Time Is Illmatic

Hope you’ll had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. You can file this one before He’ s The DJ, I’m The Rapper.

As I mentioned a few post ago, the 4th piece to my Biz Markie collection was due to arrive by the end of last week, and it did, in the form of Goin’ Off.

Goin’ Off is the debut album from Biz Markie, the O.G. of humorous hip-hop. As the regular readers know, I’ve written posts on The Biz Never Sleeps and I Need A Haircut, and other than a co-production credit going to his cousin/deejay Cool V,  Biz handled the production duties on both of those albums. So, I was a bit surprised to look in the liner notes of Goin’ Off and see that Marley Marl was credited for producing the album from beginning to end.

Goin’ Off didn’t move a ton of units but it did spawn a couple of mild hits, setting the stage for Biz’ sophomore effort The Biz Never Sleep, which would earn Biz a gold plaque as well as don one of the most commercially successful singles in hip-hop history. The Source also included Goin’ Off on their list of 100 greatest hip-hop albums of all time.

This is my first time listening to Goin’ Off in its entirety. Being that it was released in ’88 and at that stage Marley Marl’s production was hit and miss on his other works of the same time period, I’m curious on how this will play out.

Pickin’ Boogers – What better way to kick off the first song on his debut album then with a comical song like this. Over a simple Marley Marl drum beat Biz Markie recites Big Daddy Kane written rhymes about pickin’ boogers, and delivers them in a fashion only the Biz can. I mean, do you really think Kane would write rhymes for himself about such a juvenile subject? This was pretty entertaining. I’ll never look at spaghetti the same after listening to this.

Albee Square Mall – Over a funky Marley instrumental Biz shows love for his favorite mall in the entire world and invites TJ Swan to butcher serenade the Albee Square Mall during the hook. I hope the Albee Square Mall compensated Biz for the advertising he gave them on this one.

Biz Is Goin’ Off – Over a simple mid-tempo instrumental, the Biz makes a little music with his mouth (I love the high pitched squeally noise he makes at the beginning and end of the song) and mixes some comedy into his boastful rhymes for this title track. This was decent.

Return Of The Biz Dance – One of my hip-hop record pet peeves: when the sequel of a song is sequenced on the album before the original. This is the remix to the original that we’ll get to in just a few tracks. Not a great song, but I’ve heard worse.

Vapors – Marley samples James Brown’s “Papa Don’t Take No Mess” and hooks up a funky backdrop that Biz uses to dedicate a verse each to TJ Swan, Big Daddy Kane, himself, and Cool V as he repaints how people use to dis each of them but caught the vapors once they got one. Classic.

Make The Music With Your Mouth Biz – This was the second single released from Goin’ Off. Over a decent instrumental (that samples Isaac Hayes’ “Ike’s Mood”, which Marley has sampled at least three times over the past 25 years) the Biz spits random rhymes and drops in an occasional beatbox.  This is a remix, which is kind of annoying as it cuts out chunks of Biz’ rhymes.

Biz Dance (Part One) – The sequel was definitely better than the original.

Nobody Beats The Biz – I believe this was the second single released from Goin’ Off. Over a dope Marley instrumental the Biz spits arguably his best verses of the album while TJ Swan sings out of tune praises to Biz on the chorus. In Brian Coleman’s book Check The Technique the Biz says that he wrote this song (even though the liner notes credit Big Daddy Kane as the writer) after a group called Brothers released a record called “You Can’t Win” on B-Boy Records (the same independent label that BDP released their debut album Criminal Minded on) firing shots at the Biz. This may be the most vocally sampled song in the history of hip-hop. Seriously, there are no less than 100 vocal samples that have been taken from this song and use in other songs over the years. You don’t believe me? Listen and count them off.

This Is Something For The Radio – Over a decent Marley instrumental the Biz gives his shoutouts and rambles on about just about every and anything that comes to mind. Next…

Cool V’s Tribute To Scratching – Biz rhymes praises to his deejay Cool V as he adds scratches in between Biz’ verses. In Brian Coleman’s Check The Technique, Biz says Cool V originally wanted to do a track using all Michael Jackson records but couldn’t get them cleared, so they went with this.

Of the three Biz Markie albums that I’ve listened to and wrote about in the past few months, Goin’ Off is easily my least favorite. It’s not terrible, as it has a few undeniable classics, but the majority of the 10 tracks range from blah to hot garbage. This might come off as blasphemous to some but the biggest issue I have with Goin’ Off is Marley Marl’s lackluster production. I know Marley’s a highly revered hip-hop producer, rightfully so, but Biz is no slouch behind the boards either, as both The Biz Never Sleeps and I Need A Haircut are testaments to. Biz sounds more comfortable rhyming over his own beats, which may also have something to do the fact he was more involved with writing his own rhymes after Goin’ Off. Biz’ colorful personality does shine through at moments on Goin’ Off, but only enough to make the album an average listen.

-Deedub

For those keeping record at home: file this one after Amerikkka’s Most Wanted.

Kevin Madison, better known to the world as K-Solo, is a New York native that came of age during the golden era of hip-hop. He was known for his gimmick knack of spelling words in his rhymes. He is also known for his ongoing feud with DMX, who he met in prison while doing a bid back in the eighties. The beef was sparked over an argument of who originated the spelling rhyme style, as both K-Solo and DMX claim to have invented it. The feud has been documented on the Beef series and K-Solo has even taken a lie detector test to prove that he is truly the inventor of the style (the result of that test were inconclusive) and he has also challenged DMX to a boxing match to resolve the matter. I personally can’t believe this nonsense had carried on for nearly 30 years over a gimmick style that no one gives two shits about, including the two parties involved at this point. And to make matters worse, the style isn’t even that nice.

I first became familiar with K-Solo when he annihilated EPMD’s “Knick Knack Patty Wack” joint in ’89. PMD and Erick were both formidable emcees but K-Solo stole the show and completely shut it down with his hungry and aggressive verse. He would become the first member of EPMD’s Hit Squad and his verse (and his affiliation with the legendary duo) would lead to him signing a deal with Atlantic records. He released his debut album Tell The World My Name in 1990 and with the exception of one track (which was produced by Erick Sermon) PMD would produce the entire album. Tell The World My Name was well received and would go on to move a decent number of units.

K-Solo would go onto release one more album on Atlantic (Time’s Up, which I’ll get to at some point down the road) before falling out with EPMD and the Hit Squad and moving to L.A. and signing with Death Row, where he got lost in the shuffle with the Suge Knight/Dr. Dre fall out during the early nineties. More recently he started his own label Waste Management (which is a terrible name for a hip-hop label) and formed a new crew of spitters called the Sharp Shooters, in which Canibus was once affiliated, I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about the rest of them. Solo’s been talking about the release of his third album, tentatively titled There Will Be Hell To Pay, for almost a decade now, but to date nothing has surfaced. But we’re not concerned with that now.

We’re going back 25 years when a young Kevin Madison just wanted the world to know his name. Or his alias.

Spellbound – This was the first single from Tell The World My Name. Over a decent Erik Sermon produced instrumental, K-Solo kicks off his debut by showing the world how well he can s-p-e-l-l four and five letter words. I’ve never been mesmerized by the whole spelling words in your rhymes thing. He then feels the need to say the word after he spells it as if his verse is a hip-hop Spelling B or he thinks the listener’s illiterate. I don’t know who created the style but DMX does a better job with the style on his version of “Spellbound”, as he incorporates it throughout his rhymes, while Solo only dabbles with it from time to time. The hook is a vocal sample of his verse from EPMD’s “Knick Knack Patty Wack”, and he actually revisits a portion of that verse on the second verse of this song. Unfortunately it’s not delivered with the same tenacity as his “Knick Knack Patty Wack” verse. Overall, this was a decent track.

Rockin’ For My Hometown – Solo dedicates this one to his hometown Central Islip, NY aka CI, and for the second consecutive song he recycles a portion of his verse from “Knick Knack Patty Wack”. Solo also shows his deejay Biggie Smalls (no, not that Biggie Smalls) some love on this one. I like PMD’s simple but hard instrumental, as Solo’s rhymes match it perfectly.

