The Genius - Words From The Genius (February 19, 1991)

I'm ending the Easy Mo Bee run on this blog with a rather unpopular choice. Not to say reviews of Osten's work won't pop up here again but, to my knowledge, he only has one album directly credited to his name: Now Or Never: Odyssey 2000. And trust me: While it really isn't that bad of an album, it's just not review material to me. So, the only choice left to me is the lone album he fully collaborated on with another artist. And that artist just so happens to be a founding member of one of the greatest and most long lasting hip hop acts of all time. (Furthermore, just don't ask about Rappin' Is Fundamental, as that would be wasting everyone's time. Most importantly mine.)

You see, Gary Grice (Not to be mean or anything, but that last name really sounds like a licorice brand or something.) is one of the very few MCs who've lived long enough to properly experience the very birth of this hip hop thing we obsess over so much. Hell, he was fucking twenty-five when this album dropped. And as such, he's also part of an even fewer group of MCs who wasn't really influenced by anybody. Yes, he had the ability to form his very own style from the jump, which would serve him very well in the future. As a resident of Brooklyn neighborhood Bedford-Stuyvesant, bka Bedstuy, Gary is a true believer in it's Do Or Die attitude. And it truly shows in his career that began as a founding member of battle rap group Force of The Imperial Masters, later redubbed the All In Together Now Crew, along with his two cousins Russell Jones and Robert Diggs. Gary called himself The Specialist while Russell and Robert took The Professor and The Scientist as their respective pseudonyms.

Said career would finally catch a break when Gary was recruited by Cold Chillin' Records, home of the famed Juice Crew, of which fellow Brooklynites Big Daddy Kane and Masta Ace were members. Now, at this stage, Gary probably thought that his skills as an MC would guarantee him instant promotion. Alas, if only he learned from fellow former Cold Chilla Kool G Rap's career woes with the infamous label before signing with them, as they only pushed Kane on that label. Everybody else was basically thrown to the wolves when it came to marketing.

Speaking of which, this album here had a very curious crafting process: Gary, who now renamed himself the Genius, (because he's smart, you see.) brought fellow Bedstuy alumni Osten Harvey Jr., who dragged his younger brother Patrick along for better or worse. Patrick Harvey, aka LG aka LG Experience, was a young upstart who wanted to follow in his older brother's footsteps, as Osten had already made an impact with his two Big Daddy Kane productions on It's A Big Daddy Thing. We'll see just how he fares in his first work sessions in the review.

Now, the true reason for me choosing this particular album is because of the unanimous flak it gets from hip hop heads who are diehard fans of Gary's ventures as the GZA from another group he co-founded: The Wu-Tang Clan. (That, and the fact that this album has absolutely zero guest appearances. Which would make it a true insight into Gary's ability to hold an album by his very lonesome) Hands down one of the most long-lasting hip hop supergroups of all time, its members are still releasing albums under the Wu banner to this very day. Now, understandably, GZA did follow this solo outing with Liquid Swords, one of the greatest albums in music history. An album that completed its one millionth sale twenty goddamn years after its five hundred thousandth, accomplishing the latter feat in merely two months. That has to tell you something about said album's legacy in this art form. As such, many people heard Liquid Swords first, and were considerably underwhelmed when they finally heard this album and thought it wasn't as good, and just so we're clear: I consider my past self Exhibit A. My current opinion is that this outlook I had was not even remotely fair to Words From The Genius, as it was crafted with a mindset that had not yet understood what it takes to make an album of Liquid Swords' caliber. Furthermore, Robert Diggs bka the RZA, who is once again co-founder of the Wu with Gary and, you guessed it, Russell Jones bka the late great Ol' Dirty Bastard (RIP), hadn't even begun producing professionally at this point in their respective careers. And given that he is the sonic director of Liquid Swords, the unfairness of this argument has really reared its hairy, warty ass. All one needs to do is clear his head from such lofty expectations and imagine you live in a world where there is no Wu-Tang Clan to speak of.  Only then will one be able to unbiasedly judge this album's merit or lack thereof.

In 2006, Traffic Entertainment, having acquired the entire Cold Chillin' catalog, issued a re-release that included tracks produced by the RZA back when he called himself Prince Rakeem that were done immediately after the original album dropped and were thrown away after it tanked, but mysteriously found and branded as "smash hits" in a 1994 re-release. You know, because Cold Chillin' would never try to capitalize on the Wu-Tang's sudden rise at the time, right? So yeah, basically, that's the version I'm reviewing.

So, is the shit any fucking good?

COME DO ME
I present to you the lead single aka the main reason people despise the entire album aka one of the absolute worst contractual obligations of all time. It really is no wonder why this album tanked, given that this is its leading single. You just know that any attempt at pushing Gary as a ladies man will blow up in your face in the worst way possible. I'm sorry, Gary but I saw the fucking video for this thing. (Mainly to catch a glimpse of ODB & Wu debutant Raekwon the Chef in their very first appearances to the public as extras.) My dude, when you repeated that ridiculous hook to the camera you looked like Witch fucking Hazel. The producer of this steaming pile of sewage is Jesse West, who's normally pretty capable. Don't believe me? Check his work on KRS-One's Step Into A World (Rapture's Delight). I hold Cold Chillin' fully responsible for this piece of shit, because there was no way for Jesse to make things interesting neither here nor on the remix he was forced to make that ends this 2006 re-release. I've talked about this abomination long enough, and I advise anyone who's legitimately interested in this album to SKIP. THIS. SHIT.

PHONY AS YA WANNA BE
Alas, the true beginning of this album, and the b-side to the horrid abovementioned lead single. I'll bet the very few people who caught Come Do Me on rotation were too peeved to even look at the back cover of the single to check if there's another song when they encountered it in Sam Goody stores, right? Too bad, as this song is pretty fucking good. Easy Mo Bee truly began his experimentation games that would later make him the legendary producer that he is right here on this very track. The guitar licks in the beat provide the backing needed for the Genius to relay some punchlines that clearly show why he is regarded as one of the true greats this game has ever seen. An early lyrical precursor to Clan In Da Front, and as such, this shit knocks in all the right ways. I especially loved the Four Tops interlude in the midst of the song, after which Gary gallops ahead with his punchlines, starting with quite the cheeky reference to said Four Tops sample. Awesome.

TRUE FRESH MC
Freaking a legendary Funkadelic sample, Mo Bee approaches the track with relentless energy in mind this time. Which stands in beautiful contrast to the directness exhibited in the prior track. the Genius really takes this to heart as his performance this time switches to a conscious display of his superior intellectual background. You'd think that this is unfitting of punchline-ism on paper, but once again, this is something you have to listen to in order to fully appreciate. Another one-two combo.

THE GENIUS IS SLAMMIN'
This time Easy Mo Bee tries his best to compete with Gary's punchlines by combining two handpicked samples by The MGs and The Meters brilliantly to form a beat out of the top shelf. The Genius ingeniously responds by weaving various themes of intelligence in his punchline-filled verses. I have to admit, one of the things I like the most about these results is that they present a totally different aesthetic than Gary's later work with his cousin. One I guarantee most people would've enjoyed had Come Do Me not fucked it up for everybody by delaying our exposure to the true meat of this album by at least four years. Fuck that, I still love this song.

WORDS FROM A GENIUS
Alright, these two aren't showing any sign of slowing down! Osten with the prominent Funkadelic sample and Gary with his by-now golden standard of punchlines. Genius' rhymes really present a strong point regarding actually writing your rhymes against freestyling your career away. And, as many pointed out, many of the greats who now write their rhymes in their head started off writing on paper and perfected their shit to the point where their reflexes have become ingrained in their brains. And Gary still outdoes all of them with his meticulous care for what comes out of his mouth and exactly how it does so. So, don't give me that bullshit about "one-taking a classic". If you didn't exert any effort in your rhymes, they're probably worthless. And just so you know, none of this lyrical brilliance would be digestible if the actual music isn't working for you. Well, I'm here to say it's working wonderfully for me thanks to Easy Mo Bee. Dope! One note: Prince Rakeem remixed this track with the result appearing later on this 2006 re-release and though it wasn't nearly Wu-Tang level material nor as good as the original Easy Mo Bee cut, it was fairly decent. If nothing, it's on this remix that the first signs of Bobby's meticulous nature show themselves.

WHO'S YOUR RHYMIN' HERO
The debut of Mr. LG Experience. Osten's younger bro tries so hard to impress the label here, and wrongly so, with his straight-up lazy looping of a Jimmy McGriff sample. And yet I still would've liked this song if it wasn't for the ear-rape of a hook, screaming of corporate interference, that completely ruined the LG Experience for me. To top it all off: Gary's punchlines, while still light years ahead of your average ghetto references, fail to reach the standards he set for himself so far on this album. This was, unfortunately, a failure.

FEEL THE PAIN
Osten returns, armed with a second Meters sample, and obliterates any memory of the previous song with a smacking beat. This is not lost on our Genius as he dives head-on into battle mode, plowing ahead with punchline after eviscerating punchline. You really feel this Gary Grice cat is not bullshitting when he mentions his history of battling crews all around New York. This shits bangs something proper.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS
Still not through with impressing you, Gary continues to a different venue for him to steamroll you with some more punchlines with: Nostalgia. He chooses to display his dominance in the high school scene this time, and the results are just as effective. Interestingly enough, this is the last song of what I call the, ah, "Braggadocio Medley" on the album. I like that this album pays good attention to sequencing. Not Liquid Swords good, but good nonetheless.

LIFE OF A DRUG DEALER
This song marks the beginning of what I call the "Conscious Medley". In said song, Gary portrays the hardened protagonist with the titular occupation. I like that our Genius began this "medley" with the caricature song, if you will. Backed by Osten's magnificent Bobby Rush choice, Gary launches into a single 30-bar verse that becomes the inspiration behind his later smash, Killah Hills 10304. Please note that the overabundance of violence and foul language displayed here is most certainly tongue-in-cheek. End result? There's a reason Gary revisited this well later on, as this song rocks.

STOP THE NONSENSE
God DAMN, is Easy Mo Be ever on fire with these funky beats! Here, Gary gets his preach on, and he makes sure that he keeps his wit dialed up to 11 in order to have a glimmer of hope at reaching them boneheads who run for the hills as soon as anyone tries to say anything remotely positive. And I do mean 'wit' in every sense of the word. The line: "It goes way beyond just saying no" makes my point pretty clear, no?

LIVING FOUL
Here comes the part where someone listening to this album might get tired, as admittedly these songs seem like they're blending in together. But forgive me for not being that guy because I'm just a person who really appreciates effort when I recognize it. And by this point, I recognize that Osten, with his Bobby Rush-sampling ways, was going to make sure that he blew away minds of people like me who just have an affinity for the relentless, if I may. Gary shares his producer's stubbornness by making this song his personal war on drugs, and it works wonders for me. Even if his third verse sounds a tad hypocritical now. You'll know why when you hear the damn song. Moving on.

