Mic Geronimo - Vendetta (November 4, 1997)

Michael McDermon, working nightshifts spitshining in Madison Square Garden as Mic Geronimo, caught one hell of a break in 1993 when he hooked up with DJ Irv, resulting in his first underground buzzmaker, Shit's Real. (which, of course, was later cleaned up to It's Real.)  Somehow, this was enough to convince a label with the stupidest name I've ever seen, Blunt Records, to sign our protagonist to their lucrative contract that wasn't designed in any way, shape or form to rip him off wholesale. Coz labels is good peoples. So, Mic drops his debut in the most difficult year for him possible, 1995, when everybody was putting out their best material.  And, through God's grace alone, he managed to make enough of an impression to warrant Blunt (I'm really trying here.) to commission a second outing from the fucker. Even though The Natural went earwax, a condition which has yet to change, because the people behind the music (the likes of Buckwild, Da Beatminerz, ChySkillz & Mark Sparks of Shoop fame) gave a fuck about it actually being good.

Also, along with everything going for him, Mic can actually spit when needed. His monotone flow and thuggish persona was lapped up by critics & the odd backpacker white kid who stumbled across the goddamn thing. which is always a plus in this game. Now, I really can't front, I liked The Natural. The ingredients were mixed just right for me to constantly bump it for the past 3 years, because as I've stated earlier, I first heard him in 2012 on Large Professor's awesome cut, Mack Don Illz, and he did not impress me there. Luckily, I was so fond of Buckwild's mid-90s material that I checked his shit out and here we are.

Keep in mind that his guest star on The Natural, masseuse of thumbs Royal Flush, split to seek his own solo fortunes with his release, Ghetto Millionaire, containing many of the same ingredients, yet partly mixed in an effort to suck up to the radio, resulting in something not present in The Natural: Some truly abhorrent shit for songs.

So, gasp, selling snot didn't sit well with Blunt's superiors, TVT Records, who like every fucking Disney princess ever hand-drawn, wanted something more. Long story short, Mic Geronimo's music had to go the route of Jay-Z, DMX & Ja Rule, all of whom appeared on Time To Build off The Natural. Therefore, Blunt's will be done, producers like Diddy, Prestige & an organism called The Legendary Traxster were brought for the campaign to conquer radio almost exactly two years following Mic's debut, even though they failed horribly on such attempts in Ghetto Millionaire, which still sold ass, and, oh fuck it. I can't prolong this any further. This is Mic Geronimo's Vendetta.

1. NOTHING MOVE BUT THE MONEY
Don't know what I was expecting from Diddy, really. This was 1997, after all. Mic appears to be embracing this new direction wholeheartedly, so he really has no one to blame but himself. Want me to spell it out for you? This song blows.

2. VENDETTA
Oh hell no. Mic's speed-rapping now? The Legendary Traxster gives you every reason not to look for any of his material for as long as you live. This album is off to a horrible start.

3. SURVIVAL
Havoc lends our host one of his worst beats of all time. I'm talking Blood Money-type of ass.  Proof positive that Havoc started slacking off with his production way before Prodigy's rhymes took a nosedive.

4. LIFE N LESSONS
By now, DJ Irv has fully and irreversibly devolved into Irv Gotti, so you know what you're gonna get. Mic's rhymes are thrown right back in his face similar to the way you throw your intern's stupid-ass ideas back at him. You take extreme pleasure relishing the fact that he slaved all weekend on the papers you just rejected. You sick 1%-life living asshole.

5. FOR THA FAMILY
K-Def has always earned my respect. His work with Tragedy Khadafi and as one half of Real Live still bangs to this day. So, imagine my utter bewilderment at his presence on a project such as this. Thankfully, he flat-out refuses to compromise his brand of quality boom bap to Blunt, and we're presented with the first song of the evening that can be addressed as a decent song. Mic seems to have awoken from his drugged haze and proceeds to rhyme in a manner vaguely reminiscent of how he did on The Natural. This wasn't bad.

6. STREET LIFE
Who in the FUCK is Chris Large? He has just slaughtered any good will Mic had going for him from the previous song by this desperate crossover attempt. This is worse than watching Jodie Foster succumbing to Harvey Keitel's pimping while subconsciously waiting for a Robert De Niro that will never save her.

7. BE LIKE MIC
This was produced by P & Time. Both P and Time need to be smacked upside their head. Mic? No, that's too soft of a punishment. Someone needs to enroll him in the roughest & most unprofessional wrestling academy out there so they can twist his intestines backwards. Fuck this excrement.

8. UNSTOPPABLE
Chocolate Boy Wonder, am I glad to hear you on this album. Please talk some sense into this piece of shit before it's too late. He did, actually. Pete's treat actually would've fit perfect on INI's lost album. Mic, thank you dear God, plays his part admirably. The best song on the album, far and wide.

9. SINGLE LIFE (FEATURING JAY-Z)
Did you ever want to hear Mic Geronimo and Jay-Z rhyme over some 80s pop with Carl Thomas crooning you into the depths of hell? You didn't? Are you sure? Too bad. Jay-Z has already hit his stride in selling out and sucking the radio's cock, and he drags Mic down with him. Besides, it's not like Mic was struggling to break that image or anything.

10. THINGS AIN'T WHAT THEY USED TO BE
Prince Kaysaan and, surprise, Royal Flush yank you the fuck out of sellout land to give you a fairly generic beat that sounds like Come fucking Clean when compared to the rest of the shit present on Vendetta, especially considering the fact that Mic actively tries to rap about something of meaning, this time. Meh.

11. HOW YOU BEEN?
Continuing the trend started on Ghetto Millionaire which proves that somewhere along the line, Buckwild of DITC lost his damn mind. This was intended to invoke sympathy for our host as he rhymes an admittedly heartfelt tribute to his mother. However, Buck fails him here with this crud. Shame. This could've been something.

12. USUAL SUSPECTS (FEATURING DMX, JA RULE, THE LOX & TRAGEDY KHADAFI)
Our final song of the evening is, of course, a posse cut.  DMX & Ja Rule echo Hov's sentiment in paying our host respect in the worst way possible, alongside new fans The Lox and old fan Tragedy who stole Royal Flush, Mic's running man, later on. Prestige's instrumental is pretty consistent with the theme of the album: Blowing the radio's genitals. I lost a ton of respect for Tragedy for appearing on this crap, since he's supposed to be this anti-radio vanguard and shit.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Well, what more is there to say about Mic Geronimo? If he had any clout in the industry following his debut, TVT & Blunt succeeded in obliterating any remaining trace of said clout with this album. I mean, this is Diddy-levels of radio-pandering we're talking about. Two tracks are all that I listen to anymore, and I don't do so that often. What's more, this album also succeeded in tarnishing the reputation of quite the number of respected producers. I never looked at Havoc and DJ Irv's material the same again. However, I take solace in the fact that this album still didn't sell shit.  Nobody owns this piece of crap.

WORTH IT? Why, yes. I've spent all this effort bashing the fucking thing for the sole purpose of you owning this shit. But, if you do commit to this excerpt of ear-rape, don't let anybody know you own this shit. Hide it from your subconsciousness, if possible.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:
QUEENS LIFE
This was a proper Havoc beat that was given to Mic in a move that made so much sense, since everyone was comparing Mic G to Prodigy by the time Havoc hooked up with our host, and given that this was before he went brain-dead, he sounds really fucking good in his element on Havoc's sinister beat. This song by it lonesome owns the entire album I've just reviewed. Even the Pete Rock & K-Def joints.

Mic Geronimo's prior shit, fella.