Everybody Knows Me – PMD hooks up a monster instrumental that sounds like the perfect backdrop for Rakim do devour (I absolutely love the sample of what sounds like someone touching numbers on the key pad of one of those old school touch tone phones, that PMD strategically sprinkles throughout the song). Instead, K-Solo gets his paws on it and does a serviceable job as he tells his version of the “no one believed in me but I made” story, which has become a staple song idea throughout the history hip-hop.

Speed Blocks – Over some sick drums and guitar licks Solo is finally able to recapture some of the aggression and hungry he gave us on “Knick Knack Patty Wack”. This was fire.

Fugitive – This was the third single released from Tell The World My Name. PMD loops up Grover Washington Jr’s “Knucklehead” for the backdrop as Solo revisits the true story that landed him behind bars after being convicted on assault charges. I love the bass line and the epic feel of PMD’s instrumental. Solo’s storyline fits perfect within its scope.

Tales From The Crack Side – Solo spins a bizarre tale about one morning when PMD (at least I think its PMD. Solo refers to him as “R” at the beginning of the song but at the tail end of the song he blames P for giving him the crack, so either PMD has a few different aliases, R and P are two different people and Solo purposely confused the two in the song to show the effects of the crack, or Solo just made a blooper.) comes by the crib and offers his pal crack, because that’s what good friends do, I guess. Solo must have believed the rock would enhance his rhymes so he smokes it, grabs the pad and pen and before you know it his rhyme comes to life, jumps off the page nearly kills his sister, rapes his girl, and leaves PMD’s head bleeding after pounding him with a hammer. But was it the rhyme that did all these dastardly deeds or our crackhead host? PMD’s instrumental and the song itself are lackluster. Kudos to Solo for the unique song concept, though.

Your Mom’s In My Business – This was the second single released from Tell The World My Name and is probably the closet thing to a pop record in Solo catalog, as it stands out like a sour thumb compared to the rest of the songs on the album. Over a bangin’ bass line brought to you courtesy of a sample of Frankie Beverly & Maze’s “Before I Let Go”, Solo explains to his girl, that her moms is trying to ruin their relationship and if she doesn’t check her, he’s going to call it quits. Solo’s verse about the three of them going to the drive-in together and how ma dukes keeps sending him on concession stand runs for more snacks still makes me chuckle. Slept on classic.

Real Solo Please Stand Up – I know Solo had beef with DMX over the whole spelling gimmick but I’ve always wondered who the culprit is that he’s accusing of stealing his “Solo” moniker (if you’re reading this Tony A Wilson and have the scoop, hit me in the comments, bro). PMD lays down a serious funk sample for Solo to talk tough and make threats of bodily harm over, and once again he revisits his verse from “Knick Knack Patty Wack”. But even with the regurgitated rhymes, this was nice.

Renee-Renee – K-Solo spits rhymes on this one that would even make Too-Short blush. Through the course of three verses he talks about the promiscuity of a girl around his way named Renee. Apparently her sexual appetite was awaken at the age of eight when Renee hid in the closest to watch her mom get banged out by her boyfriend. After they were done, Renee’s mom goes to make her man a snack and Renee comes out of the closest and gives her mom’s boyfriend head. I’m sure this is Jared Fogle’s favorite hip-hop song. Oh how the times have changed as there is absolutely no way this song would be released on a major label in today’s politically correct climate. As a juvenile the lyrics on this one were pretty entertaining and arousing. Now that I’m all grown up with daughters of my own, it’s a little uncomfortable to listen to. The PMD/Al B instrumental still sounds dope, though.

Solo Rocks The House – Decent.

The Messenger – Over hard drums and a bouncy bass line, Solo shows he’s not only a storyteller and battle rapper, but he’s also got a conscious side. On this one Solo speaks about his Islamic faith and the struggle of being a black man in America. This was pretty solid..

Drums Of Death – For the finale PMD creates a raw backdrop, complete with hard drums and chaotic samples that blend together to form the perfect battle instrumental as Biggie Smalls adds some well placed scratches to it. K-Solo is in battle mode and does a serviceable job. I’d be very interested to hear how Kane or Rakim sound attacking this rough instrumental.

After listening to Tell The World My Name upon its release back in the day, I wasn’t crazy about it. I liked the singles “Fugitive” and “Your Mom’s In My Business” but I thought the rest of the album was so-so and that Solo was only an average emcee, never matching the ferociousness he showed on “Knick Knack Patty Wack”. 25 years later, Solo still sounds average but PMD’s hard production sounds so much more entertaining than it did back then. There are a few slow moments on Tell The World My Name but most of the production will keep your head bobbing, and while Solo is not stellar on the mic, he delivers enough not to disappoint, making Tell The World My Name a solid debut.

-Deedub

For those keeping track at home file this one after All Hail The Queen.

After reviewing I Need A Haircut and finding it pretty entertaining, I made mention of getting a hold of the rest of Biz Markie’s catalog, and by the end of this week I will have successful tracked down and/or stumbled upon all 4 of Biz Markie’s first four albums (I’m not too concerned with hearing his last album Weekend Warriors, but I’m sure I’ll run across it eventually). So today’s post marks (no pun intended) the beginning of my review of the rest of The Diabolical’s back catalog.

The Biz Never Sleeps is the sophomore album from hip-hop’s first court jester. It is Biz Markie’s most successful album to date on the strength of his biggest hit and one of the most commercially successful songs in hip-hop history (more on that in a minute). Like I Need A Haircut, The Biz Never Sleeps was entirely produced by Biz with a co-production credit going to his cousin and deejay Cool V.

Without further adieu lets get this circus album under way…

Dedication – As he would later do on I Need A Haircut, the Biz opens The Biz Never Sleeps with a shoutout track or as he refers to it as a “dedication record”. The instrumental is solid but it sounds a little too somber to be giving shoutouts to those still in the land of the living. With all the recent controversy surrounding Drake not writing his own rhymes, it was kind of interesting to hear Biz shoutout Big Daddy Kane for penning some of his shit (most famously “The Vapors”). I wonder if Kane wrote anything for The Biz Never Sleeps since he’s not credited in the liner notes.

Check It Out – Over a funky bass line and mid tempo groove Biz proves that before Trick Daddy and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, he was the first hip-hopper to love the kids. Over the course of 3 verses Biz talks to the youth about the importance of staying in school and away from drugs. Normally when these topics are covered in hip-hop the artist tends to come off corny. Biz doesn’t completely escape sounding cheesy but he fares better than the many emcees who have tried to inspire the youth over the years.

The Dragon –  This is vintage Biz Markie. Over a sick sample of Baby Huey’s “Hard Times” (which has been used a few different times over the years (I know someone from the Wu-Tang used it, though I can’t recall who or what song at the moment) Biz discusses the dreaded “dragon”. The dragon is code name for body odor, be it the hair, the breath, the pits, the junk, or feet. Good stuff.

Spring Again –  I believe this was released as the second single from The Biz Never Sleeps. Over a feel good slightly disco like groove that samples no less than 5 different songs and ironically evokes summertime vibes, Biz discusses the wonderful weather spring brings and relationships. Of course he leaves his signature on the song with his humorous singing of the chorus. Nicely done.

Just A Friend – In case you hadn’t figured it out by now this is the song I was referring to in the intro about being a commercial success. If you’ve never heard this song before you must live under a rock as it’s been used in commercials over the years and I’m sure you can catch it playing on some radio station or tv show somewhere in the world on a daily basis; hell, I even heard it playing at the casino this past weekend. For those not familiar with it: Biz borrows handsomely from Freddie Scott’s “(You) Got What I Need” as he spins a tale about a college girl named Blah, Blah, Blah, who claims she doesn’t have a man, just a “friend”, until Biz goes to visit Blah, Blah, Blah at her dorm and catches her in a lie. Biz’ out of tune singing of the chorus rockin’ the Amadeus wig in the video just adds to the classicness of this song.

She’s Not Just Another Woman (Monique) – Over a soulful instrumental Biz reminisces about a girl he’s loved since childhood and the pleasant surprise he gets when he bumps into her years later after they’re both all grown up. Biz really struggles with his flow on this one but no one buys a Biz Markie album to hear mesmerizing flow and content anyway, so he gets a pass.

