Time Is Illmatic

The casual hip-hop fan may not be familiar with today’s group. Hailing from Uniondale, New York, Leaders of the New School are best remembered for two things: making guests appearances on A Tribe Called Quest’s classic cypher joint “Scenario” and birthing the hip-hop superstar Busta Rhymes.

Consisting of Busta, Charlie Brown, and Dinco D (and sometimes producer/DJ Cut Monitor Milo), LONS also managed to release two albums on Elektra in the early nineties before disbanding in 1994 due to internal issues. As the story goes:Busta’s stock was on the rise after his energetic cameo on “Scenario”, which in turn left him itching to do the Ice Cube (in his case drop two niggas and start making all the dough), which he did successfully and the rest is history.

But before there was history, there was A Future Without a Past.

A Future Without a Past didn’t move a ton of units but it did receive favorable review amongst hip-hop critics, as it followed its fellow Native Tongue brethren’s m.o. of PG-13 lyricism and an average Joe persona, that would soon be replaced with an industry flooded with gangsta rap and hardcore posturing. But I digress.

Homeroom – The album is broken down into three segments: Homeroom, Lunchroom, and Afterschool. “Homeroom” starts off with a vocal snippet of someone giving a short speech before a crowd starts chanting “the whole world is watching”. The scene the suddenly switches back to the classroom with LONS discussing which honeys they are going to bone afterschool. Huh?

Case Of The P.T.A – This was the first single released off of A Future Without a Past. Although the instrumental is pretty nice, I never could quite get into this one. Maybe because the lyrics are so juvenile that they were beneath me even in my adolescence years.

Too Much On My Mind – Our hosts discuss the trials and tribulations of a teenager in urban America: honeys, rocking fly gear, and wondering how their going to pay the rent? Wtf? Don’t get to sad about the last trial as the content sounds a lot less heavier when our hosts present it. I didn’t care much for this one.

What’s The Pinocchio’s Theory? – Charlie Brown’s solo joint. The Vibe Chemist Backspin A.K.A. Marlon King’s (make up your mind on what you’re going to go by already…geesh) instrumental is all over the place. Brown pretty much spends two verses explaining what he and the crew went through to get to this point. I’ll pass on this one. And what a ridiculous song title.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe… – Dinco D opens this one with a concise thesis explaining the song theme: “know what you do before you get involved with it.” The Bomb Squad’s Eric Sadler provides the backdrop for this one and he doesn’t disappoint. LONS were decent on this one, but the true star of this record is Sadler’s instrumental.

Lunchroom – Useless skit

Sound of The Zeekers @#**?! – Busta gets his only production credit of the evening on this LONS/Rumpletilskinz (anybody remember them?) collabo. Busta’s instrumental is way too busy for my likening. To add insult to injury, none of the emcees on this one peaked my interest in the least bit. This may be the worst cypher joint I’ve ever heard.

Sobb Story – Hands down my favorite song on A Future Without a Past. Over another stellar Eric Sadler instrumental LONS discuss the perils of being carless. I don’t know if “Sobb” was a typo or if they just completely missed the chance at a clever play on words. Regardless, this one is still nice.

“Feminine Fatt” – Busta Rhymes’ uses this solo joint to praise the curvaceously-thick chicks. I can feel Busta’s content but not The Vibe Chemist Backspin’s instrumental.

Transformers – Our hosts use this one to address all the fake people who change up to appear as if they meet the status quo. I never really cared for this song, but after listen to it today with some decent headphones, a lot of stuff I completely missed in the past in the Stimulated Dummies’ instrumental (i.e. the sick underlying bass line) came to life today. For the first time during A Future Without a Past all three emcees sound inspired and match each others energy. My only complaint with this song is it could use a better mix.

Afterschool – Skit to mark the final segment of the album.

Show Me A Hero – Busta Rhymes explains how he manned up and overcome his arch nemesis, Busta Bully? This one didn’t work for me, including The Vibe Chemist Backspin’s instrumental.

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles – This is simply and ode to running choo-choo’s on chicks. The second two forms of transportation must have been included because they loved the movie with the same name title or because they thought it would make for a clever hook. Either way, the song sucked.

The International Zone Coasters – This Stimulated Dummies produced track is the 3rd and final single released from the album. This version is decent, but I remember diggin’ the remix for this one a lot more.

Teachers, Don’t Teach Us Nonsense!! – Decent.

My Ding-A-Ling – This is Dinco D’s solo joint. This song may have the most annoying hook of any song I’ve ever heard. From top to bottom, terrible.

Where Do We Go From Here? – The final song of the evening is produced by Charlie Brown, and it finds our hosts contemplating their future. At least for the first 3 minutes of the song. The second half is reserved for each of the three to give their shoutouts.

Every future has a past. Take Busta Rhymes for instance. There was a path that led up to him becoming a bona-fide hip-hop superstar and the king of the cameo (and eventually the cameo whore). Every step from the present going back to A Future Without a Past(and his life before A Future Without a Past, for that matter) marks the evolution of Busta Rhymes. Even if the past is something you want to forget it can never be erased. I’m not sure what message LONS was trying to convey with the album title but at face value its pretty nonsensical. Coincidentally, nonsensical is the adjective that best describes the majority of the content and the overall theme of A Future Without a Past. There are a few hot joints on A Future Without a Past, but they are the exception not the rule. The majority of A Future Without a Past finds the three-man crew sounding lost, unfocused, uninspired, immature and boring as they search for an identity. Busta Rhymes would eventually find himself after leaving LONS, but there is still an APB out on Brown and Dinco D.

-Deedub

Today’s post is a friendly reminder of the many holes that exist in my collection. We Can’t Be Stopped is actually the fourth full length release from the Geto Boys, yet it’s the only GB’s album in my collection.

By the time We Can’t Be Stopped was released the GB’s had already made significant changes to their line up. The original roster consisted of :Prince Johnny C, The Sire Jukebox (not to be confused with the Human Beatbox), Sir Rap-A-Lot (not to be confused with Sir Mix-A lot), Raheem (not to be confused with Prince Raheem), Bushwick Bill, and DJ Ready Red (not to be confused with DJ Red Alert). By the time they released their debut album Making Trouble on the independent (and eventually legendary) Rap-A-Lot Records imprint in 1988, Raheem and Sir Rap-A-Lot had already parted ways with the group. Shortly after Making Trouble was released The Sire Jukebox (a very corny alias, by the way) and Prince Johnny C left the group, leaving just Bushwick and Ready Red from the original roster. Scarface and Willie D, who both had solo deals with Rap-A-Lot at the time, were asked to join the GBs by label head James Prince, to which both parties agreed. These four would go on to release the next three Geto Boys albums together: Grip It! On That Other Level, The Geto Boys, and today’ subject We Can’t Be Stopped. The roster changes would continue: Ready Red would leave the group shortly after We Can’t Be Stopped was released, both Willie D and Bushwick left temporarily, and Big Mike was even added to the team for a short stint. Out of the eight Geto Boys studio albums released  to date not one member has been a part of all eight albums. In other words, their roster has seen more changes than the Cleveland Browns have seen at quarterback in the last 25 years.

