Time Is Illmatic

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

With the news of Dr. Dre becoming hip-hop’s first billionaire (thanks to the Beats/Apple deal) and the hype surrounding the N.W.A. biopic (which I’m not optimistic about, since Dre and Cube have veto power to edit or remove any/every scene of the up coming movie), its only fitting that N.W.A. would be today’s subject.

To help build up anticipation for the follow-up to their mammoth debut album Straight Outta Compton, the disgruntled Los Angeles quartet dropped the 100 Miles & Runnin’ EP in late 1990.  The results were fairly positive, but with the EP only containing 5 tracks, the full impact of Ice Cube’s departure could not be properly assessed. 1991 brought the proper full length follow-up to their debut which they would affectionately title Niggaz4life.

Like anything else the members of N.W.A touched, (except for MC Ren’s solo material) Niggaz4life would go on to move a ton of units, and be the final chapter in the book of N.W.A as a group and the beginning of the members solo careers, which for some of them would turn into successful ventures, both musically and beyond.

Prelude – The members of Above The Law kick off Niggaz4life, with a few kind words about their disgruntled brethren, even going as far to include a Psalms 23 hood remix. This sets up Ren who spits two solid verses over the same instrumental used for the closing track on the 100 Miles & Runnin’ EP, “Kamurshol”. Happy to see they didn’t let a sick instrumental go to waste.

Real Niggaz Don’t Die – Dre’s instrumental sounds like heaven battling hell when you hear the melodic bells over the rough guitar sample. Even though he’s been gone nearly two decades, hearing Easy’s line “only the good die young so that makes me young and bad” was kind of uncomfortable.

Niggaz 4 Life – Ren, Dre and Easy all share nonsensical reasons why they call themselves niggas, and they all sound pretty entertaining doing it over this hot Dr. Dre production.

Protest – Interlude

Appetite For Destruction – This was the second single released from Niggaz4life. Dre, Ren, and Easy take turns spittin’ over this dark and eerie Dre instrumental. Easy bats third and if I’m not mistaking, he refers to himself as “chicken shit” in step 6 of his countdown. Don’t know if this was a blooper or if he meant do say it. Either way it catches you off guard and is bound to make you chuckle and rewind it just to make sure you didn’t misunderstand him.

Don’t Drink That Wine – This is a faux Public Service Announcement hosted by MAAD (Muthafuckas Against Drunk Driving). Coincidentally, D.O.C, who by this time had already lost his voice after injuring his vocal cords in a car accident, makes a cameo on this interlude. I sometimes wonder what type of impact D.O.C. would have had on the game had he not lost his booming voice, being left to whisper on garbage interludes such as this one.

Always Into Something – Dre and Ren tag team Dre’s laid back instrumental and drop some old gangsta shit on the album’s lead single. Ren provides another blooper reel moment on his final verse as he accidentally uses “nothing” instead of “something” (I’m sure most of you never noticed but now it will stick out like a Nicki Minaj booty cheek in daisy dukes).  No matter how much time passes, this Dre instrumental is still smooth and never gets old.

Message To B.A. – Interlude aimed at Ice Cube.

Real Niggaz – Same version that was on the 100 Miles & Runnin’ EP, only minus the opening babble from the big homie.

To Kill A Hooker – This might be the most ridiculous interlude in the history of hip-hop interludes. The crew rolls up on a hooker (that they’re apparently not aware of her profession) who they decide to murder after they, not so politely, ask her for her services and have the audacity to get offended when she asks them what their willing to pay. Are you kidding me? This sets up the next song…

One Less Bitch – Dre and Ren turn into serial killers as they kill no less than 4 chicks (and 1 dude) on this one. Dre’s sample of the Barry White classic “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby” was very underwhelming, along with everything else about this song.

Findum, Fuckum & Flee – You know what this is about.

Automobile – Easy (with a brief assist from who I think was Dre?) tries to serenade the ladies into giving him some pussy. Terrible.

She Swallowed It – This is Ren’s sequel to “Just Don’t Bite It” from 100 Miles & Runnin’.  Ren orally (pun intended) shares a few more experiences with the listener.

