After securing the only guest spot on EPMD’s second gem "Unfinished Business", Kevin Madison by day and K-Solo by night managed to convince Erick & Parish to commission an entire album produced by them, despite him introducing a fucking ridiculous gimmick AND fucking it up royally.
With this opportunity that many better rappers dreamed of, Kevin Self Organisation Left Others managed not to fuck it up too much, producing an album that, while hitting all the required notes, failed to connect as a whole with enough people to be fondly remembered 30+ years later.
Nevertheless, songs like "Fugitive", "Tales From The Crack Side" & "Your Mom's In My Business" managed to win over enough acclaim at the time to secure backing for a sophomore effort.
The year is 1992. EPMD, K-Solo & Redman are on top of the fucking world solely because of EPMD's shrewd business moves. Having signed Das EFX the previous year, who went on to release a fucking classic in Dead Serious Thereby, the whole collective would begin their reign as the Hit Squad, a tour-de-force of talented rap acts that would leave quite the dent on the rap game in the coming years.
Next up was our headliner. Now, the first album, while containing a couple of questionable choices, somehow allowed him to discover his knack of storytelling by weaving some interesting themes. This time, being the visionary that he is, he thematically introduces absolutely nothing new to capitalise on his momentum. What he DID do is update his production significantly by introducing the MVP of this album.
On "Your Mom's In My Business", Kevin shouts out a very interesting figure in hip hop. And no, I’m not talking about his ex-DJ Biggie Smalls the first, later revealed to me as DJ Scratch. (How boneheaded was the decision to replace Scratch as his DJ?! Although that might’ve been because he had obligations with EPMD. Ah well.)
No, he shouts out Sam Sneed, a complete mystery to the world of hip hop at the time, who would enter the game with a bang as a respected underground producer on this very album. His work here would open the eyes of one Dr. Dre, who would promptly sign him to Death Row Records, promising him the promised land & using his services as producer & occasional rapper for a bunch of tracks, one of which was "U Better Recognize", his debut single & only well-known song, before treating him to the dreaded "Best of luck in your future endeavors." Sam would never return full-time to hip hop ever again, leaving this album as the most extensive completed body of production in his catalogue.
Yes, but what about Kevin? (Anyone else think that Kevin Madison sounds like a rejected Home Alone name?)
Well, the debut gave us a glimpse of what to expect from him lyrically. Now, knowing that this album also sold zilch copies, let's find out if he can update his formula this time around:
I CAN'T HOLD IT BACK
Enter Sam Sneed. The second single & the first of six Sam Sneed productions on the album. You'll see why I mention this guy so much when you hear the P-Funk-heavy beat, as it fucking bangs. Sneed’s instrumental helps Mr. Madison reach new heights with his rhymes, as he sounds pretty fucking inspired, resulting in the song being elevated to new heights. This is what a beat’s proper function is. Nicely done, Kevin and Sam.
LETTERMAN
Mr. Madison acquires the services of the legendary Pete Rock in his prime to produce the lead single which is basically... A continuation of the fucking spelling gimmick laid over some dope Jackie Mittoo organs overlapping a vintage Kool & The Gang sax. Get a clue, Kev. We're not gonna forget your snafu if you keep reminding us of it. The only reason I can think of Atlantic warranting a sequel to "Spellbound" is that, somehow, the dipshit record execs' tiny little creative minds thought that continuing this moronic gimmick would result in more sales. Even though the first time was a spectacle of a failure. Of course, they were wrong. Again. I will say that the remix, also commissioned by the PR and used for the video, is infinitely preferable to this cut because Pete does away with Solo's asinine hook and amps up the Jeep-rattling sonics. Moving on.
LONG LIVE THE FUGITIVE
Solo reprises his role (not for the last time) as the Fugitive from the first album, returning to his strong storytelling ways and doing so accompanied by a haunting Funkadelic loop provided by.... HIMSELF???!!! This was one surprise you never would’ve seen coming! The tale was short & sweet. Just enough to whet my appetite for the next track.
PREMONITION OF A BLACK PRISONER
Here, Kevin continues the tale of the previous track, talking about himself and another inmate, who just so happens to be innocent. I think this time, he wanted to expand on the themes of "Fugitive". Which was a wise decision, as they fit snugly in this grim-yet-unfortunately-relevant story. He is accompanied by the second Sam Sneed knockout as he ingeniously slows down a Commodores loop to achieve the desired somber mood. Seriously, the man is on quite a run during this album. The momentum is stalled a bit when Kev starts naming his "hit" songs, which doesn't fit the context at all, but the ending to the inmate's harrowing tale provides a telling image. Overall, this shit was nice!
SNEAK TIP
Sam Sneed does it yet again, delivering the fucking goods in this spiritual sequel to "Tales From The Crack Side," containing the same degree of paranoia, yet this song is actually much more light-hearted than its predecessor. This time, though, Solo's rhymes don't stand on the realistic edge for long, as he essentially rips off both "Alice in Wonderland" and “the Wizard Of Oz” in a streetwise manner. The end product is not too shabby, but he's delivered better elsewhere.