Mudd Foot – For the second time in as many posts I get to mention Bill Cosby. This time it’s because Biz names his dance (which he apparently thought was going to sweep the nation) after Muddfoot Brown who was the old man who gave advice to the Cosby Kids on Bill Cosby’s Fat Albert cartoon series. Biz samples a portion of Muddfoot’s theme music for the instrumental and it may be the sickest instrumental on the entire album. Really, it’s that good. Who would have thought Bill Cosby would have this many connections to hip-hop.

A Thing Named Kim – If this were released today it would be called “Katelyn Jenner” (on second thought, with all the political correctness and sensitivity in this day an age, maybe not). Over a mid-tempo but hard instrumental (Downtown Science would later use the same sample on their record “Catch The Wave”) Biz repaints an evening at the club that drinks and dimmed lights almost cause him to make a terrible mistake. Hi-larious!

Me Versus Me – This is apparently supposed to be a battle between Biz’ beatbox (which works as the instrumental) and his rhymes. His first verse was kind of nice, but from their on things get progressively worse, so clearly the beatbox wins this battle. While the song is only decent, it was kind of refreshing to hear Biz spit real freestyle rhymes as the song closes.

My Man Rich – One of the rare serious moments in Biz Markie’s catalog. Over a somber instrumental Biz reminisces over his childhood friend Rich, who had good intentions but got caught up in the fast life and fell victim to the streets. Biz’s flow has never been tight but it completely collapses on this one. Maybe he was overcome with emotion when recording it, I’m not sure, but it’s almost embarrassing.

I Hear Music – Over a smooth soulful groove Biz discusses the legitimacy of hip-hop as an art form and declares that it’s here to stay. Over 25 years later hip-hop is bigger and more relevant than ever, so it’s save to say he was right. This was nice.

Biz In Harmony – Hot garbage.

Things Get A Little Easier – The Biz closes with a public service announcement about the dangers of crack. Over a solid mid tempo instrumental Biz paints the picture of three different subjects: subject 1 is the crack dealer who ends up getting busted and doing time, and the final two subjects are once productive and attractive women turned out by the crack, affectionately known as crackheads. He brings in a sick saxophone sample and invites some kids in to sing the hook, which was a nice touch. Solid way to close the album.

The Biz wins again. Despite his limited flow (that sound downright awful at times on this album) the Biz is able to create a solid album on the strength of his entertaining subject matter mixed with charisma, comic relief, and quality production. Over the course of 13 songs there is really only one moment that I felt the urge to hit the skip button. The Biz Never Sleeps may be remembered by casual fans as the album with “Just A Friend” but it has so much more to offer than that as their a handful of much stronger songs on the album.

The artwork for The Biz Never Sleeps comically portrays Biz Markie as a mad scientist mixing chemicals as if he’s in search of the perfect formula. The Biz Never Sleeps may not be perfect but Biz definitely found a winning formula to keep the listener entertained.

-Deedub

I first became familiar with Nice & Smooth in 1991 with the singles from their sophomore effort Ain’t A Damn Thing Changed: “Hip-hop Junkies,” “How To Flow,” Cake And Eat It, Too,” and arguably, the biggest songs in the duo’s catalog “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow”. After reviewing Ain’t A Damn Thing Changed a few months ago, the historian in me wanted to check out where and when it all started for the duo, so I tracked down a copy of their self titled debut Nice & Smooth.

Nice & Smooth was released on the now defunct label Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records, where they were once label mates with EPMD (which makes me wonder how a Nice & Smooth/EPMD collabo would have sounded back in the day). Greg Nice and Smooth B would produce the entire album and also incorporate their DJ and one half of the legendary radio deejay duo The Awesome 2, Teddy Ted into the um, mix.

Nice & Smooth produced a few minor hits which did create a little buzz for the duo but unsurprisingly it didn’t sell a ton of units. I don’t really have anything else to add so lets just get into the album already.

Early Rise – Nice & Smooth start things off with an instrumental that samples the theme song from Bill Cosby’s Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids cartoon, and with all the controversy surrounding that man lately, it once again proves Nasir Jones statement true: time is illmatic. Greg Nice and Smooth B approach this track like they do 99.9 percent of their songs: they both spit a verse full of random rhymes and they throw in a nonsensical hook and song title, since it would be kind of weird to have an album full of untitled songs.

Something I Can’t Explain – Nice & Smooth slow things way down as Smooth B, Greg Nice, and Teddy Ted each take a verse to discuss their feelings about the women in their lives that they have left heartbroken or vice versa. The sappy instrumental sounds like it may have sampled a portion of Heatwave’s “Always And Forever”, and it’s kind of enjoyable, especially on a gloomy day. It’s everything else about the song doesn’t work: the song’s 6 minute length feels like eternity, all three parties lyrics are all over the place, and the uncredited female vocalists singing on the hook are clearly tone-deaf. Furthermore, this was a very odd place to put a song like this in the sequencing. You have to hide these type of songs in the middle of the album. Or even better, leave them off completely.

Perfect Harmony – After a useless acapella singing intro by the trio, a sick up-tempo instrumental kicks in, complete with a bombastic trumpet sample on he hook. Nice and Smooth each spit a verse before they quickly get the hell out of Dodge. Smooth B, who I’ve always considered the sharper lyricist of the two, gets out spit by his partner in rhyme on this one for the first time I can ever remember. Regardless, this song is fire.

We Are No. 1 – Ah, so this is where Nice & Smooth’s relationship with the often off-key group Pure Blend began. Pure Blend and Modesty sing the hook over heavy drums and a sample of Joe Cocker’s “Woman To Woman” record (EPMD would use the same sample later that year for their classic record “Knick Knack Patty Wack” that would introduce K-Solo to the world (who I’ll be discussing very soon, so stay tuned), and years later Dr. Dre’s would also use it for the remix of 2pac’s mega hit and west coast anthem “California Love”. But I digress). Both Greg Nice and Smooth B sound uncomfortable rhyming over it but at least they’re on the same page as they both drop rhymes about getting the ladies. Once again, the song title and hook didn’t really tie in to the song’s content.

No Delayin’ – Over a beautiful piano sample the duo each spit one random but very entertaining verse. Smooth B walks away with this one as he drops one of his best verses of the evening, leaving proof that he is truly underappreciated in the hip-hop game. Teddy Ted scratches in Bob James’ “Nautilus” at the tail end of the song which clashes with the instrumental like a clued up Compton Crip walking through a Piru Blood neighborhood. Other than that small misstep, this was nice.

Funky For You – This was the first single released from Nice & Smooth. The duo take a War sample and turn it into a smooth groove full of good vibes. Greg Nice, like usual, bats first, spilling freestyle rhymes all over the track, before Smooth B swoops in to wrap (or rap) things up turning in one of his more philosophical verses (Mos Def would even pay homage to Smooth B’s verse as he used a portion of this verse and his verse from “Dwyck” on his “Perfect Timing” record from the True Magic album), which sounds nice over this breezy instrumental that just makes you want to cool out in the shade and drink a little lemonade. Classic.

Skill Trade – Over hard drums and an old school break beat Nice and Smooth pick up the pace a bit and get into some more traditional hip-hop shit. This was decent.

More And More Hits – Have I mentioned how it’s almost laughable that the majority of Nice & Smooth’s song titles and hooks have nothing to do with the actual lyrical content of their songs? On this one Smooth B actually sings the hooks about the duo “coming back with more and more hits” but both spit a verse about hooking up with a lady. I like the smooth Mary Jane Girls sample (which Kane also use later the same year on his classic “Smooth Operator”) used for the instrumental. The rest of the song was pretty forgettable, though.

Ooh Child – This is pretty much Nice & Smooth’s ode to their deejay, Teddy Ted. Over a simple drum beat and a vocal sample from the Five Stairsteps’ song with the same title on the hook, Nice and Smooth drop rhymes to praise their legendary deejay as he places a few scratches in between their kind words. Not a terrible song but the production and Nice & Smooth’s verses sound like this may have been recorded a few year prior to the rest of the album.

Hit Me – Before things get started Greg Nice warns the listener that this song contains explicit lyrics. Then he and Smooth B dedicate this to a few of their dead homies before Greg Nice goes into a nonsensical tale about rhyming, singing, a girl, taking said girl to the movies, oral sex, finger bangin’, and he ends is verse smoking a blunt. After listening to this its clear that Greg Nice should never get the keys to a solo joint again. He was actually working on a solo project a few years ago, but I don’t think a full length ever materialize. Based on this song, it may be a good thing that it didn’t.