While Grip It! On That Other Level is considered by many (including The Source who in 1998 went back and gave it a 5 mic rating and put it on their 100 greatest hip-hop albums list) We Can’t Be Stopped would earn the GB’s their first platinum plaque and still  managed to be praised critically.

The picture used for the album cover of We Can’t Be Stopped was taken at the hospital after an altercation between Bushwick and his girlfriend left him without his right eye (a topic which he would cover in-depth a year later on his solo record “Ever So Clear”). Bushwick has gone on record saying that the pic was Willie D’s idea and he and Scarface just went along with it (and by the uncomfortable look in Scarface’s eyes I can believe that).

Rebel Rap Family – This is nothing but a nonsensical overly dramatic rambling posing as a rap album intro.

We Can’t Be Stopped – This one is dedicated to Geffen Records who refused to distribute their previous release Grip It! On That Other Level, do to its controversial content. There is a 4th rapper who spits about 4 bars, whom I think may be Ready Red? If anybody knows for sure, hit me in the comments. Nice start to the show, and they get the title song out the way in the process.

Homie Don’t Play That – Willie D’s first solo joint borrows it’s title from Homie Da Clown’s signature slogan (which is the second reference to him in the last three post). Willie D might be the funniest rapper of all time, and what makes him even more amusing is he’s not deliberately trying to me funny. The funked out instrumental may be doing too much but Willie D’s angry rants will make you laugh at least once.

Another N*gger In The Morgue – Scarface gets his first solo joint of the evening which he uses to go on a killing spree. Not my favorite Face song, but the guitar licks leading into the hooks are sick.

Chuckie – Wrapping up the first round of solo joints is Bushwick Bill. Bushwick goes the horrorcore route as he takes on the persona (and name) of the evil redheaded doll from the Child’s Play movies. The instrumental attempts to sound scary/eerie but it just comes off as cheesy instead.

Mind Playing Tricks On Me – Without question, one of the 10 greatest hip-hop songs of all time. The GB’s sample Isaac Hayes’ “Hung Up On My Baby” and over the course of four verses cover everything from paranoia to full-blown mental illness. The GB’s biggest hit, and rightfully so. Dark and brilliant.

I’m Not A Gentleman – More Willie-D stand up comedy. It’s been years since I’ve listened to We Can’t Be Stopped but I still lol every time I hear this song. Willie D’s content is juvenile but very entertaining. Guilty pleasure.

Gota Let Your Nuts Hang – In Scarface’s world letting your nuts hang translates to becoming a big time drug dealer, hence the reason he shares Tony Montana’s alias. I never cared for this song (lyrics or instrumental). I’ve always been more a fan of Face’s introspective/reflective side as opposed to his “in your face cocky gangsta” persona.

F**K A War – This was recorded around the time that George Bush’s Gulf War was wrapping up. Bushwick (who is on record for giving Willie D credit for writing this song)makes it clear that under absolutely no condition would he ever enlist in any branch of the U.S. military. I didn’t care much for the instrumental, which sounds like a poor Bomb Squad imitation. Speaking of war, Bill sounds like he’s battling the up-tempo beat, never quite gaining control of it as it drowns out his vocals and he never manages to keep pace with it.

Ain’t With Being Broke – I believe this was the second single released from We Can’t Be Stopped. Our hosts discuss their disdain for poverty, which I’m sure most of the world will agree with. Bushwick’s line about his mom not being able to afford milk so “he had to suck her titty” was both funny and sad. I’ve never really cared for this song do in large part to the cheesy instrumental and the annoying singing on the hook. Not much has changed today.

Quickie – Scarface uses the same sample used on 3 Times Dope’s classic “Funky Dividends” record as the backdrop for this instrumental as he discusses a quickie mission that doesn’t quite go as planned. Well done.

Punk B**** Game – Skit

The Other Level – Bushwick uses his last solo joint of the evening to share a tale of ménage trios, or as he calls it “the other level”.  The GB’s borrow Diana Ross’ “Love Hangover”, giving it a Chopped & Screwed feel before the term Chopped & Screwed even existed. The slower pace beat works well for Bushwick as he sounds smoother than usual and keeps you hanging on to his every word. This song is best described as rap porn. Very entertaining.

Trophy – Willie D uses the final song of the evening to express his angst with the powers that be that overlook the GBs at the award shows. The song opens with a sound bite from Flavor Flav saying “who gives a fuck about a Grammy”, to which Willie angrily response that he does. Willie continues his mad rapper tantrum, and even gives the middle finger to Oscar, Emmy, and Tony (even though these awards are given out for a completely different art form).  Willie D’s animation will make you ignore the below average instrumental playing underneath his verses.

We Can’t Be Stopped is an interesting enigma: With the exception of a few bangin’ instrumentals, most of the album’s production is sonically inferior. Willie D, Bushwick Bill and yes, even Scarface, are not the greatest lyricists, either (I’m sure I’ll catch some flack for saying that about Scarface but I’m open to debate it). Even with these cons, Willie D, Bushwick Bill, and Scarface still manage to keep We Can’t Be Stopped very entertaining. Be it comic relief, over the top absurdity, and occasionally some thought-provoking shit, for the most part this album will hold your attention and keep you entertained.  When discussing the greatest southern hip-hop albums of all time We Can’t Be Stopped can definitely be included in the discussion.

-Deedub

Digital Underground’s 1990 debut Sex Packets was a huge success. It sold over a million units and helped the playful bay area group develop a strong following. The album would eventually make its way onto The Source Magazine’s top 100 Hip-hop albums of all time list. Check my archives for the full review on that.

1991 would be an even busier year for DU. This Is an E.P. Release is a 6 song ep that serves as Digital Underground’s bridge between Sex Packets and their second full length release Sons of the P, which would be released later in 91′ (more on that at later date). Two of the songs on This Is an E.P. Release were also included on the soundtrack (and apparently in the movie) for the Dan Aykroyd movie Nothing But Trouble (a movie I’ve never seen and don’t plan on seeing any time soon). This Is would go on to earn DU their second consecutive plaque, as it would eventually become certified gold.

