love of money is the root of all evil”. Money in and of itself, is not evil, but the love (or lust) of it is the root of all evil. J Rock uses his verses on this song to call out preachers, politician, pushers and the general population and the ill deeds they partake in the pursuit of the green stuff, but like many, he omits that all important verb (love) from his hook. J’s lyrics are cool, but the instrumental is way too happy-go-lucky to support his content, in my opinion.

The Messiah – J Rock hooks up a dope instrumental that almost sounds like something Premo might have created. He then proceeds to talk his shit and spit battle bars as he claims to be the Messiah of this rap shit. God emcee, J Rock is not, but the song is still pretty dope, though.

Ghetto Law – Premier works his magic again and lays down a funky instrumental laced with his signature razor-sharp cuts and vocal scratches on the hook, as our host continues to boast of his lyrical greatness. It’s definitely not J Rock’s best lyrical performance on Streetwize, (I love the line “Knock you out like a lightweight, girls wanna swallow the lyrics that I ejaculate”), but he doesn’t derail the dopeness of Premo’s production work.

Around My Way – Over a decent backdrop Mr. Rock discusses the happenings in his neck of the woods, aka the concrete jungle. He covers everything from crackheads to drug dealers, to teenage moms and athletes who never reached their full potential. It’s not a terrible song, but definitely filler material.

The Real One – Over a laid back backdrop, our host spits one quick verse, again, boasting about he lyrical prowess. He does spit some clever bars like “I’m from upstate, my home’s a rough place, you wanna try and bass, then you’ll get a punched face” (again reminding me of Lord Finesse with his delivery and word connection), but the instrumental is sleepy and damn near put me to sleep…*yawn*.

Another Tough Guy – J Rock continues to walk on the dark side with his social commentary. This time he paints the picture of fatherless boy whose mom worked two jobs to put food on the table, and with both parents absent, the boy goes on to join a gang, sell drugs and ultimately, go to prison. A story that unfortunately, too many brothers have lived out. J Rock’s flow is kind of corny on this one, but the content hits home and the reggae-tinged instrumental is pretty slick.

Dead – Quick interlude that has a father getting word from the police that his son is dead. This sets up the next song…

Save The Children – Apparently this was the first single from Streetwize. J Rock flips the same Love Unlimited loop that Above The Law used on “Flow On” (from Livin’ Like Hustlers), as he discusses the violence that kids in America face and stresses the importance of making sure our youth are protected. The urgency of J Rock’s instrumental brings out our host’s strong content. And as bleak as J Rock’s content is, the uplifting horn loop during the chorus almost serves at a glimmer of hope for a brief moment. This was brilliantly.

Cazanova – J Rock’s in pimp mode on this one, as he brags about how much of a ladies man he is. It was kind of weird to have this sequenced after the masterpiece that was “Save The Children”, but sequencing couldn’t make this dragging instrumental sound entertaining.

Let’s Get It Together – Finally, after all the depressing content from the previous songs, J Rock looks to inspire as he calls for the black community to come together and make a change. Unfortunately, his bland backdrop does little to inspire and his flow is at its sloppiest.

Get Rek – For you younger whippersnappers, “catching wreck” was a slang term commonly used in the nineties by emcees when they felt they were in a zone with the flow, or as J Rock spells it “rek”. Over a nasty Easy Moe Bee instrumental, J does just what the title suggest. Next to “The Pimp” this is the best J’s rhymes and flow sound on Streetwize.

Neighborhood Drug Dealer (Remix) – J Rock taps Premo to produce this remix. While the original mix had more of a dark feel, thanks to a thick bass line, Premo gives it a bit of jazzy after hours feel that sounds pretty dope, especially during the hook when he brings the piano loop in.

The 2007 reissued print of Streetwize includes the following additional songs:

Don’t Sleep On Me (Remix) – This remix has absolutely nothing on the original.

Save The Children (Remix) – J Rock adds an additional verse to this remix. The instrumental is decent but too laid back and doesn’t sound intense enough to support J Rock’s dense content.

