Ghetto Boys - "Grip It! On That Other Level"

“Grip It! On That Other Level” is the second studio album by Houston based Hip Hop group, the Ghetto Boys. The album was released on March 12, 1989 on Rap-A-Lot Records. The Ghetto Boys, who would later be known as the Geto Boys, featured a new line-up on the second release after the disappointment of the first release. The carryovers, Bushwick Bill and DJ Ready Red, were joined by Wille D and Akshen, better known as Scarface.  The lyrical content of the album feature a lot of sexual and violent themes, so much so that the album has been categorized as Horrorcore by some. Production was mainly done by DJ Ready Red. A remixed version of the album was produced by Rick Rubin a year later.

Interview with Mike T. (@mike_t_bvnm)

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Chris: One of my favorite songs on the album is “Gangster of Love.” The way they flipped “The Joker” is a representation of the intersection of the music I love and the music that my parents love, which I also love. There is another version of the song where the main sample used is “Sweet Home Alabama”, this one features Bushwick Bill. There is also another version, where it’s the original beat and it has Bushwick Bill. That’s the one like. I’m wondering if you prefer one to the other?

Mike: Personally. I like the release that’s on the album I feel “The Joker” sample really ties the lyric structure the best. The guitar being the main driver I feel. Just that straight old school Funk tuning really makes the song flow. Plus, I feel it really embodies that late 80s Hip Hop by sampling Funk music for Hip Hop. I tried to like the other versions but it was one of those I like the sweet home but the original just didn’t vibe with me. I felt the rhymes just didn’t flow as well as what was put on the record.

Chris: I definitely hear what you’re saying. The bass line Ready Red took from “The Joker” is seriously funky. Especially in the parts where he chops it. I love that. The “Sweet Home Alabama” version just doesn’t hit the same.

Geto Boys – “Gangster of Love” (“The Joker”) w/ Bushwick Bill

Geto Boys – “Gangster of Love” (“Sweet Home Alabama”)

Chris: In my opinion, this is one of the best produced Hip Hop albums I’ve ever heard. I just love the beats on this album. It kind of reminds me of a Dust Brothers production. In fact, they use some of the same samples that the Dust Brothers’ used on “Paul’s Boutique.” The whole production is just a wonderful mosaic. I didn’t want to try to influence your answer, but I had to get that out there. Anyway, what did you think about the beats on this album? Any favorites?

Mike: I can agree with the beats. I really like all the beats on the album. This just shows how much music can tie into so many different genres and work. As far as best produced. I couldn’t really elaborate too much on that I feel as your knowledge of Hip Hop in general is so much vaster than mine. Which is why I enjoy doing these reviews, because it really is like finding something new, even though its been around for decades. For some of my favorite beats: I like “Gangster of Love”, “Talkin Loud Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’”, and “Let a Ho Be a Ho.” Like these dudes straight up sampled “Money” by Pink Floyd. That cash register ching just topped off that beat. It was subtle things like that I enjoyed. Another one that I like was “Size Ain’t Shit.” It just had a good driving drum kick set up. Plus, it made me double take the album cover, because I didn’t know the group had a little person in it.

Chris: Thank you for using the correct nomenclature, Mike.

Chris: In some of the research I did for this review, I saw “Grip It! On That Other Level” being mentioned as a foundational in the Hip Hop sub-genre Horrorcore. The Wikipedia definition of Horrorcore is “music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery.” I also thought it was interesting that Horrorcore is unique to Hip Hop. Do you think this album qualifies as Horrorcore?

Mike: Horrorcore? Interesting. Because in Metalcore there’s a band called Ice Nine Kills and their last few albums have all been Horror-themed. Heavily off 80s horror movies. Along with just brutal killings. I don’t’ know if I would really go as horror with this album maybe because it is pretty vulgar? Because a lot of the lines talk about fucking women or getting their balls licked. Which a lot of the lines made me laugh because of the sexual explicates. I wasn’t expecting that, because the only Geto Boys I had heard previously to this was “Mind Playin’ Tricks”.

Chris: Ice Nine Kills? I haven’t heard of them. They must be Kurt Vonnegut fans.  Can you recommend a song to start out?

Mike: I’m not sure who Kurt Vonnegut is, but if he did something with horror movies like slashers I’d say. Yes they probably are fans lol. They are big Stephen King fans. One of their songs is based off of Pet Cemetery. It’s called “Funeral Derangements”. As for a song to start off with. I would say for you either “Rainy Day” which is inspired by Resident Evil. Or “Hip to Be Scare” It has Jacoby the singer from Papa Roach on it. But it is an American Psycho and even has a little skit paying homage to the movie. Plus both songs don’t have like screaming which I know you are not a super fan of so that is why I felt these would be good choices for you to start with. Also, because they are on the same album “Welcome To Horrorwood”.    

Chris: Alright cool! I will check it out.

Kurt Vonnegut is an author. I'm guessing it's a reference from this book "Cat’s Craddle". It’s been awhile since I read it but from what I remember Ice Nine is this water like substance that turns to ice at room temperature. I always thought it’d be really dope if a rapper would reference Ice Nine when talking about his jewelry.

Chris: The low-hanging fruit question to ask you is about the lyrical content of the album. Obviously, we can agree that this is from a different time. “Grip It! On That Other Level” came out less than a year after “Straight Outta Compton” and I think that it stands right up there with “Straight Outta Compton” as one of the best Gangster Rap albums of all-time. Where does “Grip It! On That Other Level” stand with some of the other Gangster Rap albums you’ve heard?

Mike: You can tell right off the bat this came out around the time NWA’s album came out. The lyrical structure along with the skits and beats. I just fits that time period. The lyrical content like I said I wasn’t expecting the amount of sexual references. I’ll be honest it didn’t vibe with me that much. Like I enjoyed some of the songs. And there was a lot of lines that made me laugh but as for Gangsta rap. I’ll stick to NWA, Ice Cube, Snoop, or Dr. Dre.

Chris: To me, the Geto Boys are one of the dopest groups in all of Hip Hop. You can’t name too many trios better than Bushwick Bill, Willie D and Scarface. In my opinion, one of the most important acheivements of this album is the introduction of Scarface, who was still going by Akshen at this time, to Hip Hop listeners. Can you speak about Scarface and the song “Scarface” in particular?

Mike: The first thing I noticed was that it gave me an “Express Yourself” vibe a lot. I don’t know which one Scarface is so I really can’t say much more.

Chris: I honestly think that Scarface is one of the best rappers of all time and definitely one of the best storytellers in Hip Hop.  

Ghetto Boys - "Scarface"

Chris: Any favorite tracks?