Side note: The cover artwork for This Is an E.P. Release is pretty dope and the dialogue and (explanation to what E.P. stands for) are pretty amusing as well. These are the type treats you miss out on when you by your music on iTunes.

Same Song – The only single released from the EP was also included on the soundtrack for the Dan Aykroyd directed film Nothing But Trouble. This song is also worthy of note as it marks the first official appearance by the future hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, far before he morphed into his thug-life persona. The Piano Man constructs a funky instrumental built around a George Clinton Parliament vocal sample. I don’t know if this was a bigger hit than the “Humpty Dance” but if not, it’s right up there with it. This song still bangs today.

Tie The Knot –  This was the second song by DU included on the Nothing But Trouble soundtrack. Over a simple drumbeat the Piano Man plays a melancholy version of the “Bridal Chorus”, as Shock G spits a verse that I’m sure many a groom thought as they made that final march down the altar to forsake the bachelor life for marriage (ugh). Short and sweet. One of my favorite DU songs.

The Way We Swing (Remix) – Same instrumental as the original (on Sex Packets ) but different lyrics. While Shock-G won’t make anybody’s top 10 emcees list, the instrumental is a funked out banger.

Nuttin’ Nis Funky –  Shock-G, Schmoovy-Schmoov (which has to be one of the worst aliases ever ) and Humpty Hump (yes, I know he is Shock-G in disguise) spend nearly 10 minutes trying to convince the listener that you haven’t heard anything this funky. I beg to differ, but it’s still decent.

Packet Man (Worth A Packet Remix) – This is without question my favorite DU song of all time. It uses the same lyrics as the original, but CJ Macintosh’s  jazzy instrumental gives the song a completely different feel than the original. The trumpets during the hook and the saxophone at the end make the song sound epic and bigger than the original. Well done, gentlemen.

Arguin’ On The Funk – This one uses the same Raw Fusion instrumental used on “Rhymin’ On The Funk” (also onSex Packets ), but instead of rhyming, Shock and Humpty discuss funk music, funk’s pioneers, and who is truly worthy of props.  Pretty clever way to pay homage to the forefathers of funk. Well executed.

This Is an E.P. Release is an enjoyable listen from beginning to end without interruption from filler material. Over the course of 6 songs DU brings the funk with a touch of jazz, that will satisfy the taste buds of any true head. To sum it up in three words: short, sweet, and flawless. This Is an E.P. Release is the perfect example of why EPs (as in Extended Play, not the 6th option on the album cover) can make the world and hip-hop a better place. Maybe all hip-hop albums should be regulated to an EP format.

-Deedub

We last left the Poor Righteous Teachers in 1990, releasing their debut album Holy Intellect. While Holy Intellect did not move a ton of units, on the strength of “Rock Dis Funky Joint” the PRT’s were able to establish a solid following.

PRT returned in 91′ with their sophomore effort Pure Poverty, which also happened to be released on the same day as fellow Newark crew member/producer Tony D.  Pure Poverty uses the same formula used on Holy Intellect: Wise Intelligent on rhymes, Tony D behind the boards, Father Shaheed on the ones and twos, and Culture Freedom doing whatever it is that Culture Freedom does. Although Pure Poverty(an album title that I absolutely love, by the way) is held in pretty high regards amongst hip-hop circles it didn’t move as many units as Holy Intellect, making it a commercial failure, which if the PRT were depending solely on album sales for income, indeed their poverty became pure.

Fortunately, we don’t equate quality music with record sales here at TimeIsIllmatic, kids.

Shakiyla (JRH) – PRT kick off Pure Poverty with the lead single from the album, which also happens to be a remix of a song from Holy Intellect. Right from the jump Wise Intelligent warns the listener that “this is not a love ballad”, as you’ll soon realize when Tony D’s dark piano riff and eerie sound effects kick in over his rough drums. This may not be a ballad but like the original it is still all about uplifting the black woman. Wise does a good job on this one but Tony D’s monster instrumental is the true champ on this one.

Easy Star – This one opens with a little comic relief provided by a random statement from Wise Intelligent as he commands Culture Freedom to “come back with me apple pie” right before the beat drops. After the beat drops this one turns into a reggae tinged banger that Wise adapts to beautifully and rides like Willie Shoemaker on a saddled horse in his prime. Long Man (which sounds like a name for a porn superhero) contributes a little reggae chant during the hook which was a nice added touch. Well done.

Self-Styled Wisdom – Lazily, Tony D recycles the War “Slippin’ Into Darkness” sample he used for the backdrop of “Rock Dis Funky Joint”. Even though he makes a few adjustments to the original it is still the same concept. Wise sounds solid as usual but I’m not willing to overlook Tony D’s iniquity.

Hot Damn I’m Good – Wise turns in yet another solid effort but Tony D’s instrumental is a hot mess. The moaning woman on the hook, which I assume was supposed to sound sexy winds up just being annoying.

Strictly Mash’ion – Now this is more like it: Tony D provides a solid instrumental that Wise uses to boast of himself and manages to sneak in a little 5 Percent ideology while you’re not looking.

The Nation’s Anthem – This song is to the Five Percent nation what “The Star Spangled Banner” is to North America. The PRT’s take it and make it their own, which also includes an added verse from Wise. Brand Nubian would also record this song a few years later on In God We Trust. I think I prefer their version over the PRT tread.

Each One Teach One – This starts with an interesting piano sample, but it quickly fades away and is replaced with heavy drums covered with Jungle sounds. Wise Intelligent spends the length of this one speaking on religious lies and several other ways that the black man has been deceived by the white man. You know, that usual PRT shit. Decent.

Rappin’ Black – Tony D’s instrumental is all over the place and I didn’t care much  for Wise’s nursery rhyme rhyming cadence, either.

Just Servin’ Justice – Wise surprisingly opens this one by giving a shoutout to MC Hammer. Even if it was only to rhyme “you can’t touch this” with the song title, it was not a popular move at the time (Ice-T did it earlier the same year on O.G.). Wise sounds razor-sharp on this track, and I love Tony D’s bass line, but the rest of the song stinks. Reggae artist Lego Man (no, I didn’t make that up) babbles on forever on the hook, going on and on about what only he and God knows and the rest of Tony D’s instrumental was disappointing.

Freedom Or Death – Tony D’s instrumental doesn’t sound serious or urgent enough to match the song’s title or content. I still find it hi-larious that a group that calls white people devils would have a white man produce their entire freakin’ album (although PRT Deejay Father Shaheed gets a co-production credit on this one). Contradiction, much.