Gold – Over a simple break beat and the omnipresent hip-hop sample from Barry White’s “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby”, Greg Nice, Smooth B, and Teddy Ted each spit short verses about their love for jewelry. Like “Ooh Child” this one sounds like it was recorded years before the rest of Nice & Smooth.

Dope Not Hype – Over a simple up-tempo break beat Nice & Smooth each spit a verse and peace out like they’re running late for a date with Sanaa Lathan. Greg Nice’s verse was cool but there is a reason Smooth B normally bats last, as he rips his verse and then drops the mic a la Sexual Chocolate before leaving.

Nice & Smooth – Over a simple drum beat and a continuous vocal loop of someone doing a reggae chant (that is bound to get stuck in your head after a few listens) the duo tag team the mic and drop more random bars for the next 4 minutes. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that their hook has to be in the running for corniest of all time.

Dope On A Rope – And just in case you weren’t annoyed to death by the reggae chant from the previous song, are hosts are sure to bug the shit out of you as they bring it back on this song. They also dropped the corny hook in exchange for a garbage one.

Sum Pimped Out – This is nothing more than a glorified shoutout song. Greg Nice and Smooth B start this off by dedicating it to the ladies before Greg takes the next few minutes to shoutout all their peeps. I like the instrumental, which samples James & Bobby Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet”. It would have been nice to hear the duo spit bars over it, though.

Now that I’ve listened to Nice & Smooth repeatedly for the last few weeks, the title to their sophomore effort Ain’t A Damn Thing Change makes perfect sense. Besides the absence of their Deejay Teddy Ted on the second album, Nice & Smooth use the same formula on their debut: random rhymes and song titles with nonsensical hooks. I don’t have a problem with sticking with the game plan if it works, but like Ain’t A Damn Thing Change, the production on Nice & Smooth is spotty and a chunk of the song ideas and lyrics sound uninspired, The album would have went down a lot nicer and smoother had they shaved 5 or 6 songs off of it.

-Deedub

The next four post will be rewinds of 4 albums I recently bought but were all released prior to 1991.  Since I was unable to track down the exact release date for this one, for those keeping track at home, insert this one right after Straight Out The Jungle.  

Before today, I have never heard a single song from Masters Of Ceremony. I bought Master Of Ceremony’s Dynamite for one reason, and one reason only: Grand Puba Maxwell, who in my opinion is one of the most underrated emcees of all time. A few years ago I was reading an article about Grand Puba that made mention of MOC and their lone album Dynamite, and since I’m a fan of Puba’s I was curious to hear what he sounded like in the beginning, so I picked it up. Like most heads I became familiar with Puba during his Brand Nubian One For All days, the album that he pretty much turned the second half into a Puba solo project. But before his off again on again relationship with Brand Nubian and his solo career, there was the Masters Of Ceremony.

Masters Of Ceremony was the three-man crew made up of Grand Puba and his cousin Dr. Who, on the mic, and DJ Shabazz on the ones and two’s. In 1985 the trio released their first 12″ single “Crime” on Strong City Records, which was a vanity label on 4th & Broadway, which was a subsidiary of Island Records, which I’m sure these are facts that only super hip-hop nerds reading this blog will even remotely care to know. In 1986 they would release two more 12″ singles “Sexy” and “Cracked Out” (both I’ll discuss a little later in this post) that created a bit of a buzz for the group, at least in New York. Finally, in 1988 Masters Of Ceremony released their debut and last album Dynamite with Grand Puba handling the bulk of the production duties with an occasional assist from DJ Shabazz.

According to Wikipedia  Dynamite received some critical acclaim, but due to the fact I don’t know a soul, other than myself, that owns this album or have ever heard any one talk about how sick Dynamite was, I question the validity of that statement and have a sneaking suspicion that Puba, Dr. Who, or Shabazz added that bit to Puba’s Wikipedia page. One thing we can be sure of is Dynamite didn’t sell enough copies to earn Masters Of Ceremony a wooden plaque, which would eventually lead to the trio disbanding.

Dynamite – Dynamite opens with a minimal Puba/Shabazz instrumental that Puba and Dr. Who use to live up to the group’s name. Puba doesn’t sound as polished as he would become in the next few years but by ’88 standards he and Dr. Who both sound pretty solid.

Keep On Moving – Puba and Who sound like they drank 100 Monsters as the proceed to scream all over this track. It almost sounds like they were trying to ape Ultramagnetic MC’s Ced Gee’s rhyme style but instead they come off sounding like the parents of Onyx. Either way, the style doesn’t suit Puba or Who well. To make matters worst, the instrumental isn’t even remotely aggressive, which makes their screaming sound even more ridiculous.

Redder Posse – Right from the jump Puba lets the listener know what their intentions are with this track, as he starts if off by saying “We gonna cross the chart totally on this one”. Then Puba’s cheesy Casio keyboard sounding r&b instrumental drops and he and Who attempt to sing for the next 6 minutes, along with a some occasional reggae chants from Don Barron and some misguided adlibs from an uncredited female vocalist.  This was bad, in the proper sense of the word. And what the hell is a “redder” anyways?

One To The Knot – Over a simple drum beat, faint guitar licks, and Shabazz scratches, Puba and Who take turns on the microphone and both sound serviceable in the process. This was decent.

Rock Steady – See “One To The Knot”. Only, minus the faint guitar licks.

Sexy – This ode to beautiful women was one of the 12″ singles MOC released back in ’86. Puba kind of loses focus on the subject at hand as he goes from trying to get with a beautiful honey to a rant on how ugly and nappy headed her friend is, before ending the verse by dissing them both. Dr. Who sticks to the script and drops the smoothest line of the song with “more curves than an “S”, yes God did bless”. Don Barron stops by to do some more chanting in between verses. He kind of sounds like Heavy D, especially when he does the “badidlydidlydidlydi” thing, only more deadpan. This was pretty weak.

Master Move – Now this is more like it. Puba hooks up a funky instrumental that sounds light years ahead of the rest of the production thus far on Dynamite. Don Barron is invited back on this one and probably gets more mic time then Puba and Who. This was decent.

Cracked Out – This is the other 12″ single MOC released in ’86. Puba and Dr. Who discuss a few of the people they know who became victims of the crack pipe, which in case you’ve been hiding under a rock (pun intended), hit urban America pretty hard in the eighties. Props for the message but Puba’s instrumental is garbage, and he and Who’s rhymes sound super dated compared to the rest of the songs on Dynamite to this point.

Rock With The Master – MOC invite some uncredited female vocalists to sing the refrain and use some of the same melodies from The Staples Singers’ record “Do It Again” over a bouncy Puba base line. This was pleasant enough.

Hard Core – Puba hooks up a breezy instrumental, which is kind of enjoyable, but it doesn’t quite sound like anything close to what I would refer to as hard core. Who sounds cool (no, that was not a question), but Puba steals the show as drops some of his best rhymes of the album on this one.

Considering Dynamite was released in ’88, Puba and Dr. Who do sound pretty solid on the mic, even though it was kind of odd not to hear Puba talk about skinz and his 5 percent mathematics for the duration of an entire album. Dynamite suffers on the production side as Puba and Shabazz’ work is inconsistent and could use a lot tighter mix. As is, most of the songs sound like demos and you can tell that a portion of the songs were old ones that they added on just to fill out a full length release. Dynamite is mediocre at best. Only hip-hop historians and Grand Puba die hards dare bother with this one. Unfortunately, I fall into both of those categories.

-Deedub

I Normally Don’t Do This will be a segment where I review albums in my collection that aren’t necessarily hip-hop albums but are influenced enough by hip-hop that I’ll give them some love (or hate) on TimeIsIllmatic.

The seventies gave birth to Blaxploitation films, which if you’re not familiar with the term, a Blaxploitation film is a low-budget (which translates to low quality) movie, starring black actors and made for a black audience (i.e. Sweet Sweetback, Foxy Brown, and Superfly). With these films came music soundtracks to accompany them filled with funk and soulful songs from some of the music industries most well-respected soul artists of the time, including Curtis Mayfield, Roy Ayers, and Marvin Gaye, just to name a few. As the seventies and disco said goodbye, so did the era of Blaxploitation films. Spike Lee would emerge in the mid eighties to carry on the black movie legacy directing movies like Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, and X. Lee’s success would open the door for more black directors, which would lead to a string of “urban” movies, or as I affectionately refer to them as, hood movies. The nineties gave birth to some classic hood movies, like New Jack City, Boyz N The Hood, Menace II Society, South Central, Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, and Juice.