I’d Rather Fuck You – Easy decides to test his singing chops again, only this time he invites long time Deathrow contributor Jewell and an uncredited male vocalist to help. This is a remake of the Bootsy Collins funk classic “I’d Rather Be With You”, and  it kind of works in a cheesy kind of way, do in large part to Jewell and the other uncredited guest’s contributions. And that concludes the misogyny portion of Niggaz4life. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Approach To Danger – The instrumental matches the song title beautifully. All three rappers spit vocally distorted verses about death and violence over a dark Dre instrumental. The verses were cool but Dre’s instrumental is the true star on this one (like most of the album).

1-900-2-COMPTON – Interlude…

The Dayz Of Wayback – Ren and Dre reminisce on their youthful days growing up in the hood. They both stray from the subject at hand but find their way back eventually. Decent way to end the album.

Straight Outta Compton will always be N.W.A’s most significant and revered album of the two full lengths they released as a group. At its release it was both groundbreaking and revolutionary with its brash demeanor and hard content. Niggaz4life doesn’t have the same sting. Ren, Dre, and Easy do a decent job compensating for Ice-Cube’s absence, but Niggaz4life misses his swagger, severely.  On the other hand, Dre’s production on Niggaz4life is miles ahead of the work he did on Straight Outta Compton, as we see glimpses of the sonic funk blueprints that would help Dre dominate the nineties (and arguably the early 2000’s), etching his legacy in the annuals of hip-hop as one of the top two hip-hop producers of all time (yeah, I said it). So, even if you don’t feel the rhymes you’ll definitely feel most of the production on Niggaz4life.

-Deedub

We last found our frozen friend Ice-T in 1989 with his 3rd release (as well as 3rd consecutive gold or better selling album) The Iceberg/Freedom Of Speech. Like his previous two efforts (Rhyme Pays and Power), The Iceberg covered the same topics: street drama, boasting and a few thought-provoking messages. If it aint broke don’t fix it, right?

Wrong.  For his 4th album O.G. Original Gangster, Tracy does make one significant alteration: On the previous three albums, long time collaborator Afrika Islam exclusively held down production duties. Apparently Ice borrowed the DeLorean from Marty Mcfly, zoomed to the future to read my assessment of Islam’s underwhelming contribution on the last record, as he’s replaced at the helm by former Low Profile member, DJ Aladdin, who provides the majority of the production on O.G. Original Gangster.  The album would become Tracy’s 4th consecutive album selling gold or better and is considered by many to be his best album to date, evening making The Source’s top 100 hip-hop albums of all time.

On a more somber note, this is the second consecutive Ice-T album to not have his beautiful ex-wife Darlene Ortiz gracing the album cover. Hopefully the music makes up for what the cover lacks.

Home of the Bodybag– This is a short intro over a DJ Aladdin instrumental that finds Tracy blurting excerts of verses and song titles from past songs, while still managing to drop the title of this intro. LA: Home of the Bodybag. A tag line that is sure to make tourist come in flocks.

First Impression – Some random chick with a british accent (who sounds extremely hot) speaks about her first impression of Tracy after hearing his music. She eloquently disses him before completely making a 180 on her opinion, which I found both comical and extremely attractive at the same time. Who is this chick? I want to see pics, yo!

Ziplock – In the span of one quick verse Tracy discusses everything from his gold records, his pit bull named Felony, his willingness to sign an autograph for you, but if you look at him the wrong way you might be leaving this earth in a body bag aka ziplock (interesting that two of the first three songs reference a bodybag…obsessed much).  Ice does a serviceable job and the Aladdin instrumental was decent.

Mic Contract – Instead of physically doing it, Tracy uses three verses to articulate how he will verbally kill you on the mic. Aladdin’s instrumental was kind of interesting, and Tracy turns in a serviceable performance, but he doesn’t contribute anything that will make you hit the rewind button.

Mind Over Matter – Our Frozen friend shows some of his lyrical dexterity over a sick Aladdin instrumental. The only issue with this song is the first verse, where Tracy sounds like he was awaken from a deep sleep and forced to spit a rhyme against his own will. He’s fully awake by the time verse two rolls around, though.

New Jack Hustler – This was released as a single from The New Jack City soundtrack, in which Ice-T also starred in (who can forget “I wanna shoot you so bad my dick’s hard”? Or Chris Rock as the crackhead Pookie…but I digress). Tracy spits verses from the perspective of Nino Brown (the drug lord from New Jack City) and again displays his underrated lyrical ability.  Aladdin provides a monster of an instrumental, which is starting to make me think he may be one the most unsung hip-hop producers of all time. Classic record.