Methods Of Droppin’ Mental – Decent.

Pure Poverty – What is it with Tony D’s obsession to incorporate moaning women into instrumentals?  The title song is the second time during the album that he resorts to that idea. I didn’t care much for this one.

I’m Comin’ Again – Wise finishes off Pure Poverty with one quick accapella verse filled with Five Percent jargon and ideology.

In my review of Holy Intellect I mentioned that Wise Intelligent’s biggest downfall as an emcee was that lyrically he never moves away from his 5 Percent ideology. That issue persists on Pure Poverty, and without the assistance of Dr. Dre the problem becomes chronic (*rimshot*). The monotony of Wise Intelligent’s subject matter is only magnified by Tony D’s lackluster production, which with the exception of a few songs will have you wishing the good doctor would have provided the cure for Pure Poverty.  Wouldn’t it have been sick (and made Pure Poverty more tolerable) to hear Wise spittin’ over Dre’s beats? But he doesn’t. Leaving Pure Poverty sounding a bit impoverished.

-Deedub

hop producer Tony D also rapped on the side. Tony D eventually parlayed his night-time passion into deal and released his solo debut Droppin’ Funky Verses on the now defunct label, 4th & Broadway.

I wasn’t aware this album existed until I ran across it in the used bin at a Pawn America nearly 20 years after it’s released. I also didn’t know that Tony D was caucasian until seeing the album cover. Today will be the first time I listen to Droppin’ Funky Verses in its entirety.

Sadly, Tony D died from injuries suffered during a 2009 car accident. He was only 42. RIP.

Check The Elevation – Tony opens Droppin’ Funky Verses spitting battle lines aimed at any would be competitor within earshot.  Tony’s flow is pretty nimble as his vocal reminds me of MC Serch and the flow is reminiscent of Kool Keith. Tony’s instrumental wasn’t stellar but serviceable. His mispronunciation of  “Ralph Kramden” and “competition”, was pretty comical. All in all, nice start to the evenings proceedings.

Buggin’ On The Line –  This song opens with epic horns that lead you to believe this is going to be a high energy monster instrumental, but once the beat drops you’re left a little disappointed as Tony instead provides a laid back funky groove that is enjoyable, just not what was expected.  Tony takes on the media who negatively criticize hip-hop, and he makes a few good points along the way. Not great, but decent.

Tony Don’t Play That – Our host borrows the song title from the slogan of a Damon Wayans In Living Color character Homie the Clown, substituting “Homie” with “Tony”. Cute. All cuteness aside, I didn’t care for this one. Tony’s instrumental is garbage and his flow sounds extremely sloppy.

E.F.F.E.C.T. – Tony reduces his vocal to a few levels above a whisper in order to match his smoothed out instrumental. The Rakim vocal sample was a nice touch on the hook.

Don’t Fall For The Gas Line – As the title indirectly suggest, this is the first (of many more to come) dis record aimed at 3rd Bass (playing off the title to one of their biggest hits “The Gas Face”). Tony apparently had an issue with 3rd Bass because he felt they were dissing their own people. It’s always comical to hear one white rapper refer to another white rapper as a “bleach boy”. First 3rd Bass disses The Beasties, then Vanilla Ice, and now Tony D goes after 3rd Bass. What’s up with all this white on white violence? Tony lands a few jabs but nothing hard enough to knock Serch or Pete off their feet.

Birdie Disease – This is Tony’s ode to the female crack head. None of Tony’s lines will make you lol but they’ll at least make you smirk. This was decent.

Droppin’ Funky Verses – I didn’t care much for this one. Tony’s instrumental is all over the place and it sounds a bit too airy, if that makes any sense. To make matters worst, Tony’s not saying anything worthwhile, either.

Listen To Me Brother – Tony uses this one to address the lack of support for real hip-hop as he vows to never sellout to sell records. I’m pretty sure the second verse is delivered by an uncredited guest. Tony sounds like a carbon copy of his arch-nemesis, MC Serch on this one. Tony’s instrumental is pretty interesting. I would love to hear how it sounds with a cleaner mix. Our host does his best Kid Capri impersonation on the hook as he shouts random statements as if this was a mixtape.

Harvey Wallbanger – Our host turns into his sexed crazed alter-ego Harvey Wallbanger (or Harvee Wallbangar, which is how it’s spelled on the album cover) as he spends the course of  this one bragging on his sexual prowess. Tony, or Harvey (or Harvee) turns in some pretty entertaining verses (he actually uses the forbidden “C” word) over this funky instrumental. I love the soul vocal sample added in during the hook.  Clearly there was a beef that developed sometime in between the recording of this song and its final mix as Tony (attempts to) censors YZ’s name in a shout out at the end of the song. This is easily the best record of the evening so far.

Keep On Doin’ What You’re Doin’ – Over a Barry White sample infused instrumental Tony (and his other alter-ego Tone) big-ups the east coast while taking several shots at the west coast (at one point he even labels the west coast the home of the sellout, even though they tried to censor it out) and an indirect one at the south. Unfortunately, this was the climate of hip-hop at the time, which would come to a violent head in the next five years. But I digress. Back to the song. It was solid.

I Know Who I Am – Tony continues his onslaught of 3rd Bass, but again only manages to land mild body blows.  Did he really just say he’s “the caucasian complexion of a tan man”? Huh? I’m diggin’ Tony instrumental work. This was pretty dope.

Stop Racism – Good intention. Poorly executed.

Shoe Polish – This is a bonus track on the cassette and cd version of Droppin’ Funky Verses. What better way to wrap up the show than with our host taking one final shot at his favorite target? But 3rd Bass isn’t the only white group to receive a lashing from Tony, the Beasties get a mild shot as well. It was pretty hilarious to hear Tony borrow a term often used by his Five Percent Nation brethren Poor Righteous Teachers, referring to Serch and Pete as devils, especially since the term would also apply to Tony D according to the Five Percent doctrine. Which also calls in to question the authenticity of the PRT’s faith in their doctrine since Tony D produced their first two albums. Regardless, the song sucked. And we’re done.

My expectations for Droppin’ Funky Verses weren’t set high. Since I’ve heard Tony D rhyme before, I wasn’t expecting exceptional lyricism from the man, and in return I did not receive that. Tony is not a terrible rapper, in fact, on a few songs he’s actually a smidge above decent, so lyrical he actually surpassed my expectations. On the flip side, I did have high expectations set for his production and that is where Droppin’ Funky Versesdisappoints. After all, this is the same man who created the backdrop for “Rock Dis Funky Joint”. The instrumental for “Harvey Wallbanger” is fire but after that the majority of the rest of the album sounds pretty vanilla (no pun intended).

