MF Grimm - "The Downfall of Ibliys: A Ghetto Opera"

Percy Carey, or MF Grimm, while not well-known in Pop Culture is one of Hip Hop music’s greatest treasures. MF Grimm released his studio debut, “The Downfall of Ibliys: A Ghetto Opera”, on his own label, Day by Day Entertainment on January 12, 2002. On the album, Grimm chronicles the life decisions he made that led him to his current state, paralyzed from the waist down after being shot 10 times. Grimm’s, is a story of resilience and self-awareness, two qualities not too many have. After being sentence to life in prison for narcotics and conspiracy related charges, Grimm paid $100,000 for one-day bail, in order to record what would become “The Downfall of Ibliys” in 24 hours. Grimm received production help from MF Doom, Dr. Butcher, Cas, Count Bass D and others. “The Downfall of Ibliys” is an underground classic and should be required listening for anyone claiming to be a MF Doom fan. 

 *****3rd review with Mike T (@mike_t_bvnm) 

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Chris: Let’s first discuss how we got here. You wanted to review another album but you weren’t sure what album. You asked me to come up with a list of 7 albums. You then narrowed it down to 3 and chose an album from those final 3 based the album cover alone. You ended up choosing MF Grimm’s “The Downfall of Ibliys: A Ghetto Opera.” Can you explain what drew you to “The Downfall of Ibliys”? 

Mike: What drew me to this album was the visual representation of the title to the album art. I wanted to choose an album for us to listen to that I had no idea what the album sounded like or anything. I thought it would be a fun way to choose an album rather than just a conventional "how about this one?". Plus "A Ghetto Opera" that in itself is just an intriguing title. Plus, little did I know that the album or the artist I picked would offer a little more than just an album to listen to. You let me know he had written a graphic novel. So that added a cool little bonus for this review.

Chris: Well, I was really excited when you chose it! MF Grimm is not a name you hear a lot of people mention and a lot of times you’ll wonder, why not? 

Anyway, I’m sure you gathered from listening to the album that Ibliys is an alias of Satan’s and as you know, Satan is a fallen angel. On this album Grimm likens himself to Ibliys, in that they had a similar downfall. Ibliys from heaven and Grimm from a solid upbringing. On “The Downfall of Ibliys” Grimm details his demise but to me, it’s not in a way that glorifies what he did but rather he’s taking ownership of the things he did. Was that the impression he left on you? And what is your opinion on rappers who like to, for lack of a better way of saying it, confess their crimes on record? 

Mike: I can agree with you on this that the story he is telling isn't a glorification of his actions, but a spoken ownership of what he's down throughout his life. Going from child actor on Sesame Street to Hustling weed in a wheelchair on the daily. You get the feeling he understood what he did as a man, and that is why it feels like an announcement of ownership of his actions. If you read the book there's a point early on in the story where he mentions he knows what's bad, but it was fun, and felt good. Now in regards to rappers who confess their crimes on record. I think a lot of the time it feels like they are trying to gain what people today refer to as Clout. But then again not many rappers nowadays even come close to the level of "gangster" that rappers from MF Grimm's era did. 

Chris: Let’s talk about the song “Life and Death.” In it, Grimm talks about his struggle with doing right and the seductiveness of the excitement of doing wrong. He refers to both Life and Death as “her” as if they are two women competing for his love and attention. Life being the girl you want to take home to