The story line behind Juice is of 4 childhood friends coming of age and their struggle to become men, make away for themselves and be respected. Things start to fall apart when 2pac’s menacing character Bishop, becomes consumed with obtaining “the juice”, which leads to him killing his homie Raheem and going to war with Omar Epp’s character, Q. Many believe Juice was the turning point in 2pac life as he would start to act more and more like Bishop in his own life, until his untimely death in ’96. Oscar Wilde was right when he said life imitates art. But I digress.

Like the Blaxploitation movies of the seventies, the hood movies of the nineties would also provide music soundtracks with songs from soul artist of the time. The Juice Soundtrack was released on the last day of 1991, and while it did include a few r&b songs the majority of it was hip-hop from some of the greatest to ever do it.

Yes, I own the New Jack City and Boyz N The Hood soundtracks. I chose not to include them on this blog because they’re both about half r&b, half hip-hop and also, because this is my blog and I can do with it whatever I want, son. Maybe someday when I’m current with this blog I’ll do something similar with my movie soundtrack collection. Don’t hold your breath, though.

Uptown Anthem – This was originally released as a bonus song on the cd format of Naughty By Nature’s self titled album, released a few months earlier in ’91. In case you didn’t read my review on Naughty By Nature, Kay Gee creates a bleak background with his dark synth sounds that Treach devours like Terio with a twelve piece at Popeye’s (“Ooh Kill em’). Oh yeah, Vin Rock raps on this one too.

Juice (Know The Ledge) – I believe this was the lead single, which is only right considering it’s the title song and all. Two fifths of the Bomb Squad hook up a rough up-tempo backdrop for the God emcee Rakim who proceeds to obliterate the track almost effortlessly. When you listen to this song, you are listening to a master at work. Bonafide classic.

Is It Good To You – You may recall Heavy D used this same instrumental, hook, and song title on his Peaceful Journey album, even releasing it as a single. Teddy Riley (who also produced Hev’s version) liked the instrumental so much he decided to lend it to Tammy Lucas to reuse and sing over, and she does a solid job. Matter of fact, I think I like this version better than Hev’s.

Sex, Money & Murder – Whatever happened to M.C. Pooh? Pooh was a Oakland emcee who came up under his homie Too Short, which might explain why he sounded like, uh,  a poor man’s Too Short. Seriously, everything from the voice, to the delivery, to the content has Short Dog written all over it. Ant Banks hooks up a funky mid-tempo groove that Pooh uses to discuss the trinity of gangsta hip-hop (see the song title). If you can get past the Too Short imitation you’ll at least enjoy Ant Banks’ funky groove.

Nuff Respect – Hank Shocklee and Gary G Wiz get their second production credit of the evening for another top 10 of all time emcee, Big Daddy Kane (Rakim and now BDK? Add KRS-One and that’s a concert I’d give my left arm and leg to go see). Over a busy up-tempo but very entertaining instrumental, Kane drops raw rhymes in his signature baritone voice that are sure to entertain and have you kneeling to pay your respects. Long live the Kane.

So You Want To Be A Gangster – Speaking of Too Short, he also has a song on the Juice Soundtrack. Although Short became rich and famous from his songs of misogyny, he has been known to drop an occasional lesson or two on the listening public. Over a funky Ant Banks instrumental (who is now batting 1000 for the evening on the production side of things) Short warns of the dangers of living the gangster lifestyle. Solid joint.

It’s Going Down – EPMD meshes a Marvin Gaye sample into this slo-mo funk collage that they attack in their signature approaches. Nice.

Don’t Be Afraid – As much as I listened to this soundtrack back in the day I never really paid attention to the production credits on the liner notes. Too my surprise, I had no idea how much Hank Shocklee and Gary G Wiz were involved on this project (Hank even got executive producer points) as they produced this song as well. This time the duo hook up a bangin’ bass line mixed with heavy drums and a melodic piano cord to smooth things out a bit. Aaron Hall (who for those who don’t know or might have forgotten, was basically the voice of Guy) then lays down his church like vocals as he prepares to get his first piece of putang (at least he claims it’s his “first experience”, but he talks a lot of shit for a rookie; his first line of the song is “you’ll be crying daddy to me, boy please don’t hurt me”). This is a perfect example of how hip-hop and r&b can walk together in perfect unity. Classic. A few years later Aaron would also include a few different mixes of the song on his debut solo album and released it as a single. The instrumental for the video version was a bit more cleaned up and r&b. I love the rawness of this mix.

He’s Gamin’ On Ya’ – Salt N Pepa drop by to warn their sisterhood to beware of these dudes, or as Salt affectionately puts it at the end of the song “punkmuthafuckas”, who run game on the ladies. Hurby Luv Bug lays down a decent instrumental for the ladies to do their thing over. This was decent.

Shoot ‘Em Up – Cypress Hill drops by to supply another one of their murder ballads. Muggs lays down a slow-paced drunken instrumental that B-Real and Sen Dog use to leave bodies laying all over. This one is okay but Muggs’ instrumental borders on becoming annoying after too many listens.

Flipside – Well, they can’t all be winners.

What Could Be Better Bitch – Hank Shocklee and Gary G Wiz return for their final production credit of the evening and its a thing of beauty. The duo lay down a smooth low-key instrumental for Son Of Bazerk, who always reminded me of Chuck D (which should come as no surprise since Hank Shocklee discovered him), to spit over. Bazerk’s rhymes aren’t suburb but his voice and delivery sound perfect over this instrumental. This is a slept on banger that sounds so good I want to track down a copy of Son of Bazerk’s debut album.

Does Your Man Know About Me – For some reason it irritates the hell out of me when a song title is phrased as a question yet the liner notes don’t punctuate the title with a question mark. Now that I got that off my chest: not to be confused with Khalil Kain’s character Raheem from the movie or Raheem DeVaughn, newcomer Rahiem sings (and even spit a few bars) over a r&b instrumental with smooth jazz ambitions, with the production credit going to Rough Daddy Smooth (which has to be in the running for corniest moniker of all time) & The Players and Tony “Champagne” Silvester. Not a life changing song but still decent.

People Get Ready (Remix) – The only difference between the remix and the original is the presence of the very underappreciated vocalist N’Dea Davenport who lays downs some strong vocals on this Brand New Heavies funk groove. The original was released on the Brand New Heavies 1990 self-titled debut album, so including the remix with Davenport’s powerful vocals on the Juice Soundtrack opened up a lot of new lanes for the then up and coming London based Funk/Acid Jazz band, as they would go on to expand their U.S. following and collab with many hip-hop acts, which would eventually result in a collab album that I’ll get to in the next few months. Or years.

The Juice Soundtrack is the best hip-hop hood movie soundtrack ever made. No argument. Its filled with great production and legendary emcees in their prime, who for the most part actually show up to spit instead of resting on their laurels. Even the r&b joints are quality and bring forth a bit of hip-hop appeal. There is one minor hiccup on the Juice Soundtrack (*cough* “Flipside”) but the rest of the record is so solid you’ll easily forgive that small transgression.

-Deedub

A couple of post ago I wrote about the Christian rap duo the Dynamic Twins and their debut album Word 2 The Wize. Today’s post kind of ties into that one in a 7 degrees of separation kind of way. The Dynamic Twins and Super C, who produced a large chunk of Word 2 The Wize, both resided in California and were associated with another pioneering Christian hip-hop crew from California, Freedom of Soul.

Freedom Of Soul was made up of Peace (the emcee) and Cartoon (the deejay). I became familiar with Peace as a solo artist in the late nineties-early ‘2000’s and liked some of his production work on his solo records as well as some of the stuff he would produce for arguably the best Christian hip-hop collective of all time, Tunnel Rats, but we’ll dig in to that (see what I did there) at a later date. Freedom Of Soul would release their debut album Caught In A Land of Time on Brainstorm Artists International which was an independent Christian label whose focus was on distributing west coast Christian hip-hop and modern rock as neither were widely accepted genres in the Christian Community in the early nineties

I’m not sure what the critics thoughts were on Caught In A Land of Time upon its release as I’m sure most secular hip-hop critics never heard of it, and I’d be willing to bet my left arm that it didn’t receive any RIAA certifications. As long as Jesus certified it, that’s all that matters, right?