-Deedub

The first week of July 1991 was a busy week in the annuals of hip-hop. Today’s post marks the beginning of 7 releases that week.

Stetsasonic is one of those groups that I never followed back in the day. I knew who Daddy-O, Wise, and MC Delight were, mostly do to their contribution on the Stop The Violence Movement record Self Destruction, but beyond that I can’t name one Stetsasonic record. It’s not that I thought they were wack or anything, it’s just one of those groups that for some reason or another I never took the time to listen to. Until now.

Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Stetsasonic is the self-proclaimed first hip-hop band, consisting of the three emcees mentioned above (Daddy-O, Wise, and MC Delight) as well as Frukwan (who left the group after their second album In Full Gear, and would later re-emerge as on of the members of the horrorcore rap act The Gravediggaz ), the drummer Bobby Simmons, D.B.C (which is an acronym for the Devastating Beat Creator) on keys, and Prince Paul (I had no idea he was part of Stetsasonic before picking up today’s album)who acted as the group’s DJ as well as producing some of the tracks.

I happened upon Stets’ Blood, Sweat & No Tears during one of my frequent rummaging through the used cd bins at one of my favorite spots. Blood is Stetsasonic’s third and final album as a group before they disbanded and went their separate ways.

Prince Paul is involved in it so how bad could it be. Well, if all else fails at least the cover artwork is sick.

The Hip-Hop Band – This is an intro produced by Bobby Simmons, who I’m pretty sure also plays live drums on as well.  The sampled horns are a nice added touch. This was actually an enjoyable album intro.

No B.S. Allowed – Daddy-O, Wise, and Delite each get a verse on this one with each flexing battle lines. Daddy-O takes what I would think was a shot at Chuck D with his references to “calling in a bomb squad” and “political rap”, but they list PE as one of their Allies in the liner notes, so that throws that theory out the window. Simmons gets the production credit on this one as well. The instrumental was blah and none of the emcees were impressive. Next…

Uda Man – The entire crew gets a verse to spit over this sick Prince Paul produced instrumental.  While no one spits a verse that will make you hit the rewind button, Daddy-O’s contribution was clearly the best. Wise makes mention to brown being the opposite of purple? Huh? I must have have missed school the day they covered opposite colors.

Speaking Of A Girl Named Suzy – This is just as much as an ode to Suzy as it is a diss.  Daddy-O, Delite, and Wise all share their appreciation for a Stetsasonic groupie named Suzy, who does everything from meeting all of their sexual needs to saving their lives when the tour bus driver falls asleep behind the wheel. Simmons’ instrumental sounds like a poor man’s Teddy Riley new-jack swing joint. This was pretty weak.

Gyrlz – I think you’re smart enough to figure out what this one is about. Daddy-O (with a co-credit going to D.B.C.) gets his first production credit of the evening and turns in a decent instrumental. No new ground covered on this one, though. This was average at best.

Blood, Sweat & No Tears – Prince Paul provides a solid instrumental for Daddy-O and Delite to spit a verse over for this title track. It was mildly amusing to hear Delite force “popsicle” to rhyme with “obstacle”. Not a great song, but decent.

So Let The Fun Begin – Daddy-O gets his second production credit of the evening, and ironically it sounds a lot like his previous work on “Gyrlz”. Daddy-O and Delite spend the course of this one spitting rhymes about partying and bs. This sounds like a blatant attempt at a commercial record, which I’m sure no one was buying back in the day. I’m not feeling it, either.

Go Brooklyn 3 – Wise decides to rejoin his rhyming partners, Daddy-O and Delite on this one as they big up their borough. Simmons provides the drums (and a few other elements) for all three emcees to spit on, and all three do a serviceable jobs. This was cool.

Walkin’ In The Rain – Another love rap song. Over this Bobby Simmons produced instrumental, the Stets emcees dedicate this one to each of the special ladies in their lives, before the song takes a weird twist at the end, which left me questioning the intentions of our hosts on this song: Was this a sincere love song? A parody? Or Both? Daddy-O comes off like a deranged stalker as he screams his rhymes coming off way to aggressive for this laid back instrumental. Though their intentions are not clear and it’s semi-cheesy, this song kind of worked for me. What can I say, I’m a hopeless romantic.

Don’t Let Your Mouth Write A Check That Your Ass Can’t Cash – That’s not a song title, that’s a damn sentence. The song opens with Prince Paul dedicating the song to EPMD, which makes sense when you hear Daddy-O’s funk instrumental. Daddy-O (who sounds like he took a sedative after his hyper contribution on the previous song) and Delite also do their best E-Double/PMD mic tag team impersonation. The was decent.

Ghetto Is The World – Hot Mess.

Your Mother Has Green Teeth – This is a Prince Paul solo joint, that he also produced. I like Paul’s instrumental, but his rhymes are choppy and all over the place. The song title must be an inside joke (which tends to be Paul’s M.O.) as it has nothing to do with the song content.

You Still Smokin’ That Shit? – The best instrumental of the evening so far comes from an outside party. Bob Coulter provides a smooth xylophone for Daddy-O to spit one quick verse that you might miss if you blink. Nice. My only complaint is it was too short.

Heaven Help The M.F.’s – Decent.

Took Place In East New York – Over one of the most generic instrumental ever (brought to us courtesy of Wise and Daddy-O) Wise relives a high school talent show turned battle, that coincidentally took place in East New York.  Weak.

Paul’s A Sucker – Classic Prince Paul lunacy: Don Newkirk and Bobby Simmons screech sing their hearts out for nearly 4 minutes about how much of a sucker Prince Paul is. Some of Paul’s Tomfoolery will make you laugh but this one grows annoying very quickly.

Free South Africa (The Remix) – I’ve never heard the original so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but the remix is decent. Not life changing but decent.

It wasn’t a coincidence, it was intuition. For 23 years my intuition has protected me from the mediocrity that is Blood, Sweat & No Tears. It must have known that I would find the majority of its material sub par and forgettable. It had to have known that even with Prince Paul’s involvement the production would miss way more often than it would hit. There were a few bright spots on Blood, Sweat & No Tears, so it wasn’t a complete disappointment. Going forward I will trust my intuition…at least until I stumble on a used copy of Stetsasonic’s other two records.