Streetwize lives up to its name, as it’s chock-full of dark and vivid street tales. Most of the content is depressing, but J Rock dilutes the darkness by throwing in a light-hearted song boasting of his lyrical or sexual prowess, every now and then. Speaking of lyrics, J Rock is far from the “Rap Messiah” that he claims to be throughout the album, but he is a decent emcee that shows flashes of greatness on a few songs (i.e. “The Pimp” and “Get Rek”). The production on Streetwize is what truly carries the album. The Premo produced tracks are the clear standouts, but don’t sleep on J Rock’s production skills, as he does a pretty solid job behind the boards, cooking up a few spectacular joints in the process (i.e. “Don’t Sleep On Me” and “Save The Children”). Streetwize is not a great album, but it definitely deserves more respect than just being remembered as that album Premo did some of his earliest production work on.

-Deedub

H.E.A.L., which is an acronym for Human Education Against Lies, is a movement that was formed and led by the Blastmaster KRS-One back in the early nineties. KRS-One’s beliefs and philosophies have changes plenty over the past thirty years, but in the early nineties he was pushing a humanist movement. He received a little heat from some of the black community and leaders who felt his agenda should have been more focused on the African-American struggle, and some of you may recall that X-Clan had a few words for Kris (to which Kris would of course, have a rebuttal), because they felt he should be teaching Afrocentricity and not an all-inclusive humanist message. Regardless of the criticism, KRS-One would gather together a bunch of his friends, who collectively would form H.E.A.L. and release the subject of today’s post Civilization Vs Technology.

The liner notes of Civilization Vs Technology spell out the album’s mission statement (the “all caps” format is not mine): HUMAN EDUCATION AGAINST LIES IS A FORWARD MOVEMENT FOR SELF CONSTRUCTION. WE BELIEVE THAT BEFORE YOU ARE A RACE, AN OCCUPATION OR A RELIGION YOU ARE HUMAN. The H.E.A.L. roster would range from hip-hop’s most respected emcees to newcomers, as KRS-One and his BDP crew members and affiliates would handle the bulk of the production duties.

I stumbled upon Civilization Vs Technology during one of my used cd bins scavenger hunts a few months ago. This is my first time listening to the album, so lets see how this one goes, shall we?

Heal Yourself – This was the lead single from CVTand the only song I’d ever heard going into this post. Harmony, Kid Capri, Big Daddy Kane, Freddy Foxxx (now known as Bumpy Knuckles), LL  Cool J, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, KRS-One, Ms. Melodie and Run DMC come together and address issues that effect all humanity. Because, as KRS-One so eloquently puts it “before you’re a color, first you’re human, teaching humanity it what we’re doing”. I love the content on this one, plus the D-Nice/KRS-One concocted instrumental is dope.

I Am What I Am – I never heard of Sister Carol before listening to CVT, but apparently she’s a female reggae artist. This is her solo joint and she definitely makes the most of it. Long time BDP associates Anton and Sidney Mills lay down a hectic paced, but nasty instrumental that Sister Carol chants all over with rabbit like speed. This was dope.

Anti-Ho – KRS-One hooks up a simple instrumental driven by a deep bouncy bass line for his ex-wife Ms. Melodie (rip) to spit one quick verse about saving a woman from the clutches of whoredom. During her verse, Melodie bust through a window (which is hi-larious to me when I visualize it) to rescue said promiscuous woman, who has apparently just dropped to her knees to give dome to a bunch of fellas. Now that’s some serious cock blocking, Ms. Melodie. KRS-One then ends the song with thought-provoking rhetoric and poses an interesting question to the listener. This song was the perfect balance of conscious and entertaining.

Whole World African – As you probably already can tell by this point, I’m not that well versed when it comes to reggae artist. Ska Danks is another reggae artist that I’ve never heard of before today, and this is his solo joint on CVT. One of the reasons I’m not that well versed in reggae artist or a huge fan of their music is because the pace they deliver their rhymes combined with their accents, makes it hard for me to understand what the hell they’re saying most of the time. That is also the case with Ska Danks. But have no fear, KRS-One’s smooth backdrop and the catchy hook save this song.