Freedom Of Soul – Peace opens up the album introducing he and his deejay Cartoon to the congregation over a sub par Victor Everett instrumental. If this is any indication to how Caught In A Land of Time is going to go I’m not too excited.

Caught In A Land Of Time – After the underwhelming first song, I got excited when I read the liner notes and saw that Super C produced this one. Then the instrumental dropped and all the excitement exited my body faster than a teenage boy prematurely ejaculating when losing his virginity. And just like she was, I was disappointed. By the way, Peace’s flow sounds like garbage on this one.

Runnin’ Thru My Mind – Peace gets his first production credit of the evening and hooks up a smooth joint as he explains how Jesus is always running through his mind. Boy, Jesus’ feet must be pretty tired. Then again, he probably doesn’t get tired, being the son of God and all.

A Touch Of Soul – Super C rips the instrumental from the classic Slave hit “Just A Touch Of Love” at wholesale as Peace stumbles through his 3 verses like a baby taking his first steps.

Cookin’ Bacon – Interlude.

Blue Sky Lies – Derek Drew who goes by DJ Cut No Slack hooks up a sample of Al Greene’s  classic “Love And Happiness” record for the backdrop as Peace and his buddy J-1 discuss the things of this world and how untrue they are when viewed from an eternal perspective. At least that’s what I got from it.

Acknowledgments – Over a smooth jazz piano a female guest credited as Twiggy gives shoutouts to some of the people who inspired Freedom Of Soul, which runs the gamut from musicians, to athletes, to politicians. This was a cool way to mark the mid way point of Caught In A Land of Time.

It’s On You – Peace uses this one to explain to the listener where you go after death is determined by the decisions you make while on earth. Message! Super C’s instrumental is decent enough, I guess.

This Is Love – Peace tries to ape Q-Tip’s cadence from “Bonita Applebum” and fails miserably. At least his instrumental is pretty interesting as he samples Patrice Rushen’s  “Remind Me” for the intro, hook, and outro and a KC & The Sunshine Band sample (the same one the Digable Planets would use a few years later for their record “Where I’m From”) during the verses. Guest vocalist Jon Gibson provides a solid vocal during the hook which was a nice touch.

Can’t Hold Back – Peace invites another pioneering Christian hip-hop group Idol King in for this session as each party expresses their excitement for serving the Lord. DJ Cut No Slack’s instrumental sounds like a mix between the instrumental from the opening track “Freedom Of Soul” and the instrumental from Kane’s “Nuff Respect Due”, so take that for what it’s worth. Cut No Slack does put in some solid work on the ones and two’s at the end of the song, though.

Cartoon Goes To Texas – This was pretty much just an excuse for DJ Cartoon’s to get a chance to show his skills on the ones and two’s. If ATCQ’s “Can I Kick It” had a baby with LL’s “I’m Going Back To Cali”, this is what it would sound like. I wasn’t impressed.

Skin Deep – Super C hooks up a smooth mid-tempo groove that Peace uses to discuss the shallowness of judging people based on the outwards appearance and how much our lives and the world are impacted by it. Nice intent but this was poorly executed. Peace’s rhymes sound so elementary it’s like he borrowed Marty McFly’s DeLorean and went back to 1979 to write this song.

January 15th – This is an extended interlude to celebrate the life of MLK (January 15th is his birthday). Peace hooks up a mellow instrumental with sound bites from a few of MLK’s speeches sprinkled throughout that set the mood for you to reflect on the life and accomplishments of the late great civil rights leader. Nice.

Y Don’t You Want To Play Me – Peace sends this one out to Christian radio as he questions why they refuse to play his music. If he sent them this song I can’t blame them for not playing this but rather choosing to use it as a Frisbee.

Serious Lyrics – Peace choses to close Caught In A Land of Time with a simple hand snap (that changes it’s pace at least 3,000 times) for the backdrop as he spits one long verse about Christ, crack, and his calling. He sounds horrid as the empty space behind his vocal really exposes how anorexic his flow is.

Caught In A Land of Time isn’t a completely terrible debut from our sanctified brethren. Most of Peace and Super C’s instrumentals sound incomplete but are still kind of interesting. The biggest problem I have with Caught In A Land of Time is Peace and his elementary rhyming scheme. It’s so bad at times it will make you question if he’s being serious or on some Weird Al shit. Al might have been able to take Peace in a battle. You think I’m playing? Listen to “White And Nerdy”. Al got bars, son. If this was my first exposure to Peace it would have probably been my last, so I completely understand if the few of you out there that actually heard this album or will give it a chance think it’s garbage. Peace would get better as time went on. Well, at least his production got tighter.

-Deedub

D-Nice will never be on anyone’s top 5, 10, 20, or 100 emcee list, and that is not a knock on Derrick. I’m sure he’ll even tell you he’s a deejay first and emcee second. The former BDP deejay had a great rapping voice, solid delivery, the ability to drop quality rhymes, and he parlayed that into a solo deal that spawned two full length releases on a major label. He’s kind of like the Horace Grant of hip-hop.

We last left Derrick “D-Nice” Jones in 1990 with his solo debut Call Me D-Nice, which I thought was a decent effort (read my review if you want to see my full thoughts on Call Me D-Nice). He would return in late ’91 on some Superman shit with his follow-up effort To Tha Rescue, and just like Call Me D-Nice, Derrick would handle the bulk of the production duties with a few assists that we’ll get to in a bit.

Another similarity To Tha Rescue shares with Call Me D-Nice is that it failed to move many units. To Tha Rescue would be D-Nice’s last album as he would hang up his microphone but he continues to deejay around the globe. Plus the man was briefly married to the beautiful Malinda Williams (she played Bird on the old Showtime series Soul Food), so he has that to rest his laurels on as well.

808 Prelude – Useless intro that leads into the following song…

25 Ta Life – This was the lead off single from To Tha Rescue. Over a familiar funky bass line D-Nice kicks a fictional tale of a hot summer day that quickly turns into drama. D-Nice sounds sharp and smooth over the mid-tempo groove, and the live sax brought to you courtesy of Vincent Henry was a nice added touch.

Rhymin’ Skills (Featuring KRS-One) – Over a ragamuffin flavored instrumental D-Nice puts his rhyming skill on display and does a serviceable job. Unfortunately, KRS-One only stops by to chant on the intro and the hooks. It would have been nice to hear a verse from the teacher. I guess he didn’t want to murder the little homie on his own record.

Time To Flow (Featuring Naughty By Nature) – This was the second single released from To Tha Rescue. The liner notes give credit to Naughty By Nature but really only Treach is involved as he and Derrick exchange verses. David Bellochio, who worked extensively on the Naughty By Nature album, provides some dark keys over D-Nice’s rough drums, making this one sound very similar to Naughty’s “Guard Your Grill” record. Derrick’s verses are cool but Treach steals the show as he eats this track like Melissa McCarthy coming off a 30 day fast.

Get In Touch With Me – Vincent Henry replays a classic hip-hop bass line and provides live sax while Carl Bourelly plays keys for this poor man’s version of “Around The Way”.  Bad rap and R&B at its finest.

To Tha Rescue – Over a solid D-Nice and Skeff Anselm concoction Derrick sounds motivated as he drops some solid rhymes over the aggressive instrumental. Well done.

No, No, No – Derrick and Skeff Anselm hook up this instrumental as well, but this one falls flat on its face. Derrick’s verses are all over the place on this one as he goes from boasting to dropping jewels to standing on his soapbox, in the blink of an eye. It was kind of amusing to hear Derrick bring up that he’s been accused of stealing his style, to which he responds is not true and then drops this line: “Don’t talk about thieves cause on a whole, America’s the greatest country that was ever stole”. As if he were to bite his style it would be justified because of the transgressions of Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims over 500 years ago. The song title which doubles as the hook didn’t really make sense on this one, either.

Straight From Tha Bronx – David Bellochio returns to provide some dark Naughty like keys over a bangin’ bass line and Derrick’s heavy drums that translate into the hardest track on To Tha Rescue. D-Nice sounds solid as he puts it down the for his home town and the mecca of hip-hop. Nice.