Mike: I like “Gangster of Love”, “Talkin Loud Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’”, and “Let a Ho Be a Ho”. These were probably my top 3. Talking because they were just goin in on fuck around and find out basically. Like run your mouth and see what happens. Either catch hands or catch a bullet. And for the other two it was mostly the beats, and samples. I love how Hip Hop producers were able to be creative and create beats like I said from songs that were from a completely different genre. I love Pink Floyd so when I heard that the first time I had to restart the track and look it up just to make sure I wasn’t trippin.

Chris: Mine are “Gangster of Love”, “Scarface”, and “Life in the Fast Lane”. It’s so infrequent, I love any Harmonica samples in Hip Hop music.

Geto Boys – “Talkin’ Loud Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’”

Geto Boys – “Life in the Fast Lane”

Chris: This was your first time listening to “Grip It! On That Other Level”, what’s your opinion on the album as whole and would you call yourself a Geto Boys fan going forward?

Mike: I’m going to have to say this was an “L” for me. The album wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t my favorite. I won’t be coming back to this one. I can listen to some of the songs but the album, not my jam. It just wasn’t there for me. I think maybe I was expecting more of a vibe like “Minds Playin’ Tricks” and this album didn’t have the same vibe to that track. I feel it’s hard for me having my introduction of Gangsta rap being kind of “mainstream” like NWA, Dre, and Snoop. Now this doesn’t mean I am not up for checking out some of their other music, but this album just didn’t hit that spot for me as other albums we have reviewed, but I am up for listening to how they progressed over the years with their other releases.

Chris: No, that’s good! We shouldn’t agree on everything. It makes this thing more fun, more genuine, to be honest. As if you couldn’t already tell, I really enjoyed this album. Maybe even more than I had before. I appreciate its rawness and originality. I was even thinking about it through the process of listening to and now discussing this album with you, that I actually prefer “Grip It! On That Other Level” to “Straight Out of Compton”.

Skee-Lo - "I Wish"

Skee-Lo’s “I Wish” was released on Sunshine/Scotti Bros. Records on June 27, 1995. Both the album and the single by the sample name went Gold, selling over 500,000 copies. Production was handled by Skee-
Lo as well as Walter Kahn, who is a Grammy award winning producers but not best known for his work in producing Hip Hop music. The production is a meld of samples and live instrumentation with a really jazzy vibe throughout. All the rhymes were written and performed by Skee-Lo with the exception of one
single. “I Wish” was probably one of the few popular albums at that time not to carry a “Parental Advisory” label.

Interview with James (@ghostdriver22)

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Chris: The song “I Wish” is a song that I would feel comfortable in saying that nearly everyone in our age group is very familiar with. Do you have any specific attached to the song “I Wish”? For me, they just conjure up a lot of memories of being in elementary school and hearing it and other songs like Ahmad’s “Back in the Day”. Side comment on Ahmad’s “Back in the Day”, I always thought it was interesting that that song resonated with me and my peers so much because what were we nostalgic about? We were living in the times he was talking about or maybe Ahmad just made us appreciate it. Anyway, as you’re listening to “I Wish”, what are some memories that are coming back to you? Also, a lot of owned “I Wish”, the single, on cassette. What are some single cassettes you owned back in the day?

James: My attachment is being able to capture a memory that sits in such a distant place that of my family, family friends, peace, and serenity. I know exactly what you mean when you wrote nostalgia. For me, it was girls, toys, and being older. As a kid, all I wanted to be was older and able to do more things, and as an adult, the irony of missing being younger and having less worry.

Of course, Coolio was in the tape collection. Do not clown, but I had Color Me Bad on cassette, Disco
hits, Daft Punk, Jars of Clay, and some miscellaneous Christian music like Newsboys.

Chris: Back in the day, Hastings and Sam Goody had sections specifically dedicated to just single
cassettes and those were the only items in that store that I could really afford. Some single cassettes
that I can remember having: Dr. Dre – “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thing”, Soul 4 Real – “Every Little Thing I Do”,
Da Brat – “Funkdafied”, and Kid Sensation – “Seatown Funk”.

Skee-Lo – “I Wish”

Chris: If you go to MixCloud page, you can listen to a mix I made back in the day called “The Foodie Mix”.
“The Foodie Mix” is a collection of Hip Hop songs that either are about food or reference food items in
it. On that mix I actually have Skee-Lo’s “Cheeseburger” from this album. So I’m wondering, do you
know of any or have any favorite songs that are about eating, or food or reference food? It doesn’t have
to be a Hip Hop song either.

James: The only song that comes to mind is from Chef from South Park. “Chocolate Salty Balls”. This
song only stuck with me since my brother and I used to sing it at the top of our lungs driving around
when gas was 99 cents a gallon.

Chris: Haha I can’t even remember a time when gas was that cheap and even when it was cheap, I
couldn’t even fathom put more than $10 in at any time because I need that money to buy music.
“Chocolate Salty Balls” is a classic! I always thought it was cool that Isaac Hayes was on that show. I read
an article not long ago that said the Church of Scientology had quit the show for him after he had a
stroke. I guess it had been suggested that Isaac Hayes, a known Scientologist, had quit the show because
he had an issue with episode where the make fun of Scientology. Anyway, I’m glad that Skee-Lo sparked
a conversation about Scientology and Isaac Hayes.

Skee-Lo – “Cheeseburger”

Chef – “Chocolate Salty Balls”

Chris: Skee-Lo produced most of the album on his own and according to the liner notes, he got some
help from producer Walter Khan. There is a lot of live instrumentation on this album and in my opinion,
it really enhances the samples they used. A track that really stands out for me for its production value is
“Top of The Stairs”. It sounds a lot like Patrice Rushen’s “Remind Me” but it’s a tad bit different and I
wonder if they decided to play a version of it with live instruments to avoid having to clear any samples.
I know that producers will hire a musicologist to help them alter a music arrangement enough to avoid
any copywriting issues. What did you think about the production on this album?
James: The production seemed solid and they must have known what they were doing back then
because the tracks still flow smooth 30 years later. I have remained tied to the style out West and the
Bay. I have love for the East and every artist between, but something about the mindset from the coast
that just sticks out from the rest.

Skee-Lo – “Top of the Stairs”

Patrice Rushen – “Remind Me”

Chris: Being that you’re from out West, what other Hip Hop artists were you guys listening to back then?