DRAMA
Now, you'd think that this would be a song about girl problems. Naturally, you'd be dead wrong. Allow me to single this song out as my favorite track on the album, by far. With Easy Mo Bee delivering the coup-de-grace of his journey on said album by freaking the fuck out of a Millie Jackson classic. And there is no clearer proof that our Genius earns his nickname than this baby here. This is to pre-Wu Gary Grice what Ready To Die's title track was to the late Chris Wallace. For in this song, Gary truly runs the gamut of his MCing skills. He brings motherfucking everything to the table: punchlines, metaphors, imagery, storytelling, subject matter, you name it. If you absolutely had to forego listening to the entire album and felt it absolutely necessary to sum up what you'd get, then I'd tell you to stop being a bitch and listen to the goddamn album and pay special attention to this track right here. I salute anybody who became a fan of either Gary or Osten as a result of this song. Way before Bad Boy & the Wu.

STAY OUT OF BARS
Now, you'd think that this would be a song about prison problems. Naturally, you'd be dead wrong. In actuality, the previous song marked the end of the "Conscious Medley" and a very unhappy, uncomfortable and unfitting return to corporate radio-whoring territory. LG Experience is back, and he brings, admittedly, much more effort in his production game than his previous abomination of an attempt. And yet, our Genius decides, in his infinite wisdom, that he should return to be as ignorant as possible by spinning a tale of the most stereotypical actions and fantasies that you can think of. Now, normally this wouldn't bother me in the least, but when it's an MC of Gary fucking Grice's pedigree? I'm actually insulted. To top it all off, Gary ends the song with the most senseless act of violence. One question for the Liquid Swords fan reading this: how does any of the above translate to an even remotely intelligent song?! You're right. It DOESN'T.

WHAT ARE SILLY GIRLS MADE OF
Basically, a ripoff of the countless "Gold Digger" song EPMD made popular. You can smell the corporate rot from 25 years ago all the way over wherever you're reading this from. And, while I really can't front on some of the lyrics, LG's Al Green-sampling experience (I will never get tired of clowning that nickname.) left a lot to be desired and our Genius' hook is, you know, ass. Plus, Gary really hasn't shaken off his character from the previous song in his very apparent disdain for women here. I really can't take that viewpoint seriously. You want women to stop being bitches? Here's an idea: Stop telling them they're bitches! Another sewage track that really is beneath our Genius.

SUPERFREAK
Oh, this can not be what I'm hearing. The GZA. From the legendary Wu-Tang fucking Clan. Spitting a sex rap. And don't give that bullshit about Queen's Gambit. Queen's Gambit was one long extended metaphor, with the emphasis not on Gary's tale but on how he told it. Which is definitely not the case here. Oh, and Queen's Gambit had one banging-ass beat, not this Rick James-sampling shitty LG experience (I really need to stop doing that). Motherfuck this song all the way down to its filthy innards.

PASS THE BONE
Didn't I tell you that third verse on Living Foul sounded a tad hypocritical? What do you mean you didn't hear the damn song?! Anyway, most Wu fans already herald this track as the only truly notable result from the Words From The Genius journey but for the uninitiated: This is the very first publicly recorded Prince Rakeem appearance and his debut production. And boy, does it ever show. This shit blows. Hell, his remix to the title track is leagues ahead of this. Back to the actual lyrics: Gary chooses to bless Bobby's very first production outing with a stoner rap. If you are a fan of Gary Grice's storied career by any chance, you'll definitely recognize how ludicrous what I just wrote is. And we're done.

FINAL THOUGHTS
As a project of insight on the evolution of Easy Mo Bee the producer: This is quite possibly the best place to start. The man did not compromise his approach. Not one bit. Can't say the same for his lil bro and the rest of the production gang: Jesse West was particularly terrible. In a song I've heard from him recently, he even brags about collaborating with the Wu, the collaboration being Come Do Me. Believe me, Jesse, if you're bragging about producing a song like that, (for a Wu co-founder, nonetheless.) you're needlessly and stupidly smearing your reputation. Bobby Diggs' mistakes are a bit more forgivable, seeing as it is his first time behind the boards and all. For his part, Gary Grice was without doubt a fully accomplished MC at the time of this album's making, and he wastes no time in repeatedly showing you that. This album may very well be the only album in the Genius' entire discography that shows you exactly how lyrically capable he is when carrying a full album without any guest appearances. That being said, all this makes some of Gary's choices of subject matter here all the more jarring. The sex raps in particular left a very bad taste in my mouth. But that makes me ask: is it really the artist's fault? Or is it the label's? Our Genius wasn't the only one clowned by the Cold Chillin' piffle machine. Look at what Kool G Rap went through with his Live and Let Die album with DJ Polo. But Gary got an even rougher deal: At least G Rap was able to make the album he wanted. Mr. Grice was in no such luck. Yeah, I'm sticking the blame for this album's crap songs entirely on Cold Chillin'. Imagine: All this horseshit because Big Daddy Kane sold five hundred thousand copies. So now, every MC with any shred of talent needs to be Big Daddy Kane. I will say this, though: Thank GOD they fucked their deal up with this guy. Or else, we wouldn't have Liquid Swords. Gary Grice would not be the hip hop legend he is today. And most importantly, nobody would've heard of the Wu-Tang Clan, nor become fans of theirs and years later discover this album as a hidden gem. Come on. You knew I was getting to this. The crap present on this album, while truly exhibiting Black Shampoo-levels of putridity, isn't enough to ruin the straight up classics on the effin' thing. Just momentarily erase the existence of the Wu, exactly like I told you.

WORTH IT?
It's an enlightening look at a legend's professional beginnings. Spoiler alert: they're still very fucking good, even if they do take a turn later on for the absurdly awful. So you're goddamn right it is.

Wanna know where Easy Mo Bee went from this? click here. For more GZA, here. And finally, Wu-Tang central is right here.

The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die (September 13, 1994)

You knew I was going here, didn't you?

In 1993, a fucking jackass by the name of Sean John Combs, whom I've established in the previous post to henceforth be known as Comby on this here blog, met up with the three figures that contributed the most to his success: Osten Harvey Jr., Christopher Wallace & Craig Mack. And before any of you corporate assholes reading this over at that sewage disposal shoot called Bad Boy Entertainment get your panties in a bunch, I'm sure you lead very difficult jobs. But regarding the music business, all a fan's going to care about is the actual end product that reaches him/her: the music. Anyone who has a problem with that: If you'd please proceed to the nearest toilet and heartily drink its contents. You'll feel much better.

During that pivotal year, two of those three people struck up an undeniable chemistry that would provide both of them with a solid ground for launching into the stratosphere of timeless hip hop. Of course I'm talking about Easy Mo Bee & The Notorious B.I.G. Said relationship gave Comby's Bad Boy Records their first song ever. Oh and what a song it was. Party And Bullshit established Biggie's growing reputation as an MC to be reckoned with, being his first ever professional solo outing, while adding to Easy Mo Bee's already-impressive productions list, joining songs by legends such as Big Daddy Kane & The Genius (famously re-invented as Wu-Tang co-founder GZA). However, Mo Bee detoured from working with Biggie for a short period when he headed into the lab with Craig Mack. I'm not sure what Osten was on at that time because if people thought he was good on Kane's Looks Like A Job For..., boy were they in for something.

His production dramatically got better. Much better. Osten & Mack's final collaboration during those sessions, Flava In Ya Ear, became the hit of the season in 1994, ensuring Craig Mack's name would be remembered on blogs written 21 years later. Mack's following album, Project: Funk Da World, included many similar examples and was considered a heavily underrated classic, even on blogs written 21 years later. This, of course, was to the enormous chagrin of Comby, who had no part in this magical experience besides introducing these two to each other and shopping the magical single around. So, in now-typical Comby fashion, he blackballs his own artist's album, despite the shit selling five hundred thousand copies, while redirecting his filthy money-whoring vision towards his other MC, whom with he would ensure Mack's debut would be all but forgotten.

Now, B.I.G. was continuing his grind in the industry, becoming somewhat of a cameo fixture, appearing on songs like Heavy D's A Bunch Of N****s, for example. Comby thought it was time BIG and Mo Bee got back to making BIG's album. And, this time, Comby made sure he was there every step of the way, looking for any chance to take credit, whether he deserved said credit or not. Not that this stopped Osten & BIG from making some very smart moves to ensure this album's position to be timeless: Mo Bee & BIG invited DJ fucking Premier and Lord fucking Finesse to contribute to the album, while handpicking some of Comby's suggested producers to cook up some worthy additions from their part as well.

Obviously, all involved succeeded in making an impact, as Ready To Die, Bad Boy's first official album, sold a jillionl records in the United States alone and is remembered years later as a landmark in hip hop history. Does it, however, earn all that publicity and hype?

INTRO
Comby's filthy hands are all over this. UGH!

THINGS DONE CHANGED
Darnell Scott, kudos, man. I know this is your lone production ever, but goddamn is it a good one. Biggie wastes no time in submerging himself into the instrumental, built meticulously around various exquisite Main Ingredient samples along with distinct Biz Markie & Dr. Dre vocal excerpts, launching into the type of introspective, socio-political portrait that only an MC of his caliber can paint. And, trust me: there are a lot of those around. Anyways, a fine song, indeed.

GIMME THE LOOT
Easy Mo Bee demonstrates his post-Craig Mack sound on a BIG track for the first time. The results are, of course, glorious. Biggie describes the life of a duo of stick-up criminals, one of them being a juvie, with both roles convincingly played by our host. The reason I consider this a highlight of BIG's entire career is because by writing the second crimy a little kid, he simultaneously gave this tale a sad reality-check. For unfortunately, we live more than 20 years after this album's release and to this day, kids are falling into the life of crime so needlessly because of their natural inability to look at the bigger picture at that stage of their lives. A brilliant follow-up.

MACHINE GUN FUNK
Easy Mo Bee returns to his top-notch sampling ways by taking a single second from a Black Heat record and flipping it multiple ways to give us the magnificent final result. Mr. Wallace reverts to punchline mode beautifully as he sprinkles disses towards the rap competition who were most definitely listening. Apparently this was the song Biggie wanted for the first single, and while I'll admit Juicy was a better business choice, artistically this fit BIG's aesthetic at the time so much more. Especially considering the fact that this could be a Party & Bullshit sequel of sorts. In any case, by the end of this song you will be jumping around your 4x4 bedroom bellowing the hook right the fuck along with Mr. Funke’s ingeniously sampled words. Another Mo Bee smash.

WARNING
Osten returns, locked and loaded with a very famous Isaac Hayes sample that he loops to hypnotize you into dancing to this thuggery tale of violence that's supposed to act as a metaphor for Chris' success in the rap game. The execution by both MC and producer is dope and yet, his conversation-with-himself idea was done much better in Gimme The Loot. That and the hook is ass. And finally, the skit at the end of the shit is so fucking worthless that it ends a great song on a damn whimper. And making matters worse: Comby acts as both dumbass would-be assailants in said skit. He just had to force himself in, didn't he? I still like most of the song, though. Three outta three for Mo Bee, so far.

READY TO DIE
Let's get this song's flaws outta the way: Comby, Comby & fucking Comby. Now, we start the praise by saying straight out the gate that this is BIG's best solo performance on this album, hands fucking down. This is the artistic & lyrical culmination of everything that hip hop considers great about the late legend. The punchlines, the narrative, the metaphors, the introspection. Nowhere are all these traits crystalized better than this song right here. Might I add that this is also Easy Mo Bee's best contribution to this album. Osten whips up a Willie Hutch sample and makes it sound like a slice of fucking Heaven on Earth. This song definitely ranks as one of the absolute best title tracks of all goddamn time. This would've been my choice to be the first single of this album. Fuck you for even coming near this track, Comby.