Ed – Tracy spits one quick verse about his homeboy Ed, who apparently had it all until it all ended on one fateful night when decided to drink and drive. Considering the lighthearted Beatmaster instrumental and the nonchalant manner in which Tracy delivers the verse, I’m confused on what his intentions were on this one.

Bitches 2 – My first thought when I saw the title was that this was a sequel, but it should be read as “Bitches Too”. This one is dedicated to the brothers without heart or dignity, also know as  punks and snitches. Our host spends 4 verses discussing 4 brothers who go out like chumps when things get tight. Once again, Aladdin’s instrumental is pretty interesting but it’s clearly too much for Tracy to handle.

Straight Up Nigga – Even though our Frozen host may be a mixed breed he wants the world to know what he is, and he clearly doesn’t have a problem with the word. Aladdin’s instrumental was lackluster but Ice does bring up some interesting points hidden within a plethora of nonsense. Too bad his delivery sucked.  On a completely unrelated note, it was nice to hear Ice shoutout Lord Finesse.

O.G. Original Gangster – Aladdin brings a serious instrumental for this title song, which was also released as a single. Tracy does a lot of gangsta posturing on this one as he tries to come off like the hardest nigga alive, with the exception of the first verse when he attempts to explain away his Breakin days. Although Aladdin’s instrumental doesn’t hit as hard as I remembered it, this is still a decent song.

The House – Our host kicks one short verse about a boy and girl who are being abused by their parents. Tracy’s sleepy delivery detracts from the seriousness of the subject. It doesn’t help matters that Aladdin’s instrumental is garbage.

Evil E – What About Sex – Ice-T’s deejay Evil E begs him to spit a “sex rap” on this interlude.  Tracy begins to tell a tale about a girl with crazy tail, and Evil D sounds like he has his dick in hand as he listens to Tracy’s story. Hopefully E is a fast performer because Tracy wraps up his story pretty quick.

Fly By – Tracy brings the crew in for this posse cut, and everybody provides forgettable verses for this forgettable song.

Midnight – This is kind of works as the sequel to Rhyme Pays “6 ‘N The Mornin’ “. Aladdin provides a pretty nice instrumental for Tracy’s storyline that sounds like a script for a Hollywood summer blockbuster action movie bound to flop. In song form its pretty decent, though.

Fried Chicken – I was waiting to hear tomatoes come flying at our host after hearing his momma joke that he opens up this short interlude with. This was a waste of time, but it did make me want to listen to Nas’ song which shares the same song title, but is a much better song.

M.V.P.’s – This is pretty much a 4 minute shoutout to all of Tracy’s people in the game. I could care less about any shoutout song, but the fact that this was placed at the midpoint of the album made me like this even less.

Lifestyles of the Rich And Famous – Our host talks about the ups and downs and day-to day life of a rapper. If the worst part of your day is having to throw women who look like gorillas out of your plush hotel room, you really have nothing to complain about.

Body Count – This is the introduction to Ice-T’s side project Body Count, a rock band he put together in which he was the lead man. I’m no rock expert but I can’t believe even a true rocker would appreciate this mess.  Not only does this song suck but it doesn’t fit anywhere within the of context of O.G. Original Gangster.  This was terrible.

Prepared To Die – Tracy spits a quick first about Freedom and Mandela.  His content was cool but Ice’s delivery is choppy and rushed even with it being accapela. It doesn’t help it sounds like he’s reading the poem from the page. If you listen close enough I swear you can hear him turn the page in his notebook as he recites his lines.

Escape From The Killing Fields – Over an unimpressive Afrika Islam instrumental Ice encourages brothers to get out of the hood and seek out a better life. I partially agree with Tracy’s message, but the cops will kill a brother whether he’s in the hood, burbs, or on the moon. True story.

Street Killer – A short interlude with our frozen friend describing strong attributes for any gangster. I won’t give any more details, so you can listen to it and fully appreciate its cleverness.

Pulse of the Rhyme – Now this is what I’m talkin’ bout. Aladdin provides a serious instrumental and not only are Tracy’s lyrics up to par but so is his delivery and execution. This is a banger.

The Tower – Tracy paints the picture of prison from an inmates perspective. The Bilal Bashir produced track reminds me of his classic record “Colors”, only this instrumental doesn’t work as the synthesized instrumental sounds synthetic.

Ya Shoulda Killed Me Last Year – Tracy’s last words, thoughts, disses, and special shoutouts to Kipper Gore, Bush and Mrs. Bush.