James: I remember hearing Caprice and Rappin’ 4Tay. Too $hort and some underground that was so far
away in difference that you would laugh but it was true that random artists like ICP and KMK came into
the picture for a few different clicks around school. I mention KMK because they used drums, piano,
strings, and horn. If you want to talk about groups that lost street cred, or lost the spotlight as soon as it
hit them, KMK was one of them even. I am not sure if you have heard “Dogs Life” but the song was
heard in even a few movies somewhere between then and now. Kurupt and Nate Dogg were pretty
popular and TuPac. Granted, many of these artist were a bit above my age, my older friends graduating
high school before I left middle school Cross and Crown, haha, introduced me into the style and sounds
of the 70’s aged artists.

Chris: Did you have any favorite tracks?

James: This album has played from start to finish while I work. With that being said, “Never Crossed My
Mind” hit hard and made me respect Skee-Lo. He sounds like an intellect and human. Original and
precise in his message. Upfront and honorable when it comes to the opposite sex. I think a lot of young
men today could learn a lot from this track because even being in my mid-30s, regardless of how the
lady may feel, I am going to be upfront and honest because that is the right thing to do. I feel that some
listeners get tied up in Hip Hop and Rap now days, misunderstanding that leading people on or playing is
cool even if they are keeping each in the dark. Skee-Lo and a few others have hammered in their tracks
their mistakes and wanted their fans to learn from them not repeat theirs. This is what makes the track
and album, my fav. His album, “I can’t stop” is second.

Skee-Lo – “Never Crossed my Mind”

Chris: This album is really good and I couldn’t help but wonder why the album, not the single, isn’t as
well thought of. The album did go Gold but I think that we can agree that was probably on the
popularity of the single, but why did we never hear from Skee-Lo again? Here’s my theory and please
tell me what you think. I think “I Wish”, the song, is an undeniably dope but most of the lyrics are very
self-deprecating which in turn caused a lot of us not take him very seriously. And he wasn’t being self-
deprecating in the Humpty Hump, where although he had big nose and he looked like he was MC
Hammer on crack, he was still getting girls. And it wasn’t in that Eminem way, where you make fun of
yourself before anyone else gets a chance to because you don’t give a fuck. Skee-Lo went on himself and
in a very playful way but I think it caused him to lose some credibility as a rapper in some of our eyes,
which inevitably caused us to dismiss him as a “one hit wonder”.

James: Being 2021 and him doing him is cool with me. I know Ice cube, Ice T, Snoop, have stayed active
to this day, with their shows, movies, etc,. but I think for Skee-Lo, he switched gears away from the
spotlight and was not going to change or try to be something he wasn’t or be someone that would stay
on the radar. I was reading that in 2011 he was still writing and rhyming so that’s cool too. Even two
years later he dropped “Fresh Ideas” and putting on iTunes. I think popularity was ruthless in the 90s.
There was a lot in that decade and some rapper ate their own to survive.

Chris: You can’t really feel bad for Skee-Lo. He’s probably still making money and funding all his
endeavors now off of his “I Wish” money. There is a lot of magic that has to have a hit much less to have
one that would have you considered a “one hit wonder”. I think that it’s admirable that Skee-Lo didn’t
sell himself to get it like I’m sure some have.

Skee-Lo – “Waitin’ For You”

Chris: I heard Skee-Lo in an interview say to Sway that he was making a point on this album but not
using any curse words. Not that he had anything against curse words, he just wanted to make the point
that you don’t need them to make a record to sell one. Why the lack of curse words evident to you?
Does Skee-Lo get any extra credit or any credit at all from you for not using curse words? Do you have
any thoughts on Skee-Lo’s lyrical prowess?

James: Reminds me of Will Smith. Back when my Coolio tape got snatched, I went to Smith because he
hit the ground writing songs without curse words so everyone could play it even driving by church.
Numbers might be different but if I saw records, CDs, even cassettes at the store with both artists, I’d
pick them up.

Chris: I may not have given him any credit for it back then but I definitely do now. Skee-Lo was dope. He
had multiple styles that he could use. He was an extremely talented cat on the boards as well. I heard on
that Sway interview that Skee-Lo was also part of the Good Life, which I didn’t know. He used to make a
lot of beats for all them cats to rap over. I thought that was cool gem. If you’re not familiar with the
Good Life, I encourage you to go back and read the review my cousin Marissa and I did of Freestyle
Fellowship’s “Innercity Griots”.

Chris: Finally, how do you feel about Skee-Lo now after hearing him again 26 years later?

James: Jazzed up, man. I have the thump in my trunk and I know Skee-Lo will make it bump how it
should.

Chris: I really enjoyed listening to this album as well! I’d encourage anyone to give the entire album a
listen.

The Roots - "Things Fall Apart"

The Roots released their fourth studio album, “Things Fall Apart”, on February 23, 1999 on MCA

Records. The album was recorded at the famed recording studio the Electric Lady. The album was

produced by members of the Soulaquarians and is consider some the group’s best work in terms of

recognition and accolades received. The Roots even won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for their song, “You Got Me,” which featured Erykah Badu and Eve. The album features the hard and thought provoking lyrics of emcees, Black Thought, Malik B and Dice Raw and they are accompanied by many other Philadelphia based artists as well as Mos Def and Common. The vibes are handled primarily by The Roots band.

Review with Mike T. (@mike_t_bvnm)

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Chris: Mike, I’m interested in why you wanted to review this Roots album in particular. This is album I had obsession with for a while. This album actually has 5 different album covers. There is the one that everyone is most familiar with, which is the Black couple running from the police, but there is actually 4 others that are much harder to come by. When I was in the first issue, rare issue CD game, copping all 5 versions of “Things Fall Apart” was one of my most coveted grails. Unfortunately, I only own 2 versions and I’ll be honest, while thinking about this review I checked Discogs and EBay to see if anyone had one of the other versions listed. I had to remind myself that I’m no longer in that game haha. Ok, time to get back on track, what was it about “Things Fall Apart”?

Mike T.: It was from one day talking about possibly doing another review, and you were listing off groups/artists we could do. Then you mentioned the The Roots. It clicked because immediately I thought of “Dynamite!” from someone at an old job playing it over the speaker when I would open the restaurant back in the day. And being that I don’t know that much older Hip Hop, I thought this would be a good one because I had never listened to the album outside of that song. I didn’t know that this had other album art covers. When you mentioned that I had to google it because I wanted to see what other covers that were done for this album. Each one is very bold. Bold in the sense that looking at each of these they are speaking loudly about history in the world. From riots in the 1960’s to a starving child in the 1990’s. When looking up the album art I read a little about each photo. Each photo was selected to portray a story of violation of  human rights. So this was interesting to learn about. I’m glad you mentioned the different album arts, because I would have just figured the one with the two women running would have been the only one.