ONE MORE CHANCE
Speak of the devil. Comby just had to follow that high point with one of the worst songs on the entire fucking album. Might I add that Mr. Carlton Thompson from Comby's jolly bag of Hitmen seems to me like he couldn’t say no to Comby at this period in his production life. Good thing he shoqed the world what he can really do with Nas' One Mic, huh? Anyways, Nevertheless, him & The Bluez Brothers get major props for this magnificent beat. I will, however, gladly rob Comby of any credit he got in the making of this song's beat, though. He never has and never will be a proper producer because he consistently refuses to pay his dues as a beatmaker. All this, and we haven't got to the true reason I hate this track. Yes, it's the fucking misogyny present in this sex rap. Not that I am OK with it, but I would normally turn a begrudgingly blind eye  to it if the misogyny was one or two lines on a song, but when it's the entire fucking thing? That fucking pisses me off to no end. I honestly cannot fathom how girls can dance to songs that explicitly degrade the very nature of being a woman. And I truly believe that as a man: you must be extremely insecure if you have to brag about your sexual prowess on a massively-distributed commercial release. Fuck Comby for convincing Biggie that this was a good idea.

FUCK ME (INTERLUDE)
Do you really want me to say something else after that last song? Fuck it I will: It's no wonder Lil' Miss Kimberly Jones is viewed as a slut by the industry, given that this was her first recorded performance. Audio porn? Really, Comby? How is this a good look for your artist? How is it even consistent with the nature of this album?!

THE WHAT (FEATURING METHOD MAN)
Thank GOD Osten's back. This time, he brings a friend to help Biggie erase the horseshit we just listened to from our memories. Keep in mind that when this album dropped, the Wu movement was steadily picking up steam in the game and a very big part of that was Method Man's eponymous single. Add that to the fact that they were gearing up for his solo debut that would drop two months later. So, both rappers needed each other in this, and they needed this to work. Well, I am here 21 years later to tell you it indeed has, and in the best way imaginable. BIG and Mef, who's a punchline genius, bounce off each other like it's second nature. And it's fitting that Easy Mo Bee should oversee the proceedings with an awesome Leroy Hutson loop. A huge step back in the right direction.

JUICY
This song only adds to my infuriation with Mr. Comby Combs. For it is a proven fact that he and Trackmasters' Poke stole this beat composition outright from legendary producer Pete Rock. I mean, what a way to repay an old friend. Comby and Pete were originally crewmates under Heavy D RIP, where Pete Rock was already cutting his teeth as a renowned producer while Comby was a fucking roadie. Pete obviously trusted the little snake enough to play him some of his beats, not knowing what Comby would do afterwards, which was commission Poke to straight up jack the making of the beat and releasing it under his own name. A fact that Comby conveniently avoided to touch upon in the 2009 Notorious movie. Do any of you out there even know how many people think Comby's some sort of superproducer because of those actions? For that, this song shall always be tainted to me. It doesn't matter that Biggie spits some of his most uplifting lyrics ever on this song. That only adds to the lie, in my eyes. Truly a shame, because evidently Pete Rock's beat fit BIG's lyrics like a fucking glove. Hell, I'm sure Pete would've retooled it to be at least The World Is Yours-level of classic. The hook is, once again, ass by the way, and I'm fully aware that it might've still been included had Pete Rock produced this shit.

EVERYDAY STRUGGLE
The Bluez Brothers build this track around a Dave Grusin loop for dolo, mostly unencumbered by Comby's pesky bullshit, and the track is all the better for it. I didn't say Comby didn't force his way into this track, though, as his adlibs miraculously find their way into the song. BIG's performance, however, negates whatever hopes Comby had of ruining the song and elevates the shit into a contemporary hip hop classic. The imagery displayed by our host clearly demonstrates why he achieved legendary status.

ME & MY BITCH
Run! Here come the jolly bag of Hitmen! Well, actually Comby dragged Chucky along with him into the Bluez Brothers session, who were in the midst of making a fairly decent beat. Comby slithers into the booth where Biggie was writing his lyrics. Comby convinces Biggie that the album didn't have enough lady material. 'It doesn't matter if you're dissing the shit out of them, you have to mention the ladies, Big. That's how we get you a wider audience, Big.' Big, evidently, rolled with the idea, and the result was what could've happened to Method Man's All I Need had he not written the lyrics without ever intending to release them commercially. Add in Comby's random interludes with a random bitch, and what we're left with is an utter abomination. Not as bad as One More Chance, but an abomination nonetheless. Thank God I skip this shit or I would be earless right now.

BIG POPPA
A G-Funk beat. Chucky Thompson's first production with Comby monitoring each and every facet of its making, including the lyrics, is a fucking G-Funk beat. So, of course this was a hit. It doesn't matter that this mere fact stood, in each and every way possible, against the direction most of this album is taking. And I haven't even started talking about the fucking lyrics yet. I don't care if each and every single one of Comby's artificial clones come and ad-lib me to death, I don't believe for a second that the player image was Biggie's idea nor that it suited him and I don't care how much pussy he got as a result of that. By the way, nobody gets to make the arguments that 'hey, it's called being artistically multi-faceted' or 'He's just exploring different sides of himself', because we all know that it's the oldest copout in the book and that it's a goddamn marketing ploy. Hell, if the fucking Grammys took notice, then the ploy very well succeeded. And just so we're clear, the Grammys is the worst dishonor this song could receive, in every possible meaning. To top it all off, BIG references Craig Mack in a way that could be interpreted as a diss. I mean, as if he would need additional beef problems three years later. For he just laid the foundation that would lead to Comby pushing him towards dissing his former labelmate at a later time when beef seemed to jump at him at every turn. Fuck this piece of shit.

RESPECT (FEATURING DIANA KING)
Not that Poke's beat is bad or anything, but fuck me if the One More Chance beat didn't fit here. A KC & the Sunshine Band sample looped simplistically yet effectively by Poke & Tone, the latter whom hates BIG's patois-spewing cohost and the entire song now, lays the groundwork for Mr. Wallace to give us an autobiography on wax out of the top shelf. That's all I've got, and frankly, that's all you really need. Moving along.

FRIEND OF MINE
So, the skit at the beginning, right? Need I say more? Osten, you truly disappoint me. How did you find yourself producing this? How did you even think this was a good idea? Wait a minute. It was Comby, wasn't it? Anybody not liking my review of this song so far: Please administer the action exhibited in the aforementioned skit to your damn self. I don't care if it's physically impossible to some of you.

UNBELIEVABLE
I take particular glee in stating that this song had absolutely zilch to do with Comby Combs. In fact, according to DJ Premier, this song was a last-minute addition to the album, with a simple phone call from BIG, $5000 in hand, to Primo begging him to make this record. That's all it took for this punchline classic to come to existence. Primo hides a brilliant Quincy Jones sample in the song's folds and surrounds it expertly in preparation for Biggie to spit some of his best punchlines to date. This track alone effectively washed away all of Comby's prior horseshit.

SUICIDAL THOUGHTS
Lord Finesse closes off the album with its most harrowing song bar none building the beat around a Miles Davis classic. This shit will give you nightmares, guaranteed, if you listen to it enough. He also accomplishes the impossible by reigning in Comby enough to give his lone worthwhile contribution to the album, ad-libbing as BIG's frightened friend who's listening to thoughts that very much show just how alone the late MC really felt at the time. Speaking of which, the lyrics presented here were clearly written by a Chris Wallace who was at a very dark stage in his young life, lashing out at everyone around him, regardless of their emotional relevance to him in a singular verse. No hooks, no structure. Just pure venom. The influence of Mind Playing Tricks On Me by the Geto Boys on BIG shines through in the best possible way. This song might be disturbing to some and yet I feel it's the perfect ending to this album. I'll explain why below.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Think back for a moment: The album's name is Ready To Die, the imagery describing death and fatal situations & circumstances are available in spades, and the only times you hear any sign of consistency is in themes of darkness. No matter how you look at it, this album was an act of therapy. Whether it's because Biggie really lived that terrible early life or because he was scarred by what was happening around him when he was growing up. Or both. However, Biggie did the smart thing and committed those thoughts to paper, then to wax.

Now, if only Comby let the young man do what he wanted on the lyrical tip without forcing the playboy image upon him. I can only imagine the heights this album would rise up to. Instead, he has him writing player and sex lyrics that heavily detract from this album's flowing narrative under the guise of 'clever marketing'.  Of course, that's not the only venue Comby tried to ruin. The Juicy debacle and Comby's insistence to suck the radio's cock with it's every whim guiding his musical suggestions threaten to throw this album into the sea of utter garbage songs.

Thank God, his bullshit only comes to fruition on roughly a quarter of this album. The rest is pure value, with Easy Mo Bee leading the herd of awesome producers into greatness. Any remaining issues I might have with this album have already been stated in my final thoughts here.

And for the first & last time: I refuse to review Who Shot Ya.

Move along, now.

WORTH IT? You bet your fucking ass. I'm not blinded by bias like many of this art form's fans. Or else, I would've cursed this album into oblivion for its mere association with Mr. Comby Combs. The times when this shit's good, it's really good. And vice-versa, unfortunately. Nevertheless, go get this shit now.

Easy Mo Bee did produce other shit, and here's the proof.

Craig Mack - Project: Funk Da World (September 20, 1994)

UPDATE: Craig Mack passed away on Monday the 12th of March, 2018. RIP. This legit broke my heart. This guy was the epitome of not giving one fuck about what everyone says about you. And he was happy in doing so. There's a lesson to be learned in that. I hope this review reflects just how much of an impact son really had on the game. Onwards...

I'm back. It took some coercing. BELIEVE me. But, I'm back.

Throughout this obsession of mine, I have come across some legendary artists whose work will define periods of my life forever. Some of these legends whose legendary status is not to be questioned are irritatingly underrated by the masses, others irritatingly overrated. Yeah, you read that right. Even legends can be overrated.

How so? Because their brand is so marketable to the industry that it makes them the only ones that get talked about to the point of exhaustion. Take LL Cool J & Jay-Z, for example: Both of these dudes have at least one classic album in their catalogs and more than their fair share of hit songs. Or Dr. Dre, who was a bonafide genius when it came to production. Keyword: was. These dudes, because of their significant commercial success, may lead the casual listener to believe that they’re the ONLY acts that are worthy of discussion.

And then you have guys like Sean John Combs, aka Puffy aka Puff Daddy aka P.Diddy aka Diddy aka Mr. Ciroc himself. Fuck it, I'm just gonna call this guy Comby. So, from this day forth, that shall be his name on this blog. Where do I even start with this fucker? He was an intern running with Dr. Jeckyll aka THE Andre Harrell who made him serve errands for THE late great Heavy D's crew back in the late 80's. Comby somehow only learned from that experience the following: Selling out will always be the key to success. In no way, shape or form am I saying that Jeckyll & the Hevster were sellouts. I'm saying that's what Comby understood from their success in the industry. But while Jeckyll & Hev were smart politicians, Comby is downright shameless in his pandering to the latest whim of the corporate world. And to tell the truth, he would've crashed and burned a long time ago if it wasn't for one man: Christopher Wallace.