Check Yourself – Derrick brings in Too Short to assist on this duet as they challenge gold digging women to re-examine their parasite like tendencies and to keep their damn hands out of brothers pockets. Neither D-Nice or Short impress on this one, which is more surprising in Short’s case as these kind of songs are usually his bread and butter. As a matter of fact, nothing about this song was impressive, and the hook is in the running for worst refrain in the history of hip-hop.

Time To Flow – This mix was released as the second single. It uses the same instrumental and verses as the first mix, only Treach’s rhymes are completely absent on this one. Derrick must have realized he got murdered on his own shit, so he removed Treach’s verses so he could get some shine. He could have at least used new verses, though.

And There You Have It – D-Nice hooks up a solid instrumental and invites Mr. Marvelous to the studio for this duet. Each party spits one verse and quickly gets the hell out of Dodge.

I Send This Out To… – D-Nice gives his shoutouts over a skeleton version of the instrumental use on “25 Ta Life”. And we’re done.

To Tha Rescue is not a bad album, it’s just that it’s not that good. There are some solid songs and some duds, but the majority of the record is just plain mediocre, which translates to forgettable and over time forgettable grows up and becomes forgotten. Luckily, hip-hop was pretty secure in 1991, so it didn’t need to be rescued. But if it did and To Tha Rescue was the vessel sent to save it, hip-hop would be resting at the bottom of the Atlantic somewhere next to the Titanic.

-Deedub

Late edition. For those keeping track at home, put this one right after Terminator X & The Valley Of The Jeep Beats.

As I’ve mentioned a time or two in the past, In 1997 I took a hip-hop hiatus. Biggie’s Life After Death was released on March, 25th, 1997 just a few weeks after he was tragically gunned down in Los Angeles. This would be the last hip-hop album I would buy for along while, and it sparked some introspection in me as I begin to contemplate life and death, reflect on Biggie’s eerie album title (and artwork), and the recent murders of two of the biggest artists in hip-hop within a six month period. It led to me going on a spiritual journey in which one of my first steps was ridding myself from all thing that I felt were distractions and “corrupt”, so I literally destroyed all my hip-hop cd’s and got rid of a ton of my cassette tapes (I would eventually buy them all back so the sacrifice would cost me a pretty penny in the long run but the lessons I learned during that break were invaluable). I eventually became a born again Christian which opened me up to a sub-genre of hip-hop often referred to as holy hip-hop or Christian hip-hop. As the new millennium rolled in, more and more Christian emcees were popping up gaining more attention from the mainstream media, to the point that today you might hear Christian emcees playing on mainstream radio, i.e., Andy Mineo and Lecrae. But long before Andy Mineo or Lecrae, there was Sup The Chemist aka Super C, who in my opinion was the first legitimate Christian emcee. Key word being legitimate.

If you read this blog religiously (no pun intended) then you may recognize the name from a group called SFC (an acronym for Soldiers For Christ) of whom Super C was the main emcee and producer. I actually became familiar with his solo work from the early 2000’s and eventually worked my way back through his SFC days, but that’s a story for another day. I bring all this up because Super C is the main reason I’m reviewing today’s subject.

The Dynamic Twins are identical twins Noel and Robbie Arthurton, who were born in the Bronx, NY.  The twins moved to California in the late eighties where they would link up with Super C, which would eventually lead to the twins signing a deal with the independent Christian label Broken Records, where SFC was also signed to. In 1991 they would release their debut album Word 2 The Wize, which Super C would be responsible for producing nine of the album’s fifteen tracks, and as I stated before, the main reason I rescued a copy from the used cd bins. That and its ninety nine cent price tag.

Mission – Word 2 The Wize opens with an eerie Super C produced instrumental and the Arthurton twins explaining the reason they rap:”To make a proclamation to a dying nation.” The instrumental was cool but both brothers sound like they have a mouth full of marbles.

The Judge – Super C hooks up a sick instrumental with an even sicker trumpet loop that sounds a little like something Premo may have done. The Arthurton boys use this one to talk about the pending judgment God will exercise and the wrath he’ll unleash on the world for its evil deeds. The marbles remain.

Fantasy – Our hosts hook up a funky west coast instrumental as they warn the listener about the dangers of putting too much value in this life and the things of this world. Guest vocalist Todd Stevens adds a solid vocal performance during the hook and their buddy X-L comes through to spit rhymes at the end of the song, which winds up being useless since you can’t make out anything he’s saying underneath Stevens’ vocal. Regardless of that snafu, this was actually pretty nice.

Backbiter – Our marbled mouth bretheren use this one to discuss the people that talk trash behind your back and spread rumors about you, which can also fall under the “haters” category. Why does everybody think they have haters? The other day I had a brother collecting carts in the parking lot at Home Depot come up to me and gave me a pound and then went into a rant about all the haters he’s got. Really? Does he seriously think he’s got people gunning for his position in life? But I digress. Super C hooks up a pretty solid instrumental for the backdrop and the twins actually sound decent spitting over it.

He’s All I Need – Our hosts hook up a corny new jack swing instrumental that is sure to make you push the fast forward button or stop listening to Word 2 The Wize all together.

Persuaded – Well, at least Super C’s instrumental was mildly interesting.

Real Thing – Super C hooks up another solid instrumental that our hosts use to uplift the real thing aka Jesus Christ. I can’t distinguish one mush mouth from the other but one of the brothers Arthurton says what may be the corniest rhyme ever recorded: “I don’t smoke the marijuana, (why not?), cause I don’t wanna”. Next…

Word 2 The Wize – The title song is actually an interlude. Super C combines a Barry White sample with a Lonnie Liston Smith sample for the instrumental and sprinkles sound bites from a sermon throughout.

Uptown – No, this is not an ode to Upper Manhattan. The Uptown the twins are referring to is Heaven, of course. This was pretty weak.

That’s How I’m Livin’ – This might be the worst cipher song in the history of hip-hip. The twins invite a few of their purified posse members X-L, M.C. Peace (whom we’ll be talking about more in the very near future), M.V.P., and Super C, to the studio for this one, and they all fall short of the glory of God.

We Need Love – Wow. Really? The brothers Arthurton take things back to 1985 as they not only rip LL’s song title (with one small change) but they hook up a cheesy Casio keyboard instrumental that resembles the one used for Cool James’ sappy hip-hop love ballad. Of course, our hosts aren’t talking about a woman, they’re talking about the love of God. The only good thing about this song was the guest vocalist Crystal Lewis, which was wasted on this corny effort.

I Aint Wit’ It – The Arthurton boys hook up a instrumental that borders on sounding goofy but manages to wiggle its way into a entertaining groove. Both emcees actually sound decent on this one as they discuss temptation and how to resist it. This might be the best overall song on Word 2 The Wize.

Shakin’ Off Dust – The whole hip-hop meshed with rock thing had already been done several times over by 1991, so Super C wasn’t treading any new water when he hooked up this rock tinged instrumental. Hell, Sup had already hooked up similar instrumentals for his own SFC records. Brothers Arthurton use this one to stick out their chest as if using a rock tinged instrumental qualifies them as “radical” Christian artists. One of the brothers even refers to their sound as too hardcore. Too hardcore for who? Joel Osteen?

Keep Goin’/Talk On Your Record – Over a forgettable instrumental our hosts use the first part of this song to encourage the listener to never give up on life and/or the spiritual race. The second part is used for the duo to give their shoutouts before being interrupted by Super C.

The Judge (Instrumental) – Because they knew how sick the instrumental was, they had to bring it back without the lyrics interrupting the music.

Super C does all he can to help save (no pun intended) Word 2 The Wize with his production but for the majority of the album these two God fearing emcees sound godawful. I don’t even think Premo’s beats could have saved Word 2 The Wize. Or Jesus himself, for that matter. And just so we’re clear, I’m not hating on their content. I at one time, many moons ago, spit rhymes to uplift the heavenly father and have heard many Christian emcees, who in my opinion, spit better than most five percent, conscious, gangsta, and atheist emcees. Talent knows no religion and neither does wackness. I hope Noel and Robbie have repented for making this hot garbage.