Chris: I’ve heard that “Act Too” (The Love of My Life) is supposed to be a continuation of Common’s “I Used to Love H.E.R.” who is also featured on the track. Common relates Hip Hop music to a woman on “I Used to Love H.E.R.” and he continues that metaphor on “Act Too”. Without thinking about it too too much, I feel like this act of rapping or commenting on the state Hip Hop or the rapper’s love for Hip Hop music is something that is pretty unique to Hip Hop. You don’t hear as many Soul singers singing about Soul music or Rockers singing about Rock music or more specifically the current state of Rock music. There are probably a few we can think of but I’d say it’s probably most prevalent in Hip Hop music. Would you agree with me? Also, what did you think of these two tracks? Granted, this is a review of “Things Fall Apart” but many Hip Hop heads I’ve met throughout my life consider “I Used to Love H.E.R.” as one of their favorite tracks of all time and because of that, I think that it’s appropriate to ask the question since “Act Too” is its continuation.

Mike T.: Definitely not something that is very common I feel. Especially being one that listens to more Metal music. It’s not something you particularly hear in songs. If they do touch on the music industry It's more so the life of touring, and being on the road. You’ll hear songs about what the life is like in that manner, so I would agree that this is something more of a Hip Hop thing. This was an interesting listen. It took me a couple listens of both tracks because the dynamic of the songs are both really cool. Being a continuation track without knowing I was kind of expecting the same beat for both, because you’ll have tracks that are continuation tracks and it’s the same beat, or it takes the foundation of the beat and changes only slightly. So it was cool to see the two different builds of these songs. “Act Too” is super to the Roots vibe of that very Jazz/Soul/Funk vibe. I can’t say I like one more than the other though. I love the musicality of “Act Too”, but the lyricism in “I used to Love H.E.R.” has this very story telling vibe that I really enjoy. Common paints a great visual picture of a physical form for Hip Hop. It’s just hard for me to compare the two, but all in all I enjoyed listening to both I went and played them back to back a couple times to really see how the both tell their own story for each one.

Common – “I Used to Love H.E.R.

The Roots featuring Common – “Act Too (Love of my Life)”

Chris: A common topic discussed amongst Hip Hop heads is “Who are your Top 5 Emcee?”. A lot of times those discussions devolve into a conversation about who is the greatest. While he’s not in my personal Top 5, it’s hard to argue that he’s not one of the greats. A few years ago, he had this freestyle on Funk Flex that went viral and it reminded all of us not sleep on Black Thought. What do you think of Black Thought on this album and what track do you think best exemplifies is lyrical dexterity?

Mike T.:  You know for me it’s “Dynamite!” because of the track as a whole. It has such a good walking bass line throughout the track with that Blues guitar. The back and forth between Black Thought, and Elo. But what I really enjoy is the fact that both Emcees have such a diverse lyrical ability. They use very little profanity which I feel is very heavily used in the Hip Hop world. But it is not used much outside of a few vulgar words here and there. Black thought right off the bat touches on that rapping is just basic instinct for him. Reps Philly hard, letting people know his crew and himself are going to tell it like it is. Plus it’s just a fun track all around. Has a great hook that you can’t help but turn up and sing along.

Chris: I’m glad that you mentioned how Black Thought, and really the whole Roots crew, reps Philadelphia. There are also many other Philly artists on this album, including Jazzy Jeff, Beanie Sigel, Eve and even Ladybug Mecca, who I believe is originally from Philadelphia. For me, it’s “100% Dundee”. I love that song. Black Thought and Malik B. both kill that song. It’s a great song to listen to with your volume turned all the way up.

The Roots – “Dynamite!”

The Roots – “100% Dundee”

Chris: The production on this album was guided by the Soulaquarians and Scott Storch, who I’m not sure if he was still an official member of The Roots at this time or not. During the time that this album was recorded, The Soulaquarians also produced D’Angelo’s “Voodoo”, Erykah Badu’s “Mama’s Gun” and Common’s “Like Water For Chocolate”. I don’t really like the term Neo-Soul but that’s what we called it at the time. All four of these projects are considered Neo-Soul classics or standards. Obviously, a lot of what The Roots do is considered live or at least with live instruments, as opposed to sampling. What did you think of the sound of “Things Fall Apart”? In comparison to some of the other music you listen to, how do rate The Roots as a band? Did any tracks in particular stand out for their musicality?

Mike T.: This is probably my favorite thing about this album is the live band feel it has. You get a great sense of this speakeasy Jazz/Blues group. Then bam this well thought out melodic raps that just fit. I honestly feel like if this was just an instrumental album it would be a great Jazz album. The bass is such a heavy driver of why the vibe of this album is so great. It’s not filled with just generic bass. You listen and hear walking bass lines like you would see from a live band. Not something just generated from a MPC. I think incorporating the live band gives it more depth. I’ve been to a couple local Hip Hop shows, and one thing I dislike about live Hip Hop is the fact that some of these artists will just rap along to their song. So if they miss anything the track has it covered. Rather than rapping to an instrumental track. So I feel like The Roots adding the live instruments/band to their music really shows the level of artist they are. There’s no they’re just a studio artist. This shows pride in their musicianship, in my opinion.

Chris: I’ve had the pleasure of seeing The Roots live a couple of times. To me, they are kind of like The Band or the Allman Brothers in that hearing them live is quite a different experience than hearing them on record. I read that one of the reasons that Scott Storch left the group is because he didn’t really enjoy the touring aspect. I feel like that’s probably why they took the gig with Jimmy Fallon, they just love playing music.

Chris: What were some of your favorite songs?

Mike T. : Well you know from last question “Dynamite!” is on there. Then I really liked “Step into the Realm”. It’s one of the shorter tracks but something I liked about the track if you listen close to Malik B’s voice it has kind of a digital feel to it which I thought was a cool touch. “Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’ New” is another one for that musical aspect of the track. This has that Blues guitar with the subtle bass line in the background. Mixed with the drums I loved the vibe of this track. Musically this album has been one of my favorites to listen to just because the musicianship is so good. I have a special love for Jazz even though I listen to heavier music. Growing up I played saxophone, and was involved in Jazz throughout my years in school. So loved just listening to this album in the car and just vibing out.

Chris: “Dynamite!” is a J Dilla produced track. I love the guitar sample. I’m not familiar with it but it kind of reminds me of like Grant Green or like Wes Montgomery maybe. I also liked “Ain’t Say Nothin’ New” and “Double Trouble” with Mos Def. I like those kind of throwback, tag team rhyme schemes, it reminds me a lot of the Hip Hop that was introduced to me when I was really young.