Let's not get it twisted, person. Mr. Wallace bka the Notorious fucking B.I.G. is without question one of the worthiest MCs gracing the microphone to ever be called 'timeless'. Nowhere is this more apparent than on Comby's vanity label Bad Boy's first released album: The classic-yet-glaringly-flawed Ready To Die. The reason why it's glaringly flawed? Comby's insistence to suck the radio's cock with degrading songs "for the ladies". The fact that the cock-sucking produced commercial results is and always will be absolutely irrelevant to me. The reason why it's a classic? One name and one name only: Easy Mo Bee.

Osten Harvey Jr. was already a producer with a swiftly growing reputation as a potential classic-making machine by the time Comby came knocking. He had experienced various degrees of success with his collabos with the legendary Big Daddy Kane, and unwarranted failure with his full album collabo with The Genius, who would later blow up as the GZA with the rest of the immortal Wu-Tang Clan. Thanks, Cold Chillin'! The forced radio-whoring joints did wonders for GZA's later career, guys! Although you obviously didn't benefit from said rise in any way, shape or form. Gee, I wonder whose fault is that? And just so we're clear: Easy Mo Bee had absolutely zilch to do with those crappy songs.

Back to this, though. Easy Mo Bee's chemistry with the late Biggie was immediate. The two released BIG’s first ever single, Party And Bullshit, for Jeckyll’s Uptown Records on the Who's The Man? soundtrack (Yet another forgettable film with a killer OST) to rave reception. The two hit it off from there, with Mo Bee acting as the Large Professor to Biggie's Nas on some of the most critically acclaimed songs on the latter's debut album that were not produced by him. Y'know, Unbelievable? Suicidal Thoughts?

However, Easy Mo Bee's impact on the Bad Boy legacy went even further than that. MUCH further. See, at the time of BIG's signing, Comby was attempting to groom yet another potential golden egg. Some dude by the name of Craig Mack. Now, this guy's story is a doozy of an industry tale. Hailing from Brentwood Long Island, Craig Mack had already attempted to break into the business as part of a DJ-MC act with DJs Diamond J &Teddy Lee called MC EZ-Troup. They released a single & b-side in 1988, Just Rhymin’/Get Retarded that, despite impressing very influential figures like the aforementioned Heavy D, went nowhere due to the fact that the group’s deal with Fresh Records was absolutely rotten with absolutely zero promotion from the label. Feeling guilty about the ensuing chaos, legendary Brentwood duo EPMD (who got their hometown homies the deal in the first place) hooked Mack up as a future member of the then-invincible Hit Squad. Of course, EPMD immediately broke up afterward, leaving Mack without a home. Being that he had connections with both Erick & Parish, Comby knew about Craig's surprisingly-dope skills as an MC at that time. Surely enough, he swoops in with dollar signs all up in them goofy-ass eyes of his, promising Mack the promised land. Only one problem, though: Craig Mack, unfortunately, wasn't the prettiest rapper in the world. Comby had to figure something out. Enter Easy Mo Bee again.

By now, Osten's ear for potential talent in an MC was second-to-none. He most definitely had that gift in a producer that would bring the very best out of an individual working with him. Hell, he made a 17-year old Mally G sound like an absolute pro in 95. Anyway, Mo Bee took a quick-but-extremely-focused detour from his BIG venture to work with Mack, resulting in a certain batch of songs that were topped off with what would become Bad Boy's very first commercially released single: Flava In Ya Ear.

A few months after that song dropped, it set the hip hop world a-fucking-blaze. Everybody wanted to know who was that garble-voiced rapper spitting over that two-noted masterpiece of a beat. Comby, contrary to popular belief, was baffled. How the fuck did Easy Mo Bee pull off what he couldn't? Osten managed to turn the ever-so-anti-radio rapper into a hot commodity. So, of course, Comby roadblocked his own talent and went full force ahead into BIG's album. Simply because Mack didn’t want to be promoted as a pimp. Shows you the type of superficial asshole you’re dealing with. (Comby, if you have a problem with that: Sound off below.)

Despite all that, the following album, Project: Funk Da World, still sold five hundred thousand copies. Something that can never be taken away from Craigy here.

Speaking of which, the album was a divided work on the production tip: Easy Mo Bee handled five tracks, Craig himself handled five tracks (!!!) and a lone track was given to Rashad Smith to, um, experiment with. Incidentally, that track was the one Comby fell in love with enough to contribute his loathsome ad-libbing to.

Enough said. On to the review:

PROJECT: FUNK DA WORLD
Album intro. I almost skipped the whole thing, until I heard the famed Hamilton Bohannon sample, expertly cut for Mack to spit his BNB (Boasts 'N' Bullshit) via his unmatched delivery, which fails to grab you, I’m afraid. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Mack himself produced this.

GET DOWN
This track's intro still pisses me off to no end. However, a straight up majestic boom bap beat tackles you, robs you for all you're worth and just leaves you feeling as stranded as you could possibly feel immediately after that crappy intro. Enter Easy Mo fucking Bee. And this time, there’s no lack of interest from the listener, as Craig really gets into his groove when he's on this guy's beats, flowing without a care in the world and actually displaying some pretty good punchlines here and there. The iconic Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest would commission one of his most famous beats ever as a remix to this masterpiece. A definite win.

MAKING MOVES WITH PUFF
One hell of a goddamn slowdown. Not that that’s a bad thing when done right. This here is the aforementioned Comby track, which was the third single. Surprise surprise. This shit even had an accompanying video with MC EZ here trying to imitate Comby's abhorrent dancing in these shitty videos. Complete with explosions, because what rap video is complete without explosions, amirite? As for the song itself? Ironically, the beat may be trying a bit too hard to sound like an ATCQ composition but Rashad Ringo Smith surprisingly pulls off an infectious instrumental in what remains my favorite production of his, while Craig barrels through with his punchlines that should not be this interesting and yet you’re still wanting more. Admittedly, I still love this song, despite Comby’s wakass being on here.

THAT Y'ALL
The playful beat that you hear off the bat, again surprisingly made by Mack himself, throws you a bit off, but I feel it works primarily because of the PMD sample thrown in the mix. Craigy, however, screws up his chance at redeeming himself by delivering a truly horrid performance. This shit was hilariously bad.

FLAVA IN YA EAR
Every time I hear this song, it is stuck on repeat in my head for months to come. Months. Easy Mo Bee delivered a masterstroke of genius beatmaking so good that Craig couldn't help himself but deliver a performance that still takes your breath away, 21 goddamn years removed from the time of its making. All it took was two notes from a timeless O'Donel Levy record and you've got yourself a hip hop classic.

FUNK WIT DA STYLE
I won't even try to front: this beat blew me away when I heard it the first time. Constructed from a very recognizable Emotions sample and some truly inspired audio bit selections, I'm again baffled at the fact that Mack is this capable of a beatmaker. His production skills are noticeably worse, though, as he can’t grab the listener on here to save his life.

JUDGEMENT DAY
Osten's back at it again. This time, he brings to the table no more and no less than his absolute best production during his Bad Boy tenure. Ready To Die fans, read into that what you will. The fact still remains that Easy Mo Bee simply has better chemistry with Craig Mack than with BIG, even though his collabos with the late legend are still mostly timeless. He just brought something more outta Craig Mack, who hadn't yet gone batshit crazy and demonstrated effectively so by skydiving into the track with his performance. Hell, I consider this song even better than Flava In Ya Ear. (You know what to do if you don't like my opinion. Yep, down there.)

REAL RAW
OK, this song is quite the revelation. For the Craig Mack that you'll hear here sounds absolutely nothing like the rest of the album. The explanation is quite clear really, as this song was recorded during Mack's Hit Squad internship days. I must note, he sounds much more, for lack of a better expression, "composed". For example, his enunciation is infinitely clearer than what you hear on Flava In Ya Ear. The result is Craig Mack's finest lyrical display bar none. I know, I was flabbergasted, too. Not to mention a deft Days Of Our Lives reworking. I cannot stress enough how bewildered I am at Craig Mack's production touches so far. That was somehow intended as a compliment.

MAINLINE
Contrast the previous song with this one. Here, Craigy is damn near unintelligible, with an insistence on garbling his voice as much as possible. Let it be known though that with effort, you can still hear much from what he's saying. However, most rap fans won't appreciate the fact that they have to exert effort in deciphering this man's delivery here. So, even though I still really enjoyed this track because of Easy Mo Bee's masterful Mandre-sampling beat and Mack’s admittedly fun delivery, I can't really recommend our host's overall execution. This song is just too inaccessible. End of story.

WHEN GOD COMES
Now, this Mo Bee production suffers from no such problem. Here, Mack must've been very passionate about truth and what it means to him, (I guiltily admit that the resulting mental image of Mack's face when pondering too hard brought me to tears. Tears of laughing my fucking ass off. See this for reference. You'll know which face I'm talking about.) because he tries to commit every positive thought that ever crossed his mind to wax. It really works, though, as his sincerity shines through and he raises up some pretty legitimate points. Add that to Easy Mo Bee's spot-on Phoenix Authority retooling and you're left with one of the most introspective hip hop records ever made. No, I'm not joking.

WELCOME TO 1994
The final song on this album is fittingly a Craig Mack instrumental, and a dope one at that. He once again turns to another PMD sample, one which he sprinkles through a jeep-rattling instrumental that pushes him one last time towards what is unfortunately a very uninteresting performance. A pretty bland ending for an album like this one, as it’s crystal clear that Mack’s immediate circle, while not yes men, were unsuccessful in influencing him. For better or worse, he made the album he wanted to make.


FINAL THOUGHTS
Captain Obvious Time: This album sounds the furthest from Comby's vision of all the Bad Boy releases throughout the label's horrid 20+ year life. I honestly don't know who or what to thank for that particular tidbit. Should I thank Craigy and his flat-out weird tastes in entertainment? Or Easy Mo Bee and his criminally-underrated wizardry behind the boards? Or Comby himself for not directing his sellout visions towards this piece of work? Whatever the case may be, this album is still a worthy entrant into the widely-debated "Golden Era Of Hip Hop", despite the inconsistent hit-rate on the lyrical front. Beatwise, this is still very solid, though. By the way, I would have an issue with dude's hooks. Yet they're delivered with a unique and awesomely on-purpose 'I couldn't give less of a fuck what you think' laziness that sells each and every hook he does on this album. Bottom line, the critical and commercial milestones this album has reached only add to the legendary war chest of Easy Mo Bee accomplishments in hip hop. And for the most part? Craig Mack did pretty well for himself, too. Suck on that, Comby.