-Deedub

QD III (Quincy Jones III) is the son and name sake of the legendary music producer Quincy Jones. QD III is probably best known for bringing us the Beef dvd series, but back in the nineties he was an inspiring hip-hop producer. Thanks to his dad’s clout in the music industry, he was able to snag a solo deal with Warner Bros. and released Soundlab in 1991. Soundlab is a QD III produced compilation album that showcases a few new acts with each of them getting a few songs to show the world what their made of. Soundlab is QD III’s only solo project but he would go one to produce songs for other artists including Ice Cube and 2pac, before he decided to focus on producing films.

The picture on the back of Soundlab‘s liner notes shows QD III posted up next to a pissy mattress, with a broken down bike and hooptie in the background somewhere in a L.A. hood. Dude. You’re The Dude’s son. The son of the man who is partially responsible for  bringing us MJ’s Thriller aint never lived in no hood.

Ridin’ With The Rhythm – Soundlabopens with unsung emcee Justin Warfield (more on him later) riding  this decent QD III instrumental to the rhythm. Nice start to the evening.

Steppin’ With The Sound – Apparently Justin Warfield was tired of ridin’ QD III’s rhythm, so he decided to step to his sound on this one. Coincidentally, QD III uses the same sample Pete Rock used for  “Go With The Flow” on the All Souled Out EP. Justin does a serviceable job with it but I’ll take C.L.’s interpretation every time.

Season of The Vic – The sole reason why I took a chance and invested my 99 cents on Soundlab. Warfield sends a warning to the listener to be aware of those who want to get over on you. I’ve always loved this QD III instrumental and how Warfield rides it. This sounds like something A Tribe Called Quest would have done, which QD and Warfield must have thought as well, since they included a Q-tip vocal sample at the end of the song.

I Need – Just so you didn’t think this was a Justin Warfield solo album, QD introduces another artist on this compilation. Kenyatta from something going by the Mau Mau Tribe gets a solo joint with some chick named Regina Taplin singing the hook. The early nineties saw some pretty cheesy hip-hop/r&b love collabos, and you can add this one to that collection.  This was fastforwordable.

Gotta Do More – Kenyatta gets yet another solo joint and switches things up as this one takes on a more conscious tone as he reminds the listener about the importance of mental freedom. This wasn’t good. To add insult to injury the guest vocalist Jocque Lewis’ contribution on the hook is bound to grate on the ear.

Pumpin’ It Up – QD III invites 213 (pronounced two-one-three) to help out on this one. Before you get too excited, it’s not the 213 that most know as Snoop, Warren G, and Nate Dogg. Instead its Geno Fearce and D.J. Ronski. Yeah, I never heard of them either, and after listening to this song it will become clear why. This wasn’t good.

Hip Housin’ – What do you get when add hip-hop with house music? This hot mess of a song. Just in case you thought the last song was a fluke, 213 confirms that they suck with one.

Catastrophe 1 – I thought I’d be able to use the song title to describe the song, but this one is actually decent.  Based on the liner notes it appears that Poet Society is a four man crew, but only Kev raps on this one, and he turns in a serviceable contribution. The QD III instrumental was pretty decent as well.

Livin’ In The Ghetto – Something named Jazzy D paints a very generic picture of life in the ghetto. The accompanying instrumental is just as generic, but at least QD III can’t be held solely responsible since  DJ Crazy Toones (of Low Profile and later WC And The Maad Circle) gets a co-production credit on this one.

Set Up – This was terrible. The first step to making a good song is making sure the listener can hear you. It’s a strain to get follow the details of S.T. One’s storyline as his monotone vocal is drowned out by QD’s instrumental. QD’s instrumental sucked anyway, so who cares.

Potty Train ‘Em – Kev of Poet Society is back for another solo joint, but unfortunately this one doesn’t work as well as “Catastrophe 1”.

Grim Reaper – One more from our friend Kev of Poet Society. It just dawned on me that Kev sounds like a mix between Wise Intelligent (Poor Righteous Teachers) and DJ Quik. This was decent.

Season Of The R & B – This is the remix to “Season Of The Vic”, and it doesn’t disappoint. QD’s instrumental has a dark vibe, making it feel like “Vic’s” evil twin. Me likey.

Catastrophe 2 – This remix isn’t as good as the original, but still not terrible.

Gigolo Lifestyle – S.T. One returns for the final song of the evening. I’ll start with the positive: QD did a much better job mixing this one than “Set Up” so you don’t have to strain to hear S.T.’s vocals. Now the negative: Everything else about the song sucked.

Soundlab would have worked better as a 6 song EP. As is, pretty much anything that Justin Warfield is not spitting on doesn’t work. Most of QD’s instrumentals are subpar as well as the artists he attempted to showcase. I think its safe to say he made the right choice leaving music alone and focusing on film.

– Deedub

Heavy D (RIP) & The Boyz put Money earnin’ Mt. Vernon (NY) on the map in the mid eighties. Due to his squeaky clean image and danceable songs Heavy and crew were able to gain quite a bit of commercial success. Hev and Pete Rock were cousins, and like any good cousin who has a cousin that wants to get on, Hev gave Peter a chance and let him produce a joint on his second LP Big Tyme. The song “Gyrlz, They Love Me”, was released as a single and became a mild hit for Hev. Pete Rock would eventually become one of the original three members of Hev’s deejay, Eddie F’s production team The Untouchables. Rock eventually hooked up with a young up and coming emcee known to the world as C.L. Smooth, and the two would eventually parley the relationship Rock had with Hev and Eddie F into a deal with Elektra releasing a 6 song EP All Souled Out in 1991, and the rest is history.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth would only release two full length albums after this EP before disbanding in 1994. I still wonder how many classic records the hip-hop world was cheated out of because of this break up.

Good Life – The opening track finds C.L. addressing the pursuit of what most people dream about. PR’s drums aren’t as thick as what we would become accustom to hearing from him, but it still works. Nice start to the evening’s proceedings.

Mecca & The Soul Brother – This is also the title song on their full-length debut album. I never cared much for the album version, but the EP version’s instrumental is buttermilk biscuit material. PR brings his jazzy horns mixed with what sounds like a harp over his trademark heavy drums, as C.L. smoothly dismantled this slick instrumental.

Go With The Flow – Pete Rock provides the perfect drum beat that doesn’t distract the listener from focusing on C.L. Smooth. C.L. doesn’t waste the opportunity as he goes bananas on this one. Pete Rock adds a butter flute sample during the hook that works as a nice dessert in between C.L.’s verses.