The Roots – “Ain’t Say Nothin’ New”

Chris: “You Got Me” was originally recorded with Jill Scott, who was not well-known outside of Philadelphia at the time, but MCA Records insisted the re-recorded the song with a name. In comes Erykah Badu and an iconic music video and you’ve got yourself a Grammy. I wanted to bring this track up because it, in my opinion, it’s what brought The Roots into mainstream consciousness but also to show you this really great performance of “You Got Me” from Dave Chappelle’s Block Party that features both Jill Scott and Erykah Badu.

Mike T. : So after seeing the live video from Block Party. I am going to say I think the MCA made a mistake. The live version is so good. Both Jill Scott and Erykah Badu together give it that extra layer that just makes it pop even more. Jill got these bold soul aspects to her that just made it for me. Along with the live band. Like was saying in the previous question. The one thing I have that I do not like about live Hip Hop is that artists just rap along to themselves on their own tracks. But this. Having the band actually apart of the group shows that level of musicianship for the group and the talents of the Emcees not have just a generic backtrack playing. And watching that live video really shows that.

The Roots feat. Jill Scott and Erykah Badu – “You Got Me” (Live on Dave Chappelle’s Block Party)

Chris: So just to give you some perspective, “Things Fall Apart” was released the same year as the “The Slim Shady LP.” Both we’re actually nominated for Grammys and “The Slim Shady LP” ended up winning it. The difference between the two albums is so stark but both are equally great, in my opinion. Do you have any final thoughts on “Things Fall Apart”?

Mike T.: I think those are two really hard albums to compare. I don’t think many artists stood a chance that year going against Slim though. That album itself just resonated with people. I think this album is a more fun album to listen to though. I like both albums though for their own reasons. “Things Fall Apart” has been one of my favorite listens out of the reviews we’ve done. I appreciated the lyricism that was highlighted in this album. Like I mentioned before the diverse vocabulary of the emcees on the album really shines. It’s not often that you listen to a Hip Hop/Rap album, and there’s very little vulgarity. This to me showed that each Emcee had way more thought out lyrics than just saying “fuck” and “shit” every other word. All in all this album was fun to listen to, and hard not to bob the head and sing along to. This is what makes doing these reviews fun. It shows me music I don’t know much about, and introduces me to something I enjoy jamming out to. And this was definitely one of those albums. It’s going to make its way into the rotation more.

Chris: The album is well put together. I had read that they had record over a 100 songs and narrowed it down to these 14 and that is the way that it feels. There really isn’t any fillers on this album. If you had heard The Roots’ earlier work, they were committed to that Underground Hip Hop, Jazz band vibe and “Things Fall Apart” was a little bit a step away from that, which is why I think they included the dialogue between Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes from “Mo’ Better Blues.” “Things Fall Apart” was harder but was also more radio friendly. I think I actually like this album even more than I did before. I do prefer their earlier projects but “Things Fall Apart” definitely held up.

X Clan - "To the East, Blackwards"

“To The East, Blackwards” is the studio debut of the Brooklyn-based Hip Hop group, X Clan. The album was released April 24, 1990 on 4th & Broadways Records. Members of the X Clan include Professor X the Overseer, Brother J, Grand Architect Paradise and the Rhythm Provider Sugar Shaft. A review in the September 1990 edition of DownBeat, described “To The East, Blackwards” as “food for thought with a backbeat” and “their mission is to educate, using Hip Hop as the medium.”  The X Clan, through Brother J and Professor X, educate their listeners on History, Afrocentrism, Culture appropriation and the socioeconomic oppression of African-Americans. The lessons are enhanced by the beats of Grand Architect Paradise the Rhythm Provider Sugar Shaft. The X Clan provided Funk for all but their greatest contribution, according to Jon Pareles of the New York Times was “shift[ing] the cultural credit back to Africa, [and] instilling pride in a younger black generation.”

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Mike: Where to start with this one…First and foremost, I’m typically used to being served a platter with laid out question and a pre-done introduction by Chris. For this one, I’m taking the reins and will try my best, so here we go. While I had heard of the X Clan for many years and knew they were a legendary force in Hip Hop’s past, I really never listened to them until meeting my brother-in-law Loye, who recently passed away. I remember seeing his playlist, which varied from X Clan to Bad Brains to Gil Scott-Heron. When he brought a boom box to the basketball court we’d hoop at, he asked what he’d like me to bump and sure enough it was the X Clan and the album was “To The East, Blackwards.” And I was instantly surprised on the albums approachability as non-Black man. Chris, why is this album important to you?

Chris: To be honest with you, Mike. Although, I know who the X Clan is/was,  I had never heard “To the East, Blackwards”. When I threw it on, I was surprised because although I hadn’t heard this album before I knew the song “Funkin’ Lesson” pretty much word for word. I played it about 4 times in row when it finally hit me why. My cousin Bristol, I don’t know if you remember him but you guys traded a copy of Blaze Battles for a copy Scribble Jam back in the day, but he had this compilation called “Hip Hop Classics Vol. 3” and “Funkin’ Lessons” was actually on it. Anyway, we wore that CD out. So I guess off the top, this album is important to me because it’s a reminder of that time in my life.

X Clan - "Funkin' Lesson"

Mike: How do you feel about Professor X the Overseer’s, may he rest in peace, presence on this album? Do you feel like Professor X should’ve spit some verses? I like his intros, but would’ve liked to hear more from him.

Chris: “VANGLORIOUS!! This is protected by the Red, the Black and the Green, with a key!!! Sisssssssssiesssss” I dug it! I thought he was really cool. He really sets the tone for each tracks, reminding us all why we here. While researching for this review I found out that he’s Sonny Carson’s son? Did you know that? As for if I would have liked to hear him rap some verses. For sure but I really liked him as the narrator on this audible journey. 

Mike: Brother J really went off on MC Serch from 3rd Bass for being a White rapper. How do you feel about that track? 

Chris: So the tracks I think you’re referring to are “A Day of Outrage” in which Brother J says “3rd bass? I’m at home/ Waitin’ for the pitch so I can chrome your dome” and on “In the Ways of the Scales” he says “I see a cave boy and he try to play Black, give the ‘Gasface’ and your bound to get slapped.” Ironically, both “Funkin” Lesson” and “Gasface” were on that Hip Hop Classics compilation I was telling you about. 

It’s hard to argue that there wasn’t some cultural appropriation going on here and I think that’s what Brother J is upset about when he wrote those lyrics. Here you have White men, like many other times through history and specifically music history, taking and profiting off of something that was uniquely apart of Black culture. I could definitely understand why he and anyone else would be upset about that. It’s undeniable. At the end of the day, what will be 3rd Bass’s legacy? While they did profit off of the cultural appropriation, can we also acknowledge the fact that “Illmatic” might not have been the classic that it is with MC Serch’s connections, that we might not have heard of KMD or Count Bass D if it weren’t for 3rd Bass? I think that when you look back on history, a lot of the how and why gets pretty ugly and not to excuse anything they did or didn’t do, again I think it’s pretty obvious, but I personally feel that 3rd Bass has a part in Hip Hop’s story. 