At 24 tracks in length O.G. Original GangsterO.G is way over loaded, so naturally there are some throw away songs along the journey. Aladdin does provide some pretty entertaining instrumental for Tracy to spit over, but like his previous works he’shows glimpses of his potential but his sloppy delivery is a dark cloud that follows him throughout O.G. Original Gangster. There are a few great songs on the album but the majority range from average to garbage.

-Deedub

After their critically acclaimed debut,3 Feet High & Rising, De La Soul was left in an interesting predicament. While most loved and accepted them and their music for what it was, their street cred was still questioned by some and the black hippy stigma that followed them left a bit of a chip on their collective shoulders, so much so that it would influence the title and concept of their sophomore effort. De La Soul Is Dead , which is a clever album title by itself, was matched in wit with its album cover artwork, which displays a flower-pot of daisies spilled over as a visual metaphor for the end of the 3 Feet High’s daisy era, and a new beginning for De La Soul. Even with their “new beginning” some of the same pieces remain intact on De La Soul Is Dead , such as Prince Paul co-producing the whole album along with the De La brothers.

De La Soul Is Dead is one of only 15 albums to ever receive the once coveted 5 mic stamp of approval from the once credible hip-hop bible, The Source magazine.

Without further adieu…De La Soul Is Dead .

Intro – Inside the liner notes there is a short comic strip, or as Prince Paul introduces it as “the De La Soul read along storybook”, that even prompts the listener with a bell when it’s time to turn to the next page.  This intro covers the first 4 pages of the book.

Oodles of O’s – After all these years I’m still not sure how I feel about this song. Mediocre at best.

Talkin’ Bout Hey Love – After a long opening instrumental that liberally borrow’s from Stevie Wonder’s “Hey Love” (including a portion of Stevie’s vocal sample) and features an uncredited tone-deaf female vocalist, Posdnous partakes in a conversation with a woman who wants him to commit to her, making her his one and only. Not terrible, but this doesn’t add much to the album.

Pease Porridge – Pease (or peace) porridge is to De La Soul what spinach was to Popeye. The porridge gives De La strength to maintain their peace and sanity, especially when suckas want to test them, mistaking them for soft hippy rappers. Trugoy puts it best:”We bring the peace of course, but pack a nine inside my De La draws, a picture painting pic, can turn to red and bloody quick”. From the instrumental, clever hook, Posdnous and Trugoy’s verses, and the playful fight interlude and commentary near the end of the song, this song is executed beautifully.

Skit 1 – Page 5 of the read-along storybook.

Johnny’s Dead AKA Vincent Mason (Live From the BK Lounge) – This is the first of a few faux-live performances from the BK Lounge. No matter how many times I listen to this I still laugh out loud at the singer (who I believe is Prince Paul) as he reenacts Johnny screaming after he got shot. Hi-larious!

A Roller Skating Jam Named “Saturdays” – One of the singles released from De La Soul Is Dead : A dedication to roller skating on Saturday nights. I still love this song, and don’t think it will ever get old. Shoutout to Native Tongue regular contributor Ms.Vinia Mojica on the hook.

WRMS’ Dedication To The Bitty – Interlude

Bitties In The BK Lounge – There are really two parts two this song: the first part is Trugoy’s forgettable verse (as well as the instrumental that accompanies it). The second part of the song is a ranking session between Posdnous, who plays a BK worker, and a customer named Sashana, looking to place her order with him. The back and forth between the two works pretty well, and the Lou Donaldson loop sounds a lot better than the instrumental thrown at Trugoy.

Skit 2 – Page 6 of the read-along book.

My Brother’s A Basehead – In true De La Soul fashion, Posdnous takes on the serious topic of living with a crackhead brother and makes it easier to digest with his lighthearted approach.  This might have gone over better with a more entertaining instrumental. As is, its below average. The phone conversation at the end between the lady and guy describing Posdnous as the “one with the nappy hair…with the glasses” was pretty comical.

Let, Let Me In – This one picks up where 3 Feet High’s “Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin’s Revenge)” leaves off at, with each of the trio politely asking the objects of their erections to let them hit it. Never thought about it before, but the instrumental uses the same sample that would be used later the same year for Cypress Hill’s monster hit “How I Could Just Kill A Man”.

Afro Connections At A Hi 5 (In The Eyes of the Hoodlum) – This was okay.