The Creator – Pete Rock’s solo joint. I can’t tell if Grand Puba or Heavy D penned his rhymes for this one. It doesn’t matter because his instrumental is so infectious you’ll forget someone is even rhyming over it. One of my favorite Pete Rock instrumentals in his very sizable catalog.

All Souled Out – Compared to the previous 4 songs this title track is a slight step backwards. Not a terrible joint, just not as potent as the previous 4 songs.

Good Life (Group Home Mix)  – On this mix Pete Rock incorporates a sick organ sample during the verses that puts an interesting twist on the original. I prefer the original mix due to it’s crisp and cleaner sound, but this mx was not bad by any means.

All Souled Out is the perfect appetizer, giving the listener just enough to see what the dynamic duo are capable of, but not enough to completely satisfy the hunger, leaving their mouths watering in anticipation for more, which would wind up being quite the wait since Mecca & The Soul Brother would not drop until a year later. Sometimes less is more as its hard to find anything to complain about on this 6 track jewel, marking the beginning of one of the greatest hip-hop duos of all time.

-Deedub

We last found 3rd Bass releasing their debut The Cactus Album, which brought them modest success as it would earn our caucasian brethren a gold plaque. The next year they released The Cactus Revisited which was an EP that consisted of remixes from the original album along with 1 new song. This was all a ploy to fill in the down time between the debut album and the official follow-up that would drop the following year.

3rd Bass dropped Derelicts Of Dialect in the summer of 1991. The majority of the production on The Cactus Album was handled by Sam Sever (some might remember him from the short-lived group Downtown Science). Sever handles a decent chunk of the production on Derelicts Of Dialect as well, but they also brought in Prince Paul (who was riding high on the success of his production work on De La Soul’s first two albums) to produce a handful of tracks. Derelicts Of Dialect would go on to earn the duo their second and last gold plaque as they would disband the following year. Serch and Pete along with Richie Rich, made attempts at solo careers, but neither of them would reach the same level of success they did as a team, bringing truth to the old adage: there is power in numbers.

The Merchants of Grooves – Standard hip-hop album intro, complete with a Richard Pryor vocal sample about white people. I love the trumpet sample that this opens with.

Derelicts of Dialect – Prince Paul provides a dark instrumental (that uses the same source material that Black Moon would later use on their joint “Slave”) for the title track for Pete Nice and Serch to spit on, and our melanin challenged brethren don’t disappoint. Nice way to kick things off.

Ace In The Hole – 3rd Bass invites their buddies from KMD (who also provide the instrumental) to spit on this one. Our hosts don’t waste anytime going in on Vanilla Ice (which would be the first of several attacks on Robert Van Winkle during the course of Derelicts Of Dialect) as Serch takes a direct shot at him during his verse. Zev-Love X and Onyx don’t add much to this song, as I have no idea what they’re talking about, and have very little interest in decoding their hidden messages either . I am curious to whose name was censored during Pete Nice’s shoutouts at the end of the song, though. I didn’t care much for this one.

French Toast – The first of several interludes.

Portrait of the Artist As A Hood  – Serch and Pete use this one to stake their claim as hood approved emcees. Sam Sever provides a decent instrumental.  I remember Sam Sever’s remix (which was used in the video for this song), which was a vast improvement from this version.

Pop Goes The Weasel – This was the lead single from the album, a direct shot at those hip-hop acts that were intentionally making records for pop audience consumption, specifically Vanilla Ice. The video for this song has a Vanilla Ice impersonator getting abused by 3rd Bass. The Stimulated Dummies get the production credit for this one as they combine a little Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder, The J.B.s, The Who, and for S&G, a little Walt Disney. Great song. I wonder if 3rd Bass had any idea that this song would still be relevant for hip-hop music over two decades later.

Sea Vessel Soliloquy – Interlude

Daddy Rich In The Land of 1210 – An ode to their deejay, Richie Rich. They even give the floor to Rich at the midway point of the song to showcase his techniques. I could take it or leave it.

Word To The Third – Sam Sever returns on the production side of things to provide a decent instrumental for our host to get down on. I guess I’m still waiting for Sever to match the perfection that was “Sons of 3rd Bass”. Derelicts Of Dialect isn’t any stronger for having this song on it, nor would it be any worse for leaving it off (this is the true definition of a filler song). Note to all artist: if your album is stacked with 23 tracks, there is really no need for filler material. Prune that mess, son.

Herbalz In Your Mouth – Prince Paul pops up for his second production credit of the evening. Not his best work but it’s a decent enough instrumental for Serch and Pete to get silly on.

Al’z A-B-Cee’z – Hi-larious interlude.

No Master Plan No Master Race – Serch and Nice use this Sever instrumental to discuss race relations. It’s just too bad they used the most generic Sam Sever instrumental they could find to get their point across.

Come In – Another Prince Paul produced joint. Decent.

No Static At All – Now that’s more like it. Prince Paul steps up his game and provides some heat in the form of a stabbing organ sample for the backdrop and our host do a pretty good job keeping pace. Well done.

Eye Jammie – Back in the day I found this interlude hi-larious. Today it got a mild chuckle out of me. Maturation.

Microphone Techniques – Serch and Nice invite Nice N Smooth to join in on this cipher joint, and none of the parties involves disappoint. Like his contemporaries, Sam Sever doesn’t disappoint either as he provides a strong backdrop for the participants to get down on.

Problem Child – Our hosts switch gears to tackle a little social commentary as they focus on a few different scenarios of troubled inner-city youth. Sever samples Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla” for the backdrop, and it works pretty well.

3 Strikes 5000–  This was first released on The Cactus Revisited. This mix has a different instrumental than the original. The Stimulated Dummies are responsible for both. I prefer this mix. That’s all I got. What an awkward paragraph.

Kick Em In The Grill – Chubb Rock stops by to drop a verse on this one, as he bats third and completely knocks this one out of the park (taking yet another shot at Vanilla Ice…man, was he an easy target back in the early nineties).  Random factoid: this is the original to the sequel “Back To The Grill Again” which Serch would release on his solo album the following year, featuring Chubb Rock, Red Hot Lover Tone, and one of the first appearances on wax from the lyrical genius Nas.

Green Eggs And Swine – Prince Paul gets his final production credit of the evening, but unfortunately it’s as bland as tap water. Sounds like Serch takes a shot at X-Clan (who fired the first shot on To the East, Blackwards) on this one. I didn’t care much for this one.

Derelicts of Dialect (SD50 Remix) – This Stimulated Dummies mix has nothing on Prince Paul version.

Pop Goes The Weasel (Radio Edit) – I couldn’t tell the difference between this radio edit and the original. They say its different, so I’ll take their word for it.