X Clan - "In the Ways of the Scales"

Mike: As a huge fan of Big Daddy Kane, do you feel like Brother J adopted a similar Brooklyn flow? They are 2 of my favorite MCs of all-time and they had a similar style with rapid-fire flows.

Chris: I think I would compare the two in the smoothness of their deliveries, not as much in the rapid-fireness because I think that Kane is pretty unique in that regard. I think Brother J’s cadence reminded me some of Def Jef. For me, the most impressive part of Brother J’s style the just the vastness of the information Brother J is spitting and there isn’t a word that is wasted. 

Mike: What particular tracks stand out for you? My personal favorite is “Heed the Word of the Brother Man”. Brother J really flexes his lyrical dexterity and Professor X also sets the landscape for a full X Clan vibe.

Chris: That tracks that stand out of me are of course “Funkin’ Lesson” for the nostalgia, “Raise the Flag” because the production is a lot different than the other songs, a jazzier vibe, “Verbal Milk” and probably my favorite track is “In the Ways of the Scale”, they used both “Genius of Love” by Tom Tom Club and “Beat Box” by Art of Noise on that.

X Clan - "Heed the Word of the Brother Man"

Mike: How do you feel about Paradise the Architect’s beats? To me, they seem similar to Marley Marl’s. Heavy drums and smooth samples. Did you like Paradise’s beats?

Chris: Not knowing too much about X Clan, I read the liner notes as I listened to it through for the first time and I noticed that it lists “X Clan” as the producer for this album, so I really didn’t know who was the main man behind the boards on this project. To answer your question, I very much enjoyed the production on this album. I would even say that it is flawless. I loved it. That’s interesting that it reminds you of a Marley Marl production, it sort of reminded me of a Jungle Brothers album but slowed down haha. 

X Clan - "Raise the Flag"

Mike: At the end of the day, how do you feel about “To the East, Blackwards”?

Chris: I feel really bad for having slept on this album! I really enjoyed every minute of it. Typically, when we’re going to do a review, I will listen to it about 4 or 5 times, this particular album I bumped at least 10 times. It’s a really good album, both lyrics-wise and beat-wise.  I can’t find any flaws with it. 

Mike: I want to end this review by stating that the review was influenced by my Brother-in-law, Loye Stephens Jackson, who loved the X Clan. Rest in Peace.

Chris: God be with Loye and all his family and friends.

Big Daddy Kane - "Long Live the Kane"

Big Daddy Kane’s debut, “Long Live the Kane,” was released on June 28, 1998 on Cold Chillin' Records. The name "Kane" is actually a take off of David Carradine's character "Caine" from the 1970s TV show "Kung Fu." Production on the album was handled mainly by legendary producer Marley Marl, who was really beginning to establish himself as one of the greats in 1988. On the album, Marley Marl's fast-paced drums and Kane's rapid fire delivery are a perfect marriage. If you're even moderately into Hip Hop music it's hard not to hear the influence Kane, Marley Marl and this album had on other rappers and producers. According to WhoSampled, elements of this album were sampled 457 times. I have to believe it's more but even at 457, it makes it one of the most influential Hip Hop albums of all time

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Chris: Hey Mike! It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to do one of these. I think that it is only right that we comeback with a classic, “Long Live the Kane”! Obviously, I know that Big Daddy Kane is your favorite rapper of all-time but what made you want to review “Long Live the Kane”?

Mike: Chris, feels good to be back on the Rewind, it’s always a fun time. I wanted to review “Long Live the Kane”, because this album, along with Eric B. and Rakim's "Paid in Full" really laid down the landscape for what Rap would later become. This one just happens to be better. Come at me Rakim fans!

Chris: Haha well, I’m looking forward to having that debate with you!

Chris: I hear a lot of people refer to the Golden Era of Hip Hop as being from 1992 to 1997. Whereas I have always maintained that the Hip Hop’s Golden Era was like 1986ish to 1992. “Long Live the Kane” would have fallen right into the middle of that. What do you consider as the Golden Era of Hip Hop?

Mike: That’s a great question, which comes down to both age and personal preference. I was born in 1986, so clearly I wasn’t checking the latest jams from 86 to 92, yet I regard that Era as the Golden Age, without a doubt. 1988 being its pinnacle year, with this album being a big reason why that year takes the cake, in my opinion.

Chris: When I think of Big Daddy Kane’s style, I think of his versatility.  He can come in fast like on “Set It Off” or on a laidback vibe like on “Ain’t No Half-Steppin’”.  What do you enjoy most about Big Daddy Kane’s style and what song on “Long Live the Kane” do you think best exemplifies his style?

Mike: I really think he birthed the well-pronunciated rapid fire flow, so that a bragging right for Kane as is, but it’s the charisma of his laid back flows that i prefer. At Rap music’s young age at the time, most were working on these raps solely.  Kane was working on raps AND adding his personality to the mix. I have to cite his style on "Aint No Half- Steppin’" as being the most exemplary of his repertoire, as it was an early hit that shaped his career style, or "brand". In his later albums, he took the laid back vibe a little bit too far, but by then that was Kane’s signature sound.

Big Daddy Kane – “Ain’t No Half Steppin’”

Chris: One thing that stood out to me on this album was how many elements, whether it was Kane’s vocals, or just his vocal pattern, or a chorus or the beats, have been sampled in other Hip-Hop songs. I was making a list as I was listening and I recognized elements that Big L, Gangstarr, Doom, Heiro, Biggie, Edo G., Nice & Smooth and Pete Rock and CL Smooth used and I am sure there are much more. In my opinion, that shows just how influential this album was. Did these stand out to you as well?

Mike: Well you beat me to the punch on this one. I definitely geek when I catch a line that I am familiar with from a later rapper, that Kane had birthed. But also, as you started, his rhyme pattern. From Kane originally rapping, "if rap was a game, I’d be MVP, the most valuable poet on the M-I-C" to his flow, the influence he had on Big L, who cited Kane as a big influence, sticks out to me most. 

Big L – “MVP”

 

 Big Daddy Kane feat. Biz Markie – “Just Rhymin’ with Biz”

 

Chris: The second track on “Long Live the Kane” is a called “Raw” (Remix). I don’t know if you’ve heard the original version but it features Kool G Rap. I prefer the original. What say you? Original or the remix?