WORTH IT? Every goddamn step of the way. This is the only Bad Boy release where Comby had ZERO control, and that is an achievement in and of itself, thereby maintaining the distinction of being the only release free of the usual Comby hindrances, aside from one single song. That's definitely something Craig Mack should be proud of.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:
FLAVA IN YA EAR (REMIX) (FEATURING THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., RAMPAGE THE LAST BOY SCOUT, LL COOL J & BUSTA RHYMES)
The very single that launched Biggie into superstardom. Also, the very reason Easy Mo Bee left Bad Boy Records. Let's get into it: Every single aspect of this remix that wasn't lyrical was handled by Easy Mo Bee and Easy Mo Bee alone. So of course, Comby listed himself and a reportedly unwilling Chucky Thompson as co-producers, knowing damn well they both didn't have shit to do with the track. Interestingly, Easy Mo Bee now says that he doesn't hold any grudges against Comby but I don't believe that for a second. And if that's %100 true, then that's all the more reason to hate Comby, who has surely screwed over countless more figures in similar situations. Oh, the song itself? Improves on the original in almost every way. Almost. Comby's fucking adlibs during BIG's stellar verse somehow taint this song, albeit ever-so-slightly, but you will not care in the slightest as BIG delivers the immortal verse that truly informed the entire world of his arrival as a legitimate nationwide superstar and not just a regional hero. As for the host? Craig’s verse actually makes it sound as if him & BIG are battling, which might not be that far from the truth as BIG notoriously dismissed his former labelmate in a 1997 interview. Taking in that context, Craig still delivered a worthwhile verse that made his presence felt. I gotta mention that I’m not that big of a fan of LL's verse here. Too radio-whoring for my taste. Rampage gives us some pretty generic rhymes, and Busta tries and fails to recapture his Scenario magic. None of those flaws matter, however, when presented within the context of Easy Mo Bee's brilliant production. Using the same beat as the original, Osten seasons it this time with some guitar notes here and there, transforming the entire song with much more impressive results that negate each and every flaw this remix could've had. And as I've stated, Biggie's verse is immortal & Craig’s “reply” is uncharacteristically mirthless and potent. Do NOT let this remix slip through your fingers.

For more Easy Mo Bee, here.

O.G.C. - Da Storm (October 29, 1996)

Yeah, that album cover is absolutely hilarious.

Jack McNair aka Starang Wondah, Barrett Powell aka Louieville Sluggah and Dashawn Yates aka Top Dog were childhood friends who went through many career choices together. First, they were children, then fuckups, then roadies, then rappers, then cameo professionals. Not the typical career path for a group affiliated with a bona fide legendary hip hop act such as the Boot Camp Clik. Especia-fucking-lly when all your BCC affiliates have hyped you up in every single one of the Clik's previous three projects, so far. And this is how you repay them?! By making the best possible album you can make?! Wait a minute...

OK, I know we started off on the wrong foot here, Messrs Clappaz. I'm only this agitated because of all the BCC, you're the act with the least amount of material. Why must the BCC release a goddamn group album for us to hear the motherfucking Originoo Gunn Clappaz spit verses? Why can't some of y'all release solo projects??!! Louie released two solo projects, you say? Oh.

Whoops.

So after marketing genius Dru-Ha made the genius decision to ingeniously cancel the Fab 5 album Without The Freddy and ingeniously split said Fab 5 back into their original groups, (Do I sound a tad bitter? Because, I fucking am.) Heltah Skeltah took full advantage and relatively hit another home run for the team with their debut Nocturnal, which contains Leflah: Arguably the most popular BCC song, (I'm not calling it by its moronic other name) and kept the momentum going after the underground popularity of Black Moon's Enta Da Stage and especially Smif-N-Wessun's Dah Shinin'. Now, it was up to the youngest trio of the group to step up and show they're cut from the same cloth as their predecessors.

Which should be an easy task, because it's not like these dudes haven't been tested before. As I said, there were numerous moments on the previous albums where various members of O.G.C. were thrust into the spotlight. Take their participations on BCC classics like Cession At Da Doghillee, Headz Ain't Ready, their Fab 5 songs Blah and the aforementioned Leflah for example, all in which they shone brightly. Especially Starang. This dude has spit punchline lava ever since he grabbed the mic with his kin Top Dog on the famed Sound Bwoy Bureill. Not to say Louie and Top Dog were bad by any means, but Starang was the clear star of the group.

I digress, though. Duck Down finally decided to release a Mr. Walt production as the lead single again. Said lead single, No Fear, had a video where the trio infamously dissed late legend The Notorious B.I.G. and his weed carriers Junior M.A.F.I.A. for some utterly stupid shit. This led to the Junior M.A.F.I.A. crew heading to a studio where the BCC were recording. Shit went down, as one would expect. Thankfully, it didn't escalate beyond that and both crews tremendously downplayed the incident ever since.

Anyways, if you think about it, the last Dewgarde bros. production that was used as any type of single was Sound Bwoy Bureill, which was two albums ago. A testament to how fast things were moving in the BCC. So now the team behind Da Storm, O.G.C.'s debut, are stuck between trying to combine the old Beatminer-saturated direction with the new collaborative direction behind the boards. So Team Beatminerz, once again producing the bulk of the album, went with the Dewgarde bros. to take five cuts while Baby Paul, production star of Nocturnal, took a backseat with just two. the rest were outsourced to much of the same people who worked on the Heltah Skeltah debut. That way, everybody was pleased with the resulting balance.

Did O.G.C. survive their proving grounds?

INTRO
This album unfortunately has the most skits out of the BCC four. That is not cool with me at all.

CALM BEFORE DA STORM
Shaleek, who handled Heltah Skeltah's solo joints on Nocturnal, opens the album up for O.G.C. with a fittingly dreary instrumental that our hosts paint their mission statement over. Basically, they're strictly about braggadocio. That's all you're gonna get. Each Clappa sounds off with a verse apiece, with Starang naturally besting his brethren. Not a bad way to set shit off.

NO FEAR
Our lead single. Mr. Walt, once again to be called Mr. fucking Walt, combines John Kaizan Neptune with Lonnie Liston Smith with absolutely unrecognizable results. It's beats like this one that demonstrate why good sampling is not stealing. O.G.C., in turn, come correct with a definite early highlight. All of them. Yes. Even Louie and especially Top Dog, whom I've always considered the weakest of the three. And yet he and Louie share more chemistry together than either of them do with Starang. Anyhow, this shit was awesome.

BOOM...BOOM... PRICK
...

GUNN CLAPP
Mr. fucking Walt keeps things simple this time, by cutting two samples from the same Earth, Wind & Fire record. And he still manages to keep things interesting. Here, our trio sound like a true group as they lyrically try to outdo each other. Starang still wins, but the effort the other two show is truly not to be scoffed at.

EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM
Big Tigger was a presence before Rap City? Didn't know that. This skit blows, by the way.

HURRICANE STARANG
If there ever was a talent who screamed: "SOLO CAREER!" It was Starang Wondah. This song is currently one of the most infuriating experiences in recent memory. Not because I didn't like it. Far from that, this is by far one of the greatest songs in hip hop history. It's because it led to absolutely nothing for its hero. I truly believe Starang Wondah is the BCC's Killa Sin. I mean, you have guys like Sean Price (RIP) who wasn't pegged out to be the "star" of an overarching hip hop group and was underestimated by everybody. And not only did he manage to shatter all doubters' criticisms, but he scorched way past his most ardent supporters' expectations. While carefully groomed talent like Starang Wondah fall flimsily by the wayside. Truly a shame, as he outright demolishes Mr. fucking Walt's brilliant composition, consisting of a New Spaces loop. Now I am most definitely not aware of what he might've went through these past 20 years, so nobody can really accuse him of negligence except those whom he allows to. Bottom line: This was truly bittersweet.

DANJER
I was pleasantly surprised with how Louie and Top Dog carried this Baby Paul production (which also samples the same New Spaces record as Hurricane Starang) effortlessly, bouncing off each other as if they were brothers, or cousins and shit. They might actually be cousins, you say? That explains a lot. Like why these two sound almost exactly like each other. It would also explain why, once again, these two have more chemistry with each other than either of them do with Starang. On that note: Imagine if Starang Wondah, instead of hooking up with these two, hooked up with Ruck & Rock. I'm sure they would've obviously been an unstoppable punchline trio but, alas, you can't have everything.

ELEMENTS OF DA STORM
Over a very intruding Steele beat, some dude called Yuwee rambles incoherently in extremely broken Arabic. Trust me. Anyone who reads this site frequently knows that I'm a longtime resident of the Arab world, (read: 20 years) and as such, I speak perfect Arabic. (Disagree? Leave something in the comments section. Lord knows there's plenty of room since nobody who comes to this friggin' site bothers to leave any feedback.)

DA STORM
Evil D returns, toting a very prevalent Moody sample, and crafts a loop that plods along in all the right ways. On this record, Top Dog interpolates Deborahe Glasgow's hook on Shabba Ranks' Don't Test Me. O.G.C. would then perform Da Storm in some club where Biggie (RIP) and his Junior M.A.F.I.A. were in attendance. And before you can say 'Shabba', out comes Junior M.A.F.I.A. with the abysmal Get Money Remix with the Big One belting out Deborahe's hook within the very first minute. May I present the aforementioned utterly stupid shit that got Starang beat the fuck up. And while I couldn't give less of a fuck about Junior M.A.F.I.A., O.G.C. were totally in the wrong here. Anyways, Da Storm by itself is pretty goddamn awesome. All three Clappaz carefully thought out their 16s and delivered, with Starang obviously being the best of the bunch again.

WILD COWBOYS IN BUCKTOWN (FEATURING SADAT X & SEAN BLACK)
DJ Ogee, longtime affiliate of the Diggin' In The Crates Crew, gives our trio one of his hand-crafted beats. The result? Not as good as one would expect when looking at the ingredients present. A kickass Quincy Jones record? Check. A bunch of MCs spitting for their life? Check. Well, except for Sean Black whose rhymes I never want to hear ever again. Whether on this album or otherwise. Which shows you that the producer is the one with the most heavy-lifting to do, and this particular tidbit surprises me since Ogee has done some brilliant work with DITC's OC on Word..Life and would continue to do so on OC's 1997 opus Jewelz. It should be noted, however, that Louieville spits some of the best shit I've ever heard from him throughout his entire career. In case you were wondering: Yes, his bars are better than any of of his fellow collaborators on this song. Sadat X aka Derek X aka Mr. Murphy. neither drags this song down nor elevates it. Shame, that.

GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY
You'd think that Mr. Murphy would appear on his fellow Brand Nubian Lord Jamar's production. Oh well. Lord Jamar, enemy of the politically correct, co-produces this song with Buckshot. Their beat is infinitely better than the last time they hooked up on Heltah Skeltah's Intro (Here We Come), with smart use of the Green-Eyed Bandit's sampled lyrics from EPMD's classic song Strictly Business throughout this cut. Our trio once again bounce verses off each other effortlessly, as if these types of grim beats are an unspoken factor to their chemistry. Starang tones down his voice just enough to make his punchlines much more direct, which was a deft touch.

ELITE FLEET (FEATURING M.S., THE REPRESENTATIVZ & BAD VYBES)
Baby Paul returns with his tried-&-true formula of sampling the first few seconds of a record, this time a John Payne Band song, and delivers his best motherfucking beat ever. No bullshitting here. I keep rewinding this track endlessly every time it plays across my iPod. Such a beat can only be complemented by a balls-out perfomance or an expertly-done posse cut. O.G.C. go with the latter, and while the guests are nowhere in the vicinity of the BCC's skills, they do just fine. Credit to Louie's closing verse, where he comes with enough energy that sells his admittedly above-average boasts.