Don’t Hold Us Back – I’m not sure if Heather B was ever an official member of BDP, but she was definitely an affiliate. The first time I heard her rhyme was on “7 Deejays” from BDP’s Edutainment album. For this one, Kenny Parker slides HB a funky little diddly that she uses to spit one long verse about relationships. She sounds a little stiff and gets sloppy at certain points of the song, but still manages to sew together a pretty nice story line and drops a few sage like jewels for the listener to marvel at (“it’s not that they don’t love you or want to see you fail, but what’s stronger than love is the ego of a male”). This was dope. Shoutout to the whole Sway In The Morning crew.

Know Your Culture – This is equivalent to the reggae version of “Heal Yourself”. Kevin B, Sleepy Wonder (which is a dope alias), Reverend Badoo, Mickey Jarrett, Bigga Don, Shabba Ranks, Shelly Thunder, Lady English and Miss Linda (I’ve actually heard of a few of these guys) all come together to promote the importance of knowing yourself which is knowing your culture…I think. Unlike “Heal Yourself” this one is boring as hell and hard to listen to.

O’ Freedom – The yawn fest continues. I’ve never heard of Kushite, Musik G or Sky High before this listen and I’ll be completely fine if I never hear from them again in life. I’m all for the upliftment of Africa and Afrocentricity, but you still have to make the message sound entertaining, guys. Plus, Sky High’s instrumental is trash.

One Bright Day – Now, if you’re going to put a reggae artist on an album, no better choice than to get one of the heir’s of reggae royalty to do it. Bob Marley’s eldest son, Ziggy Marley and his band The Melody Makers join the H.E.A.L. movement and provide a simply song calling for unity within humanity. The deep grove is infectious and the repetitive lyrics actually work well for this song.

Family Got To Get Busy – Salt N Pepa and Ms. Melodie spit short verses, and in between and after their verses are short interjections about family from Kool Moe Dee, Grand Daddy I.U., Ziggy Marley, Kid Capri, DMC, KRS-One, Chuck D, Doug E. Fresh and Red Alert. Even though the song’s format is unorthodox it works, plus KRS-One’s summer breezy instrumental just feels good.

Correct Education –  KRS-One introduces a rapper named Ready Z, not to be confused with Steady B, which was another emcee that Kris worked with in the past (if you read this blog on a regular basis you already knew that, though…if not, read about it here). Ready Z actually sounds a little like Steady, just a conscious version. Ready spits one quick verse over his decent self-produced instrumental before getting the hell out of Dodge.

Family – Simone (who would later become KRS-One’s second wife, after he divorced Ms. Melodie… it’s kind of  interesting that he had them both appear on this project) gets a solo joint and a chance to showcase her voice as she sings about the importance of family. The only problem is Simone is not a good singer and sounds like a tone deaf female version of Keith Sweat. It also doesn’t help that KRS-One’s sappy instrumental makes the whole idea of family feel sad instead of something that should be celebrated. This song should have never made the final cut for CVT.

Civilization Vs Technology – This one starts off well with Harmony singing and KRS-One spittin’ rhymes about saving the earth over some rough violin stabs. Then the beat drops, the weird guitar licks and the godawful vocal of R.E.M.’s lead man, Michael Stipe comes in and the song completely falls apart. I’m not exaggerating when I say Stipe’s singing made me want to break the cd in two and light it on fire, but that probably wouldn’t help the earth and I’m sure KRS-One would come up with some theory of how my broken cd would affect the ozone layer too. This song sounds terrible, which is sad since there was a good message in the song.

Tighten Up Your Wig – WTF is this? Reminds me of a dark version of the theme song for Gilligan’s Island. And that’s not a compliment.

It was a great marketing plan by Kris and his staff to put a hip-hop all-star team together for the lead single, which turns out to be a great record, and the strongest song on the album. Even though the next four songs don’t include any A-list emcees, they are all solid records as well. And then things get messy. With the exception of Ziggy Marley’s joint and when the all-stars take the court again on “Family Got To Get Busy”, the rest of Civilization Vs Technology ranges from mediocre to straight trash, thanks to sub-par talent, horrible singing and horrific production. Civilization Vs Technology makes a conscious effort to be a conscious effort. Unfortunately, most of the consciousness isn’t entertaining so the messages fall on deaf ears and make for a less than luxurious listen.

-Deedub