Mike: This one took some research, because theres’ a version on "Best of Big Daddy Kane", simply titled "Raw" that I assumed was the original, yet it’s another completely different version lyrics-wise. Like the remix featured on “Long Live the Kane”. It also omits Kool G Rap from the track. Although, the YouYube offerings of the original with Kool G Rap are very Lo-Fi recordings. I can look past that for the greatness that is Kool G. So I’d say my favorite is the original, second is the version simply called "Raw" and 3rd would be the remix featured on the studio album. At the end of the day, they all sound nice! Word up to Mister Cee on those cuts!

Big Daddy Kane feat. Kool G. Rap – “Raw”

 

 Big Daddy Kane – “Raw” (Remix)

 

Chris: What did you think of the production on “Long Live the Kane”. I did not know this until researching this album but there is actually some controversy as to how much of this album Marley Marl actually produced. Supposedly the majority of the album was produced by Kane and other producers. Does that change anything for you?

Mike: While that is indeed news to me. It doesn’t change the way I feel about the production, which overall I dig a lot. Whether Marley Marl or Kane produced the track, it has a cohesive sound that I’m sure can be attributed to Kane and Marley working together extensively prior.

Chris: What is your favorite track on the album?

Mike:  “Set it Off”. If aliens came to Earth and wanted to hear what Hip Hop is all about, this is the track I’m playing for them! Kane absolutely demolishes the track with his signature rapid fire flow. Can’t ask for anything more.

Chris: “Set it Off” is my favorite as well and probably my favorite Big Daddy Kane song. I love the drums and Kane just rips the entire song. You ever try to rap along with it? You won’t make it the second verse without losing your breath. One interesting thing that I learned was the “Set It Off” beat was made by the 45 King and was originally intended for Biz Markie. I’m not sure how it became Kane’s but clearly the right choice was made.

Big Daddy Kane – “Set It Off”

 

Chris: Probably one of the most stacked line-ups in terms of crews is the Juice Crew (Marley Marl, Roxane Shante, MC Shan, Biz Mar, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G, Craig G. and Grand Daddy I.U.). Can you think of a better crew Hip-Hip?

Mike: This is definitely a hard one to answer. As I’ve collectively listened to far more Wu-Tang than I have Juice Crew. Yet the fact that there likely wouldn’t have been a Wu-Tang Clan without the Juice Crew previously paving the way, I’m going with Juice Crew. For that matter, I’ve listened to more Jay-Z in my lifetime, pun included, who is considered a protégé of Kane, than the O.G. himself, yet when citing favorite MCs, it’s a no-brainer that Kane is the champ between the two.

Chris: That’s a tough point to argue and I’d be inclined to agree with you. Some other crews that I was considering were the Native Tongues or D.I.T.C. but it’s hard to argue with the credential of the Juice Crew and as you alluded to, Kane was their anchor. That just speaks to his greatest.

Juice Crew – “The Symphony Pt. 1” 

Chris: Mike, that was a lot of fun! We will do it again soon and now to close, how do you feel about “Long Live the Kane” now versus when you initially heard it?

Mike: I like it tenfold better nowadays. As with my answer to many questions when regarding pre 90s Hip Hop, so much depends on what Era first drew you into the genre. Getting into hip hop in the late 90s, the production levels had a more grandiose, rich sound than the beats on “Long Live the Kane”. As a young student of the game, I deemed Kane too primitive, as i was turned off by the minimalist beat selection. As I got older, i realized Kane is so gifted, he is the main instrument, something very few MCs have been able to pull off. Not only that aspect, but the beats have grown on me, those heavy drums get me going! “Long Live the Kane” sounds fresher than ever!

Chris: I would say that I definitely have a greater appreciation for it. There were so many moments on this album where I was like, “Oh! That’s where they got that from!” In another conversation we had about Big Daddy Kane, I said that Big Daddy Kane is the LeBron James of Hip Hop and a lot of people consider LeBron James to be the greatest of all time. 

Prince Paul - "A Prince Among Thieves"

Prince Paul’s 2nd studio album, “A Prince Among Thieves”, was released on February 23, 1999 on Tommy Boy Records. On the Prince Paul produced “3 Feet High and Rising”, Prince Paul came up with the idea of including skits are a way to piece the album together to tell a story. This idea of telling a story on a record eventually became the idea for his Rap opera or a “movie on wax”.  Prince Paul watched a bunch of B-rated crime dramas and eventually came up with the plot for “A Prince Among Thieves”. Rapper Tariq, played by Breeze Brewin’ of the Juggaknots, needs $1,000 in order to finish his demo before his meeting with RZA. Tariq, who is convinced that this meeting will lead to a record deal, against his own better judgement agrees to help from his friend and mentor True, played by Big Sha of the group Horror City, and hustle the money. The album chronicles the highs and lows of the life of a dealer and a friendship scorned by jealousy. Prince Paul recruited an all-star cast for support roles in his Rap opera, like Big Daddy Kane, Kool Keith and De La Soul. The album is produced entirely by Prince Paul and features both new and classic Prince Paul beats. It’s a familiar story but it’s also often humorous and keeps your head nodding throughout. You can’t knock the creativity that went into making this album nor its cast of characters. “A Prince Among Thieves” is one of a kind.

Review with Jav (@javdunyan)

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Chris: Going into this review, “A Prince Among Thieves” was probably one of my favorite Hip Hop albums. It’s just completely unique and because of that I thought it would be an interesting album to review. I guess I probably heard it not too long after it came out because at the time, I was pretty obsessed with anything related to my favorite group, De La Soul. Do you have any memories of listening to “A Prince Among Thieves” before this review? 

Jav: Fond memories indeed, thinking back to this era of Hip-Hop feels great, not just for the sake of nostalgia for an old school Hip-Hop “head” but the time when the internet was budding and a few years before downloading music from the internet would absolutely destroy your computer. The album’s story and theme requires time to unfold, each song is an episode in the overall Hip Hopera which needs some time to grasp the whole concept. 

Chris: I can think of a few Hip Hop concept albums from over years, like “MM..Food”, “Deltron 3030”, Masta Ace’s “Disposable Arts”, and “Dr. Octagonecologyst” but none of them are what “A Prince Among Thieves” is, which is a true Hip Hopera. I wonder if you remember when MTV put out that musical, “Carmen”, that starred Beyonce, Mekhi Phifer and Mos Def. I remember them calling that a Hip Hopera but come on. I guess, it was Prince Paul’s idea for “A Prince Among Thieves” to be a film but Tommy Boy balked at the idea. They did, however, give him $10,000 to shoot a trailer/music video. Are there any other concept albums in Hip Hop that you can think of? Also, I read that Chris Rock owns the rights to any potential theatrical versions of “A Prince Among Thieves”. Given a decent budget and all the characters from the album being used in the film, what’s your interest level in seeing it? 