THE BABY DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ME
Here, Mr. Madison continues reusing themes from the first album, and so far shows good results. Kevin travels back to the girl troubles barrel, as so many people have stories for a rapper to use here. Or maybe Kev has fucking bad taste in women. In this tale, he tells how his girl was fooling around on him & got pregnant by a different man. Erick Sermon returns to contribute to his Hit Squad brother his first of two contributions on the album, although the Carrie Lucas loop sounds so much like a Sam Sneed choice, instead of his usual funk-centric direction. Altogether, Good track.
THE FORMULA (HOUSE PARTY)
The most cinematic song in the entire Hit Squad repertoire makes its appearance. The brainchild of Parish Smith, who produced the beat, the song starts sounding like a skit, describing a bunch of hoodlums trying to enter a K-Solo concert then transitioning into what sounds like a live freestyle. The performance fits the underground stage vibe, and the beat, that Jeep-rattling funk of course, is fucking bananas. The song ends when a fight breaks out between the crowd, where Solo stupidly shouts "Cut the sounds off!" while the beat keeps on knocking and he keeps ad-libbing. Overall, a very entertaining piece. 7 years later, EPMD would issue a remake of it on their final Def Jam album, Out of Business, and produce similar results. Is it just me or does this track serve much better as the intro to the album? My hat's off to Parish!! (and I don't even own a hat. Because I got this crazy dandruff problem, you see.)
WHO'S KILLIN' WHO?
Sam Sneed appears for contribution #4, and yet again produces a fucking gem. The brilliant fusion of Barry White and Eddie Kendricks accompanies Solo's newfound conviction in spitting his lessons. Here, he continues the theme of "The Messenger" from the first album, but with better results. His voice now carries a certain authority behind it while still being able to relate to the hardheads. Not bad at all.
HOUSEHOLD MAID
Now, ladies & gentlemen!!! It's sex rap time!!! K-Solo turns in a much better effort at the sex rap than his previous attempt on "Renee-Renee". The beat is Sam Sneed's first throwaway track as he tries his best Pete Rock imitation, and fails to make an impression. The rhymes were funny, at least.
ROCK BOTTOM
E-Double returns for his second beat, which delivers his brand of heavy funk properly this time. By his standards, the beat is alright since I like Erick's sound when he's producing grimy gutter shit. Similar to his later work on his debut. For his part, Kev does alright with his lyrics, delivering a notable performance. Could've been much better, though, given Erick's work with a certain Reggie Noble.
KING OF THE MOUNTAIN
Mr. Madison ends his album with the final Sam Sneed highlight, which is basically the spiritual sequel to "Drums of Death" on the first album. Centered around a majestic Marvin Gaye loop, the beat contains a damn fine sample of the still-very-underrated DMC from Run-DMC to excellent effect and Kevin deals with it accordingly by ripping it to fucking shreds. He lists several of his more notable tracks, which I'm OK with on braggadocious tracks, then continues to tell his story of how he got into music. Corny but vivid. A fitting end to the man's solo career.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This time around, K-Solo sticks to his fucking guns for better or worse, tackling almost the exact same themes as his debut. His lyrical imagery, however, experiences some noticeable growth. Even if his delivery doesn't. It should be very notable that he's not the sole headliner this time around. Sam Sneed deserves as much recognition on this album as Kevin himself. Maybe even more so. The man turns in a fucking enthralling performance throughout the album, giving K-Solo the necessary edge to improve his product, which he does. Of course, none of this translated into any commercial success whatsoever, so don’t blame Sam for jumping at the promise of what Death Row could offer. Aside from "U Better Recognize", he produced some notable hits like "Natural Born Killaz" and "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" with the good doctor himself, on both of which he wrote Dre's verses. All the while attempting to release his solo debut to no avail. After that, he vanished off the face of the industry and hasn't been heard from until 2010, where he released said debut along with enough alterations to completely fuck up the original.
As for our host? He followed his pal Sam to Death Row Records where, aside from a few leaked tracks like 16 Dead Doggs, all the bullshit effectively ended his solo career right then & there. He does pop up on Redman's classic "Muddy Waters" where he costars with the Funkadelic Devil himself on the lead single, "It's Like That (My Big Brother)". But that beat was fucking meh and, most importantly, Kevin no longer sounds like a veteran or even a talented MC. Instead, he sounds like a C-teamer who was given the shot of his fucking life on a Redman album. And he still fucks it up. After a showing on PMD's "Awakening" album and his appearance on Beef I, K-Solo is rarely heard from until the 2012 Hit Squad Reunion, playing some of his old hits. Talk about a fall from grace. He did receive a nice YouTube documentary called They Call Me K-Solo here, although the link doesn’t work for mobile users for some stupid reason. Anyway, this album is a worthy addition to the catalogue of any Hit Squad enthusiast. Or any head who knows his hip-hop.
WORTH IT? No rap album is worth $50. Period. Other than that, most definitely! Sam Sneed shines brightly on this gem album, and K-Solo has (or had, anyway) enough skill in him to deliver a quality project, despite rehashing revisited themes. Plus, his storytelling during the early 90s was always enjoyable. And EPMD themselves (especially Parish) deliver some decent productions, as well.
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