FLAPPIN
For the album's final record, O.G.C. were blessed to gain the services of not one, but two of the absolute best producers this industry has ever seen. And they just so happened to be Alkaholiks family, who were predominantly from the West Coast. E-Swift just so happened to find himself in NewYork and specifically in front of our trio's recording studio. Oh, and future bloggerland darling Madlib came along lest you think E-Swift would be half-assing it. Which was preposterous, for his previous work with the BCC on Heltah Skeltah's Operation Lock Down resulted in an unadulterated classic hip hop song. This time, he does an even better job with the help of his wizard of a protege when they combine two loops from The Everly Bros. and Galt McDermot, respectively, with mind-blowing results. Our trio choose this very fitting beat to provide their balls-out performance that I stated earlier to be necessary for converting beats like this into classic songs, with Starang shooting to the cosmos of legendary punchliners once again. Their magic inside the booth obviously excited some of their fellow BCC brethren, as you can distinctly hear Tek ad-libbing excitedly in the background. A perfect end to the album.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I'm surprised I'm writing this, but song-for-song: This album is a tad more successful than Nocturnal. Hell, were it not for the painfully-awful skits, this might've given Enta Da Stage and even Dah Shinin' a run for their money. Proof that O.G.C. were, for a brief period of time, worthy of standing alongside their brethren as the mighty Boot Camp Clik. Sadly, the entire act would experience backlash when they made the genius decision to distance themselves from production team Da Beatminerz' trademark dusty & dreary sound. No doubt, Dru-Ha's idea. The entire BCC would find some mild success with their followup albums before plummeting hard into irrelevancy for three years until their revival with the marvelous Triple Threat campaign that showed a renewed focus from all parties involved.

WORTH IT? Would you rather proclaim your love for "tha coco" to the heavens? Because it's totally cool if you prefer that rotting piece of filth to a bonafide classic album. It's also totally cool to get your OT Genasis on somewhere away from this blog. If you'd rather not do that, then acquire this album yesterday.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:
HARD TO THE CORE
This is another one of those tracks that the internet apparently doesn't know who its producer is. Well, whoever it was, he/she/they must've been working on this track before Da Storm's release. That, and the obvious 1995 shoutout by our trio. I will give them this, though: If he/she/they aren't Da Beatminerz or part of their team, he/she/they sure nailed their sound. I mean, this could've fit snugly on Da Storm. And all three Gunn Clappaz come fucking correct with their boasts-n-bullshit. Really top notch chemistry between them on display here. You should really check this out as soon as possible, especially if you loved Da Storm.

For those who crave more BCC.

Heltah Skeltah - Nocturnal (June 18, 1996)

This post is especially painful.

The world lost a fucking legendary human being. Kind. Giving. Funny. Talented. Opinionated. Tough. Badass. Underrated. Underestimated. All these and so many more are barely enough to describe a man like Husayn Sayyid, known to world by his birth name Sean Price, also known by his many self-styled nicknames: Tawl Sean aka Ruckus Da Irrational aka Dutch aka Da Inflixta aka The Brokest Rapper You Know aka Kimbo Price aka Mic Tyson aka Gray Hulk (His final tag name on Twitter). All these are the tip of the iceberg, believe me. He was a genuine person who had his priorities sorted out right, evidenced by the way he turned his life around from a violent adolescence to a positive life as an adult. He always put his family and loved ones above all else. I have said before that I wish I could've grabbed a bite with him. Why? Because I'm not one to dehumanize someone by putting them on a fucking pedestal the way celebrity culture demands from various people, such as taking photos, autographs or the like. I believe that to be one of the most disrespectful things you can do to a person, simply for the fact that you'd be tremendously isolating said person when all he wants is some genuine human interaction. No, I wish I could've known this person. This gem of a human being. And sadly, he's no longer with us. I pray for him to be in a better place now. My sincere thoughts & condolences go out to Husayn's family & loved ones.

Of course, I can't talk about this man on a hip hop review site without mentioning his significant role in it. And nowhere is said role more apparent to me than in his body of work with longtime cohort Jamal Bush, who also assigned himself a slew of nicknames such as Da Rockness Monsta aka Da Flipsta aka Sparsky aka Grand Son of Sam aka Military Punisher aka Bummy Jab, as rap duo Heltah Skeltah of the Boot Camp Clik, in which Sean inexplicably singled his teammate out as the "better" rapper. Of course, as a person who studied these two meticulously and thereby came to the conclusion that choosing one of them over the other is impossible, I find that claim to be absolute nonsense. My opinion goes that Sean Price cannot go into my MC Hall Of Fame without Rock. Bottom line. I don't care if Sean has a better solo career. They're both essential inductees.

Anyway, in 1995 the Boot Camp Clik was firing on all cylinders following the relative success of Dah Shinin', co-founders Smif-N-Wessun's debut, and the Clik's subsequent credited debut on the song Headz Ain't Ready on the second New Jersey Drive OST. Now if you know the lineup of this merry band of men, you are surely familiar with the rest of the group: trio O.G.C. and our two hosts. What some might not have known was that a very interesting project almost came to fruition following Smif-N-Wessun's magnum opus. You see, Heltah Skeltah and O.G.C. briefly combined forces to form a supergroup within the BCC called the Fab 5. They even recorded a single as such. This single, Blah, was supposed to be newly-formed label Duck Down's trump card. But it was the b-side, Leflah, that blew the fuck up. Similar to what Cypress Hill went through with The Phuncky Feel One/How I Could Just Kill A Man. Matter of fact, it's exactly that. Only without all the mainstream success.

So now that Leflah became a relative critical hit, the way is paved for the following album, right? WRONG. Some airhead decided the album was a bad business move and the Fab 5 would be better off separate & in their original lineups. You say it was Dru-Ha? Well, he might not be an airhead but that was still a dumb decision. One Dru himself admitted as such recently saying that you just can't manufacture the type of buzz Leflah stirred up. No shit, sherlock! So everybody chugged along with that stupid-ass decision with a quick shift of plans, with Heltah Skeltah slated up next. Our duo benefitted from this move greatly, however, by having Leflah added to their debut. I'm sure O.G.C. were thrilled for their brethren, team players that they were. Just ask Diddy.

The addition of Leflah, now insipidly rebranded as Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka, really boosted the promotion for our duo's debut LP, Nocturnal. So Duck Down followed up with Nocturnal's true lead single, Operation Lock Down, which had one of the most visual hip hop music videos ever made. Trust me, it's something you need to see. Hell, the original video was an even more impressive accomplishment, given their obvious financial limitations at the time of its making. Operation Lock Down only added to the critical acclaim Leflah garnered while also helping to establish Heltah Skeltah as their own entity. More importantly, Operation Lock Down along with the earlier Blah were the very first singles from the BCC not to involve anyone from Da Beatminerz team and yet they still retained the dark Beatminerz sound which most BCC fans fell in love with. Indeed, there was a new production movement in motion to coincide with Duck Down's launch as they looked to expand their reach, which made for some interesting choices behind the boards.

Of course, none of this talk of production and sounds really matters if the MCs weren't dope. And as previously stated, both halves of Heltah Skeltah were ridiculously good. While they both focused on punchlines, the sheer difference in their lyrical approach allowed them to compliment each other very well. You see, the late Husayn Sayyid aka Ruck was effortlessly calculating with his punchlines. And you had to hear them in order to get them, not read them off a piece of paper or a Rap Genius page. On the other hand, Rock was clearly the outlandish half as he was the one who came with lines that instantly jumped out of the speakers at you, while his image being colorful enough to immediately create a lasting impression, and his voice forever being an enemy to monotone. Also, it should be noted that they both shared a distinction with Steele from Smif-N-Wessun  and Black Moon's Buckshot in that they are able to generate incredible chemistry with whoever they step in the booth with.

Let's dig in to Nocturnal, shall we?

INTRO (HERE WE COME)
Heltah Skeltah reach out to the recently-infamous Lord Jamar, who's actually an accomplished producer, along with BCC bandmate Buckshot to immediately set the pace for this entry into BCC lore with a fittingly-dark instrumental. Needless to say, it almost veers into the useless-crap territory that is populated by oh so many rap album intros. But once OGC's Starang Wondah finishes his very essential rambling, Rock swoops in with a one-verse wonder that basically lists the albums tracks for you by borrowing an element from each song whether it be its name, its hook or so on. I dunno, I'm not feeling it but it could've been much worse.

LETHA BRAINZ BLO
Let's get something straight here folks: Mr. Walt and Evil D are barely on this album. Hell, Evil D has only one production on the entire LP. So, the original Beatminerz influence was already waning from Dah Shinin'. Instead, it's teammate Baby Paul who's picking up the pace with the most productions out of any producer on the album with five credits. His first here shows him to be a true student of the Dewgarde brothers as he takes the first few seconds from a Johnny Pate record and crafts a banging beat for Ruck and Rock to tear apart. And do they ever. This duo establishes itself as a tag team worthy of mention alongside legends such as EPMD, Method Man & Redman, Organized Konfusion and their own BCC family Smif-N-Wessun. This track is simply punchlines galore: Rock's "You're sweet as muffins, that mom dukes bake I break/Yeah my Timberlands make everything from your head to your North Lake ache" versus Ruck's "First of all, n****s don't know jack, my flow's fat/So fat, my gat splat at n****s who claim that my shit's wack" Take your goddamn pick. This shit was awesome.

UNDASTAND
To be honest, this song is the first song I gravitated to when I heard Nocturnal in its entirety for the first time. I know, I listened to the full album. Who does that nowadays, right? So, Baby Paul's kind of on a banging run here. This time, he brilliantly chooses Soledad De Murcia, a ripping jazz classic, and samples the first few seconds again. This guy must have a penchant for finding these types of samples. For their part, our duo switch to the '16-16-8-8' formula with each MC once again making it very hard to choose a favorite. A damn fine one-two combo from all parties involved.

WHO DAT?
Buckshot is daringly going for dolo behind the boards on this one. The beat's surprisingly mellow and allows Husayn and Jamal to rip shop with a short eight bars each. This was not bad in the least.

SEAN PRICE (FEATURING ILLA NOYZ)
I know Illa Noyz is Sean's brother and he spits crazy bars on this, but I still can't help but think of this song as a Sean Price solo. The man simply owns the track. He makes the track his personal property. He can sue you for everything you're worth if you trespass on this track or even think of insinuating such a thing. This song marks a first in BCC lore, where a member from an established duo creates an entire market for a solo career with one song, and he's not even alone on the damn thing. Props to Shaleek for one of the most inventive instrumentals of 1996, no exaggeration.

CLAN'S, POSSE'S, CREW'S & CLIK'S
A Beatminer produced this song? A real Beatminer?! I must say that I expected more out of Evil D's beat, but it does its job. Rock and Ruck bring more truckloads of punchlines like rapid fire. Seriously, check these out: Ruck: 'Some may wonder, the evil these two men do/Torment you, lyrical landlord, your fucking rent due' Rock: 'Suplexed your grandpops then like corn I pop shit/You can't flush, fucking with us you're smacked with hock spit'

THERAPY (FEATURING VINIA MOJICA)

I love punchlines. I really do. I mean, just look at the paragraphs above. But one thing about a punchline rapper that might cause him trouble is when he decides to be 'artsy'. Granted, some are more capable than others. For example, with all due respect to dudes like Akinyele. But they haven't shown signs of having an Uncommon Valor performance in them the way RA The Rugged Man (Another punchline hall-of-famer) did. Even if it did come out of fucking nowhere. This is where songs like Therapy come in. Heltah Skeltah have crafted an undeniable classic with a full-blown thesis of ghetto troubles for young males while still retaining their trademark punchlines. This interesting concept is backed with an awesome Baby Paul sampling of Milt Jackson and The Ray Brown Big Band. Two seconds. That's all it took for Baby Paul, in his third outing on the album, to create one of his best beats. I will say that Vinia Mojica's hook is technically proficient if a bit unnecessary. All in all, one of the best things Sean Price has ever done in this game, if not the best.