-Deedub

2Pacalypse Now marks the beginning of the solo career of arguably the most influential rapper in the history of hip-hop. Tupac Shakur. I’m not going to write an in-depth bio on his life as there is already a movie and gazillions of articles, books, websites, etc. readily available at your fingertips with that info. So, here’s a brief recap.

Born June 6, 1971 in Brooklyn, NY, 2pac was the son of Black Panther Party member, Afeni Shakur. Pac’s birth name was Lesane Parish Crooks. It’s believed his mother gave him this name to avoid her son being targeted by the many enemies of the Black Panther Party movement at the time. Before he turned two, Afeni would legally change his name to Tupac Amaru Shakur, after Amaru II, who was a 18th century Peruvian revolutionary who was executed after leading an uprise against the Spanish rule.

2pac and his family moved from New York to Baltimore, and during Pac’s high school years they moved to Oakland, which is where he linked up with Digital Underground. By joining DU Pac was able to travel the world, primarily as a back up dancer and made a few cameos on their records, most notably on “Same Song” off the This Is An EP Release record. Pac would eventually ink a solo deal with Interscope (side note: after 2pac’s death Afeni Shakur was granted the right to re-release all of Pac’s Interscope releases on her label Amaru Records, distributed through Jive. So if you purchased any of his first 5 albums after 1997 they may have the Amaru Records imprint on them instead of Interscope), and released his solo debut in late ’91 2Pacalypse Now. The liner notes give credit to The Underground Railroad, Big D The Impossible, Shock G, Pee Wee, Jeremy, Raw Fusion, and Live Squad for the production, though it doesn’t say who worked on which songs specifically. So, whatever.

Upon it’s release 2Pacalypse Now received pretty solid reviews. The album is now 5 times platinum but I’m sure those numbers exploded after his death in ’96. During the 2Pacalypse Now days I don’t think any one thought he would become the mega star he became in the next five and sadly, final years of his short life.

Except Pac.    

Young Black Male – Pac starts of his solo career with a less than spectacular opening track. His flow sounds sloppy and rushed, which makes it difficult to make out most of his rhymes as he describes the attributes that make up a young black male. Luckily it’s only one verse, so you don’t have to strain your ears too long trying to make sense of his lines. To add insult to injury, the instrumental was pretty boring as well. It was kind of funny to hear Pac diss St ides and shoutout 8 Ball, considering he would later do a St. Ides commercial. Remember the St Ides hip-hop campaign in the early nineties? They had everybody from Rakim to Warren G in their commercials.  And I’ve still never bought a bottle of the crooked I.

Trapped – This was the lead single from 2Pacalypse Now. Over a bangin’ bass line and an organ sample that gives the song a bit of a reggae feel, Pac discusses how the Amerikkka system is set up to trap young black males in the hood, a life of violence and crime, and prison. He slows down his rhyming pace and sounds 100 time better than he did on the opening song. It’s kind of sad when you reflect on the fact that Pac was wise enough to see the snare but unable to avoid the trap during his 25 years on earth.

Soulja’s Story – This is one of my favorite 2pac songs of all time. Pac tells a story from the perspective of two brothers trapped in the hood. The older brother ends up doing a bid after he’s busted for selling dope. Then the younger brother is instructed by his mother to go and break his older brother out of prison. As you would probably expect, the story doesn’t have a happy ending. His production team samples a classic Isaac Hayes record for the instrumental under his verses and revamps the classic Bill Wither’s record “No Sunshine” on the intro, hooks, and outro, which works perfectly with Pac’s emotional tale. Well done.

I Don’t Give A Fuck – Pac lightens up the mood a bit after the darkness brought on by the last track. Over a smoothed out instrumental our host invites Money B (from Digital Underground and later, Raw Fusion) to join him as they give the middle finger to the police and any other racist piece of shit hating on brothers because of their color. Pac affectionately closes the song with: “They can kiss my ass, and suck my dick, and lick my Uncle Tommy’s balls.” Hi-larious.

Violent – The tension is brought back up to a fever pitch with this one. Pac’s production team hooks up a dark reggae tinged instrumental, complete with a bass line that if played in a booming system is bound to make spectators mistake the rattling noise for an incoming tremor. Pac uses the first verse to discuss the hypocrisies of America. He questions why they make young black men out as the violent ones when America was founded and built on violence and murder. Pause. The second and third verses cover a story of a shootout between Pac and his homie with a few crooked cops attempting to frame them. Back in the day I remember reading a story about a guy who killed a cop after being pulled over and said this song was the reason for his actions, and it became propaganda for the “ban rap” movement when authorities discovered a copy of 2Pacalypse Now in his tape deck at the time of the shooting. How ridiculous is that? Regardless, this one is a certified banger.

Words Of Wisdom – Over the course of three verses Pac discussed the injustices in America, encourages black America to unite and fight for change and also coins one of the most ridiculous unique acronyms for nigga that I’ve ever heard (never ignorant getting goals accomplished). I’ve always loved this instrumental. It has an up-tempo pace but still manages to maintain a mellow feel with a breezy flute sample (I think?) sprinkled throughout for good measure.  Solid.

Something Wicked – I never cared much for this one in the past, but today it doesn’t sound as bad as it did in ’91. Pac resurrects the frantic flow he used on “Young Black Male” but he doesn’t sound as rushed and the lyrics are delivered in a cleaner manner. The funk instrumental is decent, and the song is only one verse, so it’s not too much of a burden to listen to.

Crooked Ass Nigga – The bass line underneath this funky instrumental (which if you’ve listened to enough hip-hop you’ve heard it used before) is infectious. Pac invites his homie Stretch to the session as they discuss what the title suggest. Be aware: crooked ass niggas come in all shapes and sizes, they were disguises, back stabs is what they specialize in”. In hindsight, it’s kind of depressing to think that both emcees would be gunned down within 5 years of this songs release.

If My Homie Calls – I believe this was the second single released from 2Pacalypse Now. Over a moody mid-tempo groove Pac proclaims his loyalty to his real partners. I’ve always loved this song and it still sounds nice 20 plus years later.

Brenda’s Got A Baby – This was the third and final single from 2Pacalypse Now, and probably the most popular song on the album. Over a somber r&b instrumental, Pac tells the story of a young pregnant teen named Brenda and the events that lead up to her getting pregnant and the decisions that would ultimately lead to her own demise. Dave Hollister (who the liner notes simply credits as “Dave”), who sounds like a poor man’s K-Ci from Jodeci (who I always assumed was singing on the outro of this song until today), and Roniece sing the hook and final minutes of the song. Props on the intent but this one always sounded a bit cheesy to me and still does today.

Tha Lunatic – Our host seeks to prove he can lyrically throw those thangs with the best of them on this one and does a decent job over the frantic instrumental.

Rebel Of The Underground – This is the closest thing resembling a DU record on 2Pacalypse Now, and I  don’t only say that because Shock G drops by to do some chanting during the chorus. Over a deep bass line and a laid back funk groove Pac tells the world why he’s the rebel. Of the underground that is.  Not the strongest song on the album, but I’ve always enjoyed its understated feel.

Part Time Mutha – Pac choses to close 2Pacalypse Now in a somber mood as he and guest Angelique, split the first two verses and come from the perspectives of two different kids being neglect and mistreated by their drug abusing mothers. Be prepared to tear up a bit after listening to Angelique’s verse. Pac’s final verse is from the perspective of a dude who thought he was pulling off a successful one night stand but winds up getting the chick pregnant and now has to take care of his responsibility. This verse should have been left on the cutting room floor as a wanna-be-player-turned-daddy-on-accident doesn’t compare to a kid neglected by his crackhead momma. The instrumental is an emotional remake of Stevie Wonder’s “Part-Time Lover”, which fits the depressing subject matter perfectly.

2Pacalypse Now is definitely Pac’s most conscious album as he would gradually become more and more gangsta with each of his next 4 releases. Pac spends the majority of 2Pacalypse Now tackling the injustices in America and addressing the social ills that ail the black community. Pac’s flow was definitely still a work in progress as it sounds sloppy and underdeveloped for a large portion of the album, but he still manages to maintain the listener’s attention. His production team hooks up a pretty decent batch of backdrops, with a few excellent joints and some forgettable ones mixed in along the way. 2Pacalypse Now is a solid debut from the hip-hop legend. Unfortunately, it came out in a year filled with classic releases, so it pales in comparison.

-Deedub