Rap De Rap Show – A faux promo for the faux radio deejay Dodoman for the faux radio station WRMS.

Millie Pulled A Pistol on Santa – One of my top 5  De La songs of all time.  De La takes on the difficult topic of child molestation. Everyone should listen to this song at least once in their life.  Deep, dark, and classic.

Who Do U Worship? – In all of Prince Paul’s brilliance, there are a few times where he goes to far or misses. This is one of those times.

Skit 3 – Page 7 of the read-along book.

Kicked Out The House – Though they claim their not trying to dis house or dance music, they are definitely taking a shot at it over this faux-house track.

Pass The Plugs – I love Prince Paul’s melancholy/reflective instrumental. Posdnous, Trugoy, and Prince Paul each turn in solid verses, but the instrumental is the true winner on this song.

Not Over Till The Fat Lady Plays The Demo – Over the top interlude to set up the next song…

Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) – The lead single from De La Soul Is Dead . This is a dedication to all the desperate inspiring artists who dropped De La a demo and followed up with a phone call or two (or two dozen) after not hearing back from the brothers.  The Whatnauts borrowed bass line is infectious and will never get old. Another one of my De La top 5.

WRMS:Cat’s In Control – Another WRMS interlude

Skit 4 – Page 8 of the read-along book

Shwingalokate – Not really feeling this one.

Fanatic Of The B Word – This kind of works as the companion piece to 3 Feet High’s “Buddy” in a round-about-abstract-kind of way, I think. Mike G of the Jungle Brothers starts this one-off with opening words and Native Tongue new comer, Dres of the Black Sheep, spits a verse alongside Pos and Trugoy. You might not gravitate to this one right away but it will grow on you over time.

Keepin’ The Faith – Posdnous and Trugoy each spit a tale about two different girls who choose to remain celibate for religious beliefs. I realize when De La wrote this song they were still in their early twenties and immature, which might explain why they take shots at the ladies who take this stance. Now that I have two daughters of my own (and I know Posdnous has a daughter as well) this song is harder to digest today than it was yesterday. Regardless of your perspective on the topic we’ll all agree that this isn’t one of their strongest songs.

Skit 5 – And finally, page 10 of the read along book. And with that, we’re done.

De La Soul Is Dead is supposed to mark a new beginning for the trio, distancing them from the black hippy stigma they acquired after their debut. In my opinion, they simply picked up where they left off at on 3 Feet High, as the production and content doesn’t stray far from that of the previous record. If anything the beats and rhymes have matured on De La Soul Is Dead . Leave it to a conceptual genius like Prince Paul to take a group’s vulnerability and turn it into viable art.

Did The Source Get It Right? As much as I love De La Soul, I don’t know if this should be a 5 mic album.  While the majority of it works well, with  27 tracks in length, its inevitable that you’ll have some filler joints, or some songs that just plain don’t work.  De La Soul Is Dead is no exception to the rule.

-Deedub

Norman Rogers is better known to everyone in the world, other than his mother, as Terminator X, the deejay from the legendary hip-hop collective Public Enemy, during their most prominent years (87′ to 99′). My remembrance of Terminator X during PE’s golden years is him as a light skin version of Kool Moe Dee, minus the Kangol with a high top fade, and I swear the dude never spoke a word for at least a 5 year period, if not longer.

The PE reign was so prevalent during this period that all of its members and associated acts such as Professor Griff and Sister Souljah, were able to parle the group’s success into solo projects. Naturally, Terminator X also took advantage of this exposure, landing a solo deal with vanity Columbia label P.R.O. Divisional/RAL, and releasing Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beets in 1991.

Its been a long while since I’ve listen to this album in its entirety, and I don’t remember a lot about the album. There is probably a just reason for that.

Random Factoid: Terminator X broke both his legs in a motorcycle accident in 1994.

Vendetta…The Big Getback – Intro to The Valley of the Jeep Beets .

Buck Whylin’ – Rightfully so, Chuck D is the first emcee to bless the mic on The Valley of the Jeep Beets , with an assist from Sister Souljah, preaching her conscious sermons during the hook. This was cool. Not live changing or terrible, but cool.

Homey Don’t Play Dat – This was the first single released from the album. TX’s funky James Brown loop makes for one sick instrumental to vibe to, way back then and now.   Female emcees Bonnie ‘N’ Clyde do a serviceable job on the mic, but TX’s instrumental is the true star of this one.