PLACE TO BE
And now it's back to business as usual. Quick note: Sean/Shawn J. Period impressed the hell out of me with his work on fellow Virginian Skillz' debut From Where??? Dude provided the best beats on that album, which is especially hard when you're up against the likes of Large Professor, J Dilla, Buckwild and the fucking Beatnuts. So anytime I find his name on something again, I immediately check it out. That's how I got into the Artifacts in the first place. Anyway, his work here is more of the same brilliance, providing the perfect backdrop for Husayn and Jamal to spit a 16 each. By now, their wittiness has become a standard that each of them is held at. To clarify, this was deliciously good.

SOLDIERS GONE PSYCO
Baby Paul's back at it once again with the sampling of a certain record's first few seconds. It's Wade Marcus' turn this time. Let me remind you that this is simply not possible if the producer doesn't have a background in DJing. It is what it is. The beat, of course, is fuel enough for Mr. Inflixta and Mr. Flipsta to come correct with yet another '16-16-8-8' punchline display. Good shit here,folks.

THE SQUARE (TRIPLE R) (FEATURING THE REPRESENTATIVZ)
Heltah Skeltah engage in a tag team match with the Representativz, one of which is Rock's younger brother Lidu Rock. (Horrible choice of nickname. Just horrible.) The lyrics by all involved are good, but the beat by the other Representativ Supreme is a steaming barrel of sewage. So much so that it threatens to make me regret ever listening to Nocturnal. It's that bad.

DA WIGGY
Mr. Walt debuts his first of two productions on Nocturnal by combining a menacing Meters bass loop with the famed Strange Games & Things' first three guitar notes. It's wizardry, really. Rock and Ruck cleverly split lyrical duties in a rare structure where first Ruck spits his 16 bars then Rock spits an 8 and they go to hook duties, following it up by Ruck spitting an 8 and Rock ending it with his 16. And the rhymes are fucking good. This is a definite highlight.

GETTIN ASS GETTIN ASS
That is almost ruined by this goddamn skit. I hate to speak less of the dead but Sean already showed us his Dr. Killpatient character on Therapy and it was funnier then. Hell, his motherfucking ad-libs on that song were funnier than this entire skit. That's all I have to say about this particular waste of space. How about we move on, eh?

LEFLAUR LEFLAH ESHKOSHKA (FEATURING O.G.C.)
Ah yes, the famed Fab 5 joint. Baby Paul signs off for the night by looping a Catalyst record. And, you guessed it: He loops the first few seconds. And I wouldn't have it any other way. The Fab 5 effectively remind you of the incredible chemistry between the entire BCC on posse cuts such as this one. Allow me to state that Starang's opening verse is one of the very best in hip hop history. But don't worry, though. The remaining 4 rip shit up just as hard. This might probably be the most famous BCC song, and it would be worthy of such a title. I'm a Headz Ain't Ready type of cat, myself. It's all good, though.

PROWL (FEATURING LOUIEVILLE SLUGGAH)
Mr. fucking Walt is back with a menacing page out of Baby Paul's book by sampling the first few seconds of a Lalo Schifrin record. Now since Starang Wondah and especially Top Dog got some shine on preceding joint Dah Shinin', it's only right that this album dedicates a slot to Barrett Powell bka Louieville Sluggah on their album. Even though it's an incredibly short slot. I'll credit Rock, though, for sounding genuinely thrilled when introducing Louie, who spits only 8 bars. Somehow, these 8 bars do the job and have you wanting to hear more from him. After which Ruck & Rock gallop ahead with the rest of the track, of course. When the dust settled, I ended up loving this song.

GRATE UNKNOWN
Shaleek's back. And I find it interesting that he's in charge of both rappers' solo showcases on the album. Of course, Illa Noyz' verse needs to erase its existence in order for that fact to be 100% accurate but, hey, nobody's complaining. What do you mean, it couldn't even if it wanted to?! Slapstick aside, Shaleek sprinkles a sample from an unknown cover of I Cover The Waterfront by Johnny Green and Edward Heyman to impressive effect on a magnificently weird beat for Rock to spit his solo game. And, just in case anyone had any doubts, he comes correct. It's a damn shame his solo career went nowhere, because he had that charisma that's impossible to fake about him, and he was good at flaunting it.

OPERATION LOCK DOWN
The lead single is the last track on the album? This is some Illmatic type of fuckery right here. So, E-Swift from Tha Alkaholiks is the producer of this song and, by God, was that an inspired choice. His George Benson loop is flawless, and it gives Ruck & Rock enough energy to deliver an equally-flawless tag team performance. The punchlines are a quote a second and the flow is just breathtaking. When you finish this song, you'll feel as if you just finished listening to a prog rock concert. I don't care if I'm pushing it, that is how I feel.

OUTRO

Looks like someone's not quite over that beat yet, as this outro is basically a skit over the Operation Lock Down instrumental. Which is absolutely lame as all fuck. Shame. This album deserved a better ending than this.

FINAL THOUGHTS: What can I say about Sean Price's lyrical talents that hasn't been said already? Especially in the past month. It's so sad that somebody from the underground has to die in order to get coverage and people trying to cash in on his success, so thank God he passed in the midst of family, physically and legally so no one can exploit his immense remaining body of work for their own profit. Every single collaboration Duck Down cook up featuring Husayn later has to pay for his wife and kids' well-being. I have a feeling he would've wanted it that way. I'm also attempting to give his partner Rock his just due, as even in BCC fan circles, he gets slept on heavy. In closing, these two are the perfect punchline tag team and deserves their place in history. Baby Paul, Da Beatminerz and the remaining producers also deserve heavy praise for their accomplishments on this gem of a debut. Especially Baby Paul.

WORTH IT? You goddamn right it is. Go get yourself a slice of punchline wizardry. This remains the finest Sean Price material out there, in my humble opinion.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:
BLAH (FAB 5 SONG)
The originally-planned hit which wasn't really a hit. Some dude called Tony Moore produced this gem, where he succeeded in capturing all five members' chemistry together in a brilliant whirlwind of threats, punchlines and thuggery. This is a worthy addition to your BCC collection.

Finally and most importantly, don't ever forget to donate to this link. Support Husayn Sayyid's family, for they are in a desperate time right now. riP!

Explore more from the BCC.

Smif-N-Wessun - Dah Shinin' (January 10, 1995)

In 1993, a certain MC spit the following line: 'These type of tunes got me consumed in a rubber room.'

Ever since the very first time I heard Enta Da Stage by Black Moon: MC's 5ft, Buckshot and DJ Evil D,  I've always found a way to replay many Beatminerz-produced songs again and again. Trust me, my wife's sick to death of it. I might've denied them being the powerful production force that they are at first, because believe it or not, Enta Da Stage was not my first exposure to Da Beatminerz, consisting of real-life brothers Evil D and Mr. Walt. No, I first heard their work on OC's Dangerous, a flossy duet he did with late punchline juggernaut Big L. Back then, I dismissed them as yet another Trackmasters-esque team, and no one has the right to blame me for that misjudgment. Especially if you heard that song. Anyway, I neglected to notice that they had an entire sound prior. A sound that stretched out over the course of four albums prior to Dangerous, specifically 93-96 and beginning with, of course, Enta Da Stage.  And after I'd listened to that album, I was instantly fiending for more.

Now, this time I had already done my research regarding what the Boot Camp Clik actually planned next. And from Da Beatminerz' side, it was very obvious that Evil D and Mr. Walt were gearing up for big things production-wise. For in 1994, Black Moon remixed two of the more popular tracks from their album, Buck Em Down and I Got Cha Opin, while releasing all-new songs, Reality (Killing Every...) and Murder MC's, as b-sides to said remixes. There was something different to their approach this time round. Both brothers were more serious about coming off as professionals, and it truly shows in their work. From samples to cutting to mixing, everything sounded crisper and more refined, contrasting with the uniquely-raw sound of Enta Da Stage. I wanted more. Little did I know I had so much more coming when I figured out that they had planned to make their next project as directors of a hip hop album. The results became Smif-N-Wessun's debut album. This album.

Smif-N-Wessun, Darrell Yates and Tekomin Williams aka General Steele and Tek Smokee Lah respectively aka Mr. Vicksta and Mr. Rippa respectively aka Dred and Bal-head respectively aka Steele and Tek for short, were lifelong friends along with the rest of the Boot Camp. However, their bond to each other as friends transcends your average lifelong friendship in the industry. So much so that according to Tek, Steele taught him how to rhyme, starting with writing his first rhyme. Many respected duos experienced break-ups, beefs, falling-outs and so on, but not these two. Together, they debuted on Enta Da Stage on two songs, both were highlights of the entire album: Black Smif-N-Wessun and U Da Man. Lyrically, the two complimented Buckshot very well with these guest appearances, both even upstaging him on Black Smif-N-Wessun. Of course, given the limited lyrical subject matter prevalent on the rest of the album, that wasn't very hard to do, but still. So, when those three formed the rest of the BCC as a rap collective, it made sense that Smif-N-Wessun would be the next act out the gate. Buckshot called on the service of Team Beatminerz, who've since added two members, Babee Pall & Rich Blak, to their roster, and it was on. Releasing the first single, Bucktown/Let's Git It On, the two patois-obsessed weedheads had a relatively modest underground hit on their hands, so production continued full-speed ahead... And they succeeded in building the very first shitting robot. Think about it. A robot who shits. Brilliant.

All silliness aside, Dah Shinin' rarely gets talked about in hip hop circles anymore. Fuck, it rarely gets talked about in BCC fan circles anymore. Unless it so happens to be the 20th anniversary of said Shinin'. Meanwhile, every once in a while you find a tribute to the Illmatics, the Ready To Dies & especially the Reasonable Doubts of the world. Now, while in no way am I trying to imply that these were even remotely bad albums, I am calling out those fuckers who barrage the internet with absurd, even obscene, claims like, such and such album is "teh goatz". Ditto with rappers, producers & songs. I will always have an issue with this line of thought. Because whether you like it or not, boldly making such statements harms each and every act who put their blood, sweat and tears into their product yet for some reason never reached a wide-enough audience. Bottom fucking line: Grow the FUCK up.

On to the review:

TIMZ N HOOD CHEK
I love that fact that Dah Shinin' mirrors Enta Da Stage in not including an intro. However, my issues with the tracklisting on Enta Da Stage also continue here: The fuckheads at Nervous should've placed the lead single and its b-side as the opening two tracks. Other than that, I'm surprised that Evil D went with such a minimalist approach. I mean, as always, the beat is meticulously crafted from Galt MacDermot source material, but the result almost falls flat on its face. Almost. Steele sets shit off in a manner that forces you to pay attention, with each and every one of his boasts hitting you square in the chest, and you realize you're dealing with a different animal than Buckshot. These dudes are both very big on imagery amid their threat-filled verses. Especially General Steele. He's not my preferred MC out the BCC for nothing.