M.C. Disagree And The Re-Animator –  What better way to close an album than with an inside joke that only the host and their crew would understand, leaving the rest of the listen public completely alienated. Thank you.

After revisiting Derelicts Of Dialect, the first word that comes to mind is bloated. I enjoyed the chemistry between Serch and Pete on The Cactus Album.  Serch and Pete’s ying and yang personalities balanced out nicely as they could easily move from playful banter to social commentary without missing a beat and still entertaining the listener. At times that same synergy can be found on Derelicts Of Dialect, but for every song that works, there’s a forgettable one to match it. Knock off 10 to 12 of Derelicts Of Dialect 23 tracks and it would easily go from a decent album to rock solid.

-Deedub

By 1991 I was fully drenched and heavily indulging in everything hip-hop related. In between me and my crew freestyling over cassette single instrumentals that we boosted from Sam Goody or Musicland (yes kids, there was a time when you physically had to go to stores to steal music), I read all the hip-hop mags, watched all the hip-hop video shows, so it always shocks me when someone mentions an artist from the early to mid nineties that I’m not even remotely familiar.

Insert Diamond Shell.

A buddy of mine from Connecticut (I see you Sta. Jigga!) hipped me to Diamond Shell in the early 2000’s. He would always quote his rhymes and usually they sounded pretty comical. A few years back while scavenging through the used cd bins, I ran across The Grand Imperial Diamond Shell for a couple of bucks. After reading the liner notes I was extremely shocked that I never heard of him, considering he’s (at least he claims) to be the brother of Biz Markie. The Biz is also responsible for production duties on The Grand Imperial. Now I loved the production work Biz did on Grand Daddy I.U.’s Smooth Assassin but I was completely bored with the crap he threw on Kid Capri’s The Tape.

Will Biz’ production be more in the vain of Smooth Assassin or The Tape? Better question: Can Diamond Shell actually spit?

Bugged Out Day At Powerplay – Over a miniscule drum beat Shell opens his debut album in a pretty unusual way: a freestyle cypher session? After Shell, Biz, and something called Capitol Tee (who starts to rap before his allotted time only to get hi-lariously reprimanded by the Biz for going in prematurely) give their introductions before Biz set it off with a freestyle that even includes him reciting the alphabet. Shell bats second, followed by Capitol Tee, before Biz wraps things up as if this was his album. After his 1989 hit “Just A Friend”, Biz was huge, so I’m sure Cold Chillin’ pushed to have his imprint all over The Grand Imperial. Oh yeah, the song…decent at best.

Back Again – Shell goes from class clown to making an attempt at sounding like a serious battle emcee, but there are a few problems here: 1 – it becomes pretty apparent that Shell has a slight lisp that is magnified when he spits at a more up tempo pace. And more importantly 2 – his lyrics are just not that good. Biz Markie’s instrumental is trash as well, so that didn’t help matters, either.

Rock On – Shell slips into storyteller mode as he drops three verses with three completely unrelated stories. the first two verses show Shell’s compassionate side as he shows mercy on two individuals that targeted him as a victim. The last verse is just about skinz. The only thing each of the verses has in common is the branding of his name in each of the character’s brain. Though the song title and content are pretty random, Biz’ instrumental (which sounds like it sampled the same bass line used on Redman’s “Jam For U”) is a banger which makes the song enjoyable.

Same Ol’ Song – Shell stays in storyteller mode, but unlike the previous song this one actually has a theme. Over a soulful piano loop Shell reminisces about a chubby female childhood buddy who reappears years later as a curvaceous hottie. You won’t mistake Shell for Slick Rick, but he does a pretty good job on this one. Props on his attention to detail. Like “Rock On”, the song title doesn’t have anything to do with the song’s content.

Giggles – Shell delivers yet another story, but this time he borrows his brother Biz’ M.O. and turns in a comical tale about a blind date gone bad. Biz provides a smooth mid-tempo groove for Shell to drop this one verse wonder over. Shell kind of reminded me of Grand Daddy I.U on this one, dropping one liner after one liner. This was hi-larious!!!

Oh What a Night – I believe this was the first and only single released from The Grand Imperial. Biz tries to recapture the magic that he found on his hit “Just A Friend”, this time sampling the Four Seasons hit “December, 1963 (What A Night)”, and singing the hook off-key in between Shell’s verses. This was terrible.

Cut School – Shell shares a playful story that serves as a warning to get kids to stay in school.  spins a tale about an ordeal that took place after he decided to take an extended bathroom break at school that spiraled out of control to suspension, drug dealing, to murder, and ultimately life in prison. Heavy stuff, right? Shell manages to make it playful, kind of taking the sting out of his warning to kids to never skip class.

Captain Speakin’ – Biz uses a recycled sample (I think I first heard this sample used on a Super Cat joint, which is the same song that I first heard Biggie spit on, which also contained the vocal sample that would later be used on the hook for “Big Poppa”) for the foundation of this instrumental, which is pleasant.  Shell’s the big disappointment on this one.

Church Bell Toll – Shell switches hats and goes into gangster mode as he repaints an altercation at a night club turned fatal. I didn’t care much for this one.

Grand Imperial Diamond Shell – Our host takes a break from all his storytelling and kicks back to boast and talk shit over a Biz instrumental that samples Rick James’ “Mary Jane”.

Back ‘Em Up – Biz provides a pretty interesting instrumental for Shell who does a serviceable job on the mic.

Make ‘Em Say Huh – Shell invites fellow Cold Chillin’ alum Kid Capri to ad-lib and take care of the chorus on this hot mess of a song.

Shout Outs – Play exactly how it reads…and that’s a wrap.

After listening to The Grand Imperial a few times, it wasn’t quite what I expected. Naturally, since Shell is Biz Markie’s little brother, you would assume (or at least I did) he’d be another class clown emcee. Yes, Shell does goof off a little bit (especially when Biz joins in on the fun) and a handful of his storylines are comical (see “Giggles” and “Cut School”), but Shell does have a semi-serious side as well (see “Rock On” and “Same Ol’ Song”). Shell spends the majority of The Grand Imperial telling stories, which may be his strongest trait, because his freestyle/battle rhymes ring hollow.  Shell is far from a top-tier emcee, nor is he the worst I’ve heard. He falls somewhere in between, leaning heavily towards the latter. The biggest disappointment on The Grand Imperial was Biz’s lackluster production. Other than the banger that was “Rock On”, none of his other instrumentals come close to surpassing decent. The Tape now has a companion piece in my collection.

-Deedub