Juvenile Delinquintz – After a brief interlude informing the listener that “there is no escape from the Valley of the Jeep Beets” and some dude giving a nonsensical equation, the next line you hear is from one of the Juvenile Delinquintz saying “Uncle Sam, the mascot of America”. From there on they spend the rest of the song discussing the mis-education and the bs black youth have to put up with to get a diploma.  I had to chuckle when the teacher ask the class “does anyone have a question?, to which one of the JD’s replies “yeah, who gives a fuck?”. It was also pretty funny to hear one of the guys claim that the food served in the school cafeteria is not even adequate for a dog’s diet, so he chooses to eat lunch at McDonald’s as if that’s a healthier alternative. Even with their awareness of the flaws in the school system, these young men still know the value of an education in America, as they end this one with “yeah, we say fuck school, but we still get through”.  TX’s instrumental was pretty nice as well. Well done.

The Blues – Over a nice TX instrumental, Andreas 13 (yeah, I never heard of him either) spends the length of this one singing rapping the blues. Like most blues songs the root of his woes fall around money and women. Andreas’ verses were competent but the chick singing during the hook (and sometimes during the verses) was so annoying I wanted to shake the shit out of her.

Back To The Scene of the Bass – The first emcee from the Interrogators starts this one off tracing the bass, musical speaking, back to the scene of the crime (whatever that means).  Then the rapper covering the second verse completely flips the script and repaints his struggle with actually smoking base. Yes, this nigga was a crackhead. Props for his transparency, but the song was still below average.

Can’t Take My Style – A short interlude with Terminator X cuttin’ on the ones and two’s.

Wanna Be Dancin’ – Celo (not to be confused with the one from the Goodie Mob) of the The Casino Brothers (yeah, I never heard of them either) gets a chance on this solo attempt at a dance track, but fails miserably. The uncredited female vocalist sounds like the same annoying culprit from “The Blues”, and she doesn’t fare any better on this song. This was indeed a hot mess.

DJ Is The Selector – I didn’t care much for this one.

Run That Go-Power Thang – TX decides to take a brief break from the boom-bap and gives a band called Spacey B Experience a shot. They kind of reminded me of the Brand New Heavies minus N’dea Davenport.  This sounds like a throw back to the seventies, like something that would have fit on a Foxy Brown (the Pam Grier character, not the deaf rapper) soundtrack, which isn’t a bad thing.

No Further – Wtf? Compared to the rest of the songs on The Valley of the Jeep Beets this felt a little out of place. And it didn’t help that the vocalists, Section 8 sounded terrible.

High Priest Of Turbulence – A short TX instrumental medley.

Ain’t Got Nuttin’ – Some guy named Chief Groovy Loo comes out in battle mode, swinging for the fences on this one. Unfortunately, he only manages to foul off a couple of pitches before popping out behind home plate. The short TX instrumental at the end was pretty nice, it would have been nice to hear it used in an actual song.

Terminator X & The Valley of the Jeep Beets has a few bright moments (i.e. “Homey Don’t Play Dat” and “Juvenile Delinquintz, which TX knew were the strongest songs on the album since they were both released as singles) but overall the results are underwhelming. Considering the roster (with the exception of Chuck D) is full of a bunch of no name starving artist, this should come as no surprise. Regardless of the amateur artists, TX is still responsible for the lackluster production. I’ve never heard his follow-up compilation Super Bad, and after this experience I don’t know if I want to.

-Deedub

For those keeping score at home, this one should go right after Straight Out The Jungle, kicking off 1989.

Remember Young MC? Or better question, remember the crossover rap hit “Bust A Move”?  This one song defined his rap career so much his grave marker should read “He Busted A Move”. Ironically, he is also responsible for two other monster crossover rap hits from the eighties. Young MC also penned “Wild Thing” as well as “Funky Cold Medina” performed by today’s subject Terrell Smith, better known to the world as Tone-Loc.

Tone-Loc grew up in the mean street of L.A. where he was involved with gangs and other mischievousness.  One day he realized the path he was on wouldn’t have a happy ending, so he decided to focus his energy on something positive and decided to pursue a career in hip-hop. He linked up with Mike Ross and Matt Dike, founders of an up and coming label Delicious Vinyl where he would release his debut album Loc-Ed After Dark. On the strength of “Wild Thing” and “Funky Cold Medina” Loc-Ed After Dark was a huge success  as it moved well over 2 million units and provided two mash hits that over 20 years later still get played regularly at bars, bowling alleys, and radio and club’s old school hours.