WREKTIME
Allow me to applaud Da Beatminerz for once again delivering an audio painting of beautiful contrast. You see, by now this team has really come into its own with regards to its unique sound. Mr. Walt's composition on this track demonstrates just that with a very mellow Barbara & Ernie bass loop meshed with incredibly hard Mad Lads drums. The Eric Gale saxophone sample scattered around the track is the icing on the cake. This is not lost on Steele-N-Tek, as they turn in a brilliant verse each, punctuated by an insanely-annoying hook that threatens to blow this song's momentum out the sky with an anime-style laser beam. one of those always depicted to destroy planets and shit. They choose the third verse to debut their twist on the famed back-n-forth style of MCing on the album, pioneered by Run-DMC & perfected by certified legends such as EPMD, Raekwon & Ghostface (RAGU for short) and many others. Of course they had already debuted this style in 1994 on the b-side Let's Git It On, but it's nice that they followed up and stuck to what works here. And I must say, this duo holds up where many similarly-skilled duos failed in that they just sound natural using this style. The first real hit on the album with me.

WONTIME (FEATURING HELTAH SKELTAH)
I take that back. Wrektime is absolute trash compared to this. Mr. Walt, whom from here on out in this review shall be known as Mr. fucking Walt, collaborates with Rich Blak on, by far, the grimiest and most demented beat on this album. Fuck that: It's, by far, the grimiest and most demented beat in the entire BCC's catalog. There is no room for melody here, and Rock delivers a fucking masterpiece of a hook, with Sean Price (RIP) chiming in with one ad-lib: 'One time!' I swear, that ad-lib sounded like one of those voices you saw in a horror cartoon as a child and proceeded to have nightmares about for your entire prepubescent life. However, even with all that, the true centerpiece of this track will always be our two hosts. Both of them. See, very much like other famed hip hop MC duos, one of the members outdoes the other, being the workman of the act, while the other's performances act as somewhat secondary and supporting to the first, even if they both had equal mic time. But, when both MCs fire on all cylinders and throw everything they know about rapping into the song, the result is nothing short of grandiose, and that's precisely what happens here. Steele & Tek launch into a violent, hardcore-imagery-filled performance with the middle verse in particular stealing the show, as it describes some of the more violent aspects of life in jail from the first person. What I loved most about their contribution was how much Tek stepped up and matched Steele blow for blow, which is no easy feat, trust me. This is a damn highlight.

WREKONIZE
Babee Pall's debut, my fellow lonely soul. He too chooses a minimalist approach for this track, although his results fare much better than Evil D's last offering, with his clever looping of a New York Port Authority bass sample. The future Cocoa Brovaz spit a verse apiece filled with descriptive images of stature and loyalty. Nothing could've possibly followed Wontime successfully, but this here makes do with what it has.

SOUND BWOY BUREILL (FEATURING TOP DOG & STARANG WONDAH)

Apparently, people who aren't fans of reggae hate this song and vice versa. I fall in neither category, seeing as I don't listen to reggae all that much and yet I fucking love this song. The whole instrumetal screams dancehall and you really had to see the accompanying video to get a feel of why this song is so loved. Both Beatminerz make it their mission to keep things as simple as possible with their original composition. Our hosts debut two of the three Originoo Gunn Clappaz to assist them, so of course one of them had to be Steele's brother Top Dog. However, it would be Starang Wondah who would turn heads the most, as his punchlines are already at mastery-level with his very first recorded appearance. The lyrics are mostly braggadocious, which fits the dancehall vibe like a glove.

K.I.M.
Mr. fucking Walt is back with another booming production, effectively looping Paul McCartney this time. Our duo launch into another imagery-filled tale of violence. Steele barely edged out his partner, even though Tek came with a dope-ass line about police brutality. Hey, you know who Steele's closest competition from other acts around that time would be? Prodigy from Mobb Deep. The two are so similar in many ways. Both had an incredible talent for descriptive rhymes. Both were clearly the superior MCs in their respective duos. Both dropped early albums in the highly-revered year of 1995, although this is fairly minor. Only difference they have now is the fact that P fell off hard, while Steele somewhat maintains his lyrical sharpness to a degree.

BUCKTOWN (FEATURING TOP DOG)
The debut single. Both Beatminerz produce this classic tune, brilliantly utilizing a four-second Jack Bruce loop. Darrell & Tekomin respectively spit one verse each and combine eight bars each for the final third verse with the now-classic hook following each contribution. This is the only song off this album to carry on the shouting hooks from Enta Da Stage. Speaking of the chorus, I must add that Da Beatminerz directed its performance very impressively indeed. And yes, that's actually Top Dog chanting the final 'Home of the Original Gun Clappers'. It even shows so in the video. Which fits oh so perfectly, as Dashawn just so happens to be an Original Gun Clapper himself. Fancy that.

STAND STRONG
Evil D brings out the big guns by sampling that Isaac Hayes record. Yes, The Look Of Love is upon us. You might even prefer calling it Da Look Uv Luv by this point. Anyways, Steele outclasses Tek by a fairly considerable margin this time, even though Tek wasn't bad at all. There's something to be said about a dude who can effortlessly spit rhymes like: "Will your boys leave you stranded in the midst/Of a battle where you get that ass shattered at your own risk?" and make them connect hard.  Too dope.

SHININ...NEXT SHIT
Evil D brings us a short instrumental, Pete Rock-style, before Mr. fucking Walt comes in and obliterates whatever memory you had of said instrumental with a gorgeous Roland Hanna Trio piano loop. I've heard the original sample and trust me, friend: Mr. fucking Walt elevates that hit to mythical heights. Of course, none of this means anything if the lyrics aren't any good. And, thank God, they are very good. In fact, I'd argue that Steele delivered a career-high performance again. Tek can only do so much. Seriously, Steele blacked out on both verses in an awesome manner. Evil D, you better step up your game heavy.

CESSION AT DA DOGHILLEE (FEATURING BOOT CAMP CLIK)
Which is precisely what Evil D does from hereon with that sweet Bobbi Humphrey flute sample.  This is the BCC's official debut on wax, and one of my favorite things about them is their undeniable chemistry on posse cuts, very similar to a certain Wu-Tang Clan. Every one in the crew who isn't Buckshot spits a verse to claim the title of 'best verse on the shit'. Yeah, that's what it's actually called. What did Buck do in the meantime? Oh, just hook duties. Even if he is the co-founder of the fucking group. Naturally, Steele's final verse outclasses them all but on a more serious note: It has become very painful to listen to Sean set the song off. We truly lost a punchline legend.

HELLUCINATION
Evil D really stepped it up after Mr. fucking Walt's challenging feats on Next Shit. This Minnie Riperton audio note is a fucking masterclass in sampling, as D lays the foundation for the duo's attempt at story time. I haven't noticed this until recently, but Tek-N-Steele weave a detailed plot-driven story on wax. It has it all: Moods swinging, violent imagery, and the whole. I guess the lyrics were alright but the beat was what carried me through, no question.

HOME SWEET HOME
Babee Pall is back after a lengthy absence. His Roy Ayers sample is interesting in many ways, as for some reason I get the feeling that this song was the blueprint for everything else on the album.  Maybe I'm wrong, who knows? Anyways, the resulting beat is appropriately dark and our duo come up with a pretty good ode to their hometown, one filled with death left & right.

WIPE YA MOUF (FEATURING BUCKSHOT)
Our final Babee Pall composition for the album is unfortunately utilized the worst, as our two hosts pick this song to dis the shit out of the 'dickriders' of the world. You would think that this would be conducted in a manner that would command respect, but they come off ignorant as shit. The whole concept of 'dickrider' is me as a fan gobbling up everything you do and not calling you out on your bullshit, right, Smif-N-Wessun? Well, I am not one of those fuckers. I will tell you what it is if I ain't feeling it. And this shit should've been left on the cutting room floor. Matter of fact, it shouldn't have ever left either one of your minds. I feel sorry for Babee Pall's wasted effort in piecing together the Ahmad Jamal beat. It deserved more.

LET'S GIT IT ON
Thankfully, the next song on the list is the b-side to the 1994 lead single. This shit right here, again, should've followed Bucktown as the opening two tracks of the album. Anyways, this marks another Beatminerz tag team, and the results are absolutely glorious. These two turn an extremely upbeat Mandrill sample into the most sinister theme your nightmares ever heard. And the fucking flute and keyboard samples amplify the sense of dread that creeps over you just before Smif-N-Wessun step to the mic and spit their shit. And I said Smif-N-Wessun for a damn reason. This is the aforementioned real debut of the duo's back-n-forth style, and it sounds even better here. They just descend from that cloth of versatile MCs who respect the fucking craft and it shows, believe me. Another smash hit.

P.N.C. INTRO
Really, guys? You'll throw an intro in now?!

P.N.C.
Evil D goes for delf on the final cut, preceded by a useless intro where Steele spits a rhyme that he would later use on the same goddamn song. I mean, why? Anyway for the swan song of this monolithic album, D loops a very fitting One Way sample that set the somber mood just right. Steele shines brightly here, outclassing his still-impressive P.N.C. to the degree that I guarantee his voice being the one you remember the most when thinking about this album. There was no way to end this album better than this.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Something has to be said about Da Beatminerz dictating the creative direction of this album. Today, both brothers will tell that out of the first four out the gate, this album was the most difficult of the bunch. But boy, did it pay off. Tek and especially Steele grow out of Black Moon's shadow very early on while slipping up only twice. Granted, they were a skit and a horrible, awkward fucking song but still. Dah Shinin' set off a definite landmark year in hip hop's history, and I'm proud to say they did it with class. Except when they recorded Wipe Ya Mouf.

WORTH IT? Anybody who loves the BCC, or good-ass hip hop for that matter, and knows this album yet thinks lesser of it should kick themselves in the nuts. Right now, please. What if you don't have nuts, you ask? You'll figure something out. For those who're exposed to this musical oddyssey for the first time: This album's essential status cannot be contested.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:
WREKONIZE (REMIX)
Apparently the internet is confused as to who actually produced this shit, whether Babee Pall or Steele. The Grover Washington source material is so unorthodox for these two that it surprisingly works very well, coupled with the duo giving eight bars each in the first two sixteens, with the final verse being that tag-team flow they've perfected by now. Their subject matter is basically their tribute to the Native Tongues messages. And I must say that I am all for that type of music in my collection.

HEADZ AIN'T READY
The credited debut of the Boot Camp Clik. Produced by both Beatminerz, this first appeared on the New Jersey Drive Vol. 2. Its remix popped up on the unofficial 1996 Black Moon compilation Diggin' In Dah Vaults and, again, the internet can't seem to make up its mind whether Buckshot or Da Beatminerz made the beat. I personally prefer the earlier version, even though the latter has like two extra bars each from Starang and Louie. This is unquestionably my favorite BCC song for the simple fact that it's the only song released during the period where the Clik relied heavily on Da Beatminerz to provide that dark sound, and the BCC simply shined the most when combined with that special sound. Again, their chemistry as a group here is only rivaled by the best Wu posse cuts. This is another song you simply must acquire. That's a wrap.

I got some more BCC fo' yo' ass.