Jav: I’m DOWN to see a live action version of the album, funny that Chris Rock owns the rights to that? Not sure who I would expect to own it but hey! Better than Martin Skrelli being the sole owner to an unreleased Wu album.  MTV is so lame, throwing Mos Def in there to bring some needed street cred into the mix. I imagine the board meeting with Beyonce’s agent like hey it’s a modern day opera! The kids will love it and it comes on after Real World, who remembers that show?

Chris: Good point! Chris Rock, please do something with this! Is the Real World not on anymore? Road Rules gone too? Haha

”A Prince Among Thieves” (Extended Music Video)

 

Chris: The album, the story of Tariq, is supposed to be loosely based on the struggles, in both the music business and personal life, of Prince Paul. I guess as a fan it’s hard to think about someone like Prince Paul being outcasted by the industry and struggling to find work in music. Do you have any thoughts on Prince Paul as producer and Hip Hop contributor? And what did you think of the production on this album?

Jav: Boggles the mind that Prince Paul would have problems and maybe it is expected. He would not do well with LL Cool J or whomever was the breadwinner throughout the 90’s lol. De La Soul is legendary, and Mr Paul is the producer that made the first three albums, I wonder what the impact of De La’s legacy would be without Prince Paul’s production. Hard to say at this point (not to cast shade on the album Stakes is High). Who remembers the second Gravediggaz album that came out without Prince Paul producing? Exactly. 

Chris: I think the thing I appreciate most about Prince Paul is the wide array of genres he samples from. He’s very eclectic with his sample sources. He’s not afraid to challenge himself or be himself and because of that we’ve gotten so many quirky but quality projects to listen to. From his work with De La, to his work with the Gravediggaz, to his work with Dan the Automator.

Chris: I really enjoyed the production on this album. Again, a very eclectic choice of sample sources from Albert King to Extra Ts, from the Average White Band to Magnum.

Average White Band – “Reach Out”

 

 Chris: One of the things I really enjoy most about this album is that it cast some not as well-known rappers in the most prominent roles and some of the most prominent rappers, legends really, in support roles. You have Everlast as the corrupt cop, Kool Keith as the arms-dealing nerd, you have Big Daddy Kane as the pimp supreme, you have Chubb Rock as the crime boss, you have De La Soul as junkies and then Sadat X, Xzibit and Kid Creole as the intimidating but also sage inmates. Which was your favorite character(s) on the album and why?

Jav: Kool Keith stands out to me as the arms-dealing nerd, love the way you put that by the way. His monologue at the end of the song gets me everytime. “with the aluminum skin of an alligator” like what kind of sales pitch is that Keith c'mon man!? Don't worry i wont tell nobody in the projects. Something about Big Daddy Kane as a pimp in a movie, and his track “Count Makula” feels like a 70’s b movie which makes sense, knowing you mentioned Prince Paul watched a lot of B movies for inspiration, it just works somehow. 

Chris: I really enjoyed both of those tracks too. Kool Keith’s wordplay and then the subject matter, it’s like all the stars align. The same can be said for the Big Daddy Kane track. He just comes off so smooth and believable in his role.

My favorite feature though was “More Than U Know” featuring De La Soul. Pos and Dave playing drug addicts and then the metaphors for getting high and taking a plane flight and a drug dealer as travel agent. I thought that really funny and creative.

Prince Paul feat. Big Daddy Kane – “Count Macula”

 

 Prince Paul feat. De La Soul – “More Than U Know”

 

Chris: Did you have any favorite tracks?

Jav: I was totally a huge Sadat X fan so “Handle Your Time” is one of my favorite songs. “Weapon World” has my favorite beat, those strings and Keith’s high pitched voice match so well together, wonder what a Kool Keith and Prince Paul album would have sounded like?

Chris: Oh man! Can you imagine? The Dr. Octagon stuff with Dan the Automator was so ill and no disrespect to Dan but I could only imagine an album with Prince Paul sounding better or at least funkier. On another review, I talked about how much I would have enjoyed hearing an album with Chubb Rock and Prince Paul, an album with Kool Keith and Prince Paul would be incredible.

An additional track, I liked was with two Juggaknot members, Breeze Brewin’ and Queen Herawin, on “The Other Line”. Tariq calls his girl, Tammy, to convince her to call-in to work for him and Tru. I just really enjoy the back and forth. In my opinion, the dialogue between the two is like modern Shakespearean.

Prince Paul feat. Kool Keith – “Weapon World”

 

Prince Paul feat. Breeze Brewin’ and Queen Herawin – “The Other Line”

 

Chris: One of the things I read about the making of the album, is that the Rappers/Actors were all left in the dark about what was going on with the project as a whole. Prince Paul recorded them all and then pieced together all the dialogue and everything else himself at the end. So you’ve made beats and you’ve worked Rappers, what do you think of Prince Paul’s method for putting together this album? In your experience, have you tried to implement something like this yourself and if not, do you feel like maybe the finished product would have come out better if you had?

Jav: I have not taken such a task, mainly small projects and home-produced music that does not match the quality of a legendary producer. The amount of thought and creative effort that it must have taken to put this together is astounding. It is unimaginable really, the time required to make all these beats and come up with dialogue AND to piece them all together after the recording was done! Maybe as a virtuoso producer such as Prince Paul, the beats maybe would not take as much time, but sitting in a dark and smoky studio editing and matching the vocal tracks, dialogue and background sounds of a cinematic experience doubles his workload, in film industry there are departments alone that create sounds like cars and people walking, that takes time to set up and make sure everything is lined up correctly, wonder how many people helped with the engineering of the album. Prince Paul is like George Lucas, like nope that jail cell slamming sound was a little too loud, can we knock that down a tad?

Chris: Thank you for taking the time do this review with me, Jav! I appreciate your perspective and I hope that we can do it again! “A Prince Among Thieves” turns 22 on the 23rd, has it stood the test of time for you? Also, did you feel bad for Tariq?

Jav: I do feel for the guy, from the beginning it's like hey would I trust Tru or not, hmmmm. All of Tru’s verses have the feeling like hey I'm totally going to betray you because I feel I’m the better rapper and Tariq is so wack. I honestly did not know who Tru and Tariq were played by until recently, which gives the great opportunity to listen and discover some older unheard music, thanks Chris for giving me the chance to give my thoughts to this piece of art! I'm ready to do some more anytime Man! The best way to close out the decade with this gem of an album for sure.

Chris: I felt bad for Tariq as well. He was getting played from the start. I think that time has only made me appreciate this album more and I’m glad we got to review it because I really got to delve into it.

Thanks again, Jav!