I ran across this one in the 99 cent bin at a local used record store and thought I’d give it a listen, to see if our Loced friend had more in his arsenal than just the monster hits that he didn’t even write.

Random Factoid: Tone-Loc guest starred in an episode of Living Single where he played Kyle’s old high school bully, Lester Tate (Season 4, Epsiode 8: School’s Out Forever).

On Fire (Remix) – It’s kind of weird to start an album out with a remix, but that’s just what Anthony decides to do on Loc-Ed After Dark. The Dust Brothers (responsible for the production on The Beastie’s Paul’s Boutique) get a co-production credit, and turn in a decent instrumental for this remix.  This was decent start to the show, but it left me curious on what the original mix sounds like.

Wild Thing – I don’t think there’s a set of ears in America (and possibly the world over) that doesn’t recognize this song the moment the guitar licks kick in at the beginning of this ode to America’s favorite pastime: baseball.  This song has been way over exposed since it’s release, so you probably hate this song by now, and I can completely understand where you’re coming from. I still think it bangs. Sick bass line, hard guitar licks, and Tone’s smooth gravelly voice are all in sync on this banger.

Loc-ed After Dark – Over a subdued instrumental Tone drops his best battle lines on this title track. His rhymes aren’t terrible, but they don’t stray far from mediocre. Battle rapper, he is not.

I Got It Goin’ On – This Matt Dike produced instrumental borrows from the classic “Jamaica Funk” record. Unfortunately, all the funk in Jamaica couldn’t save this song.

Cutting Rhythms – The Dust Brother’s instrumental samples the classic Barry White record “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby” (which has been used on several other hip-hop songs over the years). I loved the cutting during the hook after the first verse. I’m kind of curious on why they edited all of Tone’s curses before this song but allowed him to drop an f-bomb on this one. This was okay, I guess.

Funky Cold Medina – If it aint broke don’t fix it: This was Loc’s second mammoth single from Loc-Ed After Dark, which uses the same formula used on “Wild Thing”: bangin’ bass line, rock guitars, and playful lyrics. This one is not an ode to baseball, but instead an ode to the drink that will make the ladies want to play baseball with you. I’m pretty sure this is Darren Sharper’s favorite rap song of all time. The Matt Dike/Mike Ross instrumental doesn’t quite bang like “Wild Thing”, but it’s still decent.

Next Episode – This Dust Brothers instrumental was pretty underwhelming and this song made me want to move on to the next episode as soon as possible.

Cheeba Cheeba – I think you all are smart enough to figure out what this song is about. Tone does a decent job over this laid back funky Dike & Ross/Dust Brother collaboration. I chuckled a bit when Tone replays his buddy getting the munchies after a smoke session. It was pretty ironic to hear him shout out who he refers to as “the king of late night” David Letterman, since this song is 25 years old and he just recently announced his plans to retire, long after Anthony’s 15 minutes begin and ended.

Don’t Get Close – This Dust Brother’s instrumental sounds darker than anything else on Loc-Ed After Dark. Tone uses this dark instrumental to send out a warning to all competitor’s to keep their distance. You won’t remember any of Tone’s rhymes but this instrumental will stick to your bones.

Loc’in On The Shaw – A Matt Dike instrumental that I believe is dedicated to the hood famous Crenshaw strip in Los Angeles.

The Homies – At first seeing the title I assumed this would be a posse cut for Tone and his boys (who never thought about rapping before Tone got a deal, but suddenly got the rapping bug once he got signed) to spit over.  Instead it Anthony displaying his love and appreciation for the homies. The results were lackluster, but his heart was in the right place.

Loc-Ed After Dark works well when Tone recites his laidback-playful-rhymes around lighthearted subject matter. The problem is these songs only account for two of the albums 11, and an even bigger issue is they aren’t Tone’s rhymes but Young MC’s. The majority of the rhymes Tone did write are battle rhymes that hit about as hard as Richard Simmons punching a pillow. With the exception of a few, the production is lackluster. None of the instrumentals are outright terrible, but only a few have any lasting value beyond one listen. In a nutshell, Loc-Ed After Dark is two hit singles wrapped around an abundance of mediocrity. At least he can say he’s not just a one hit wonder. Or can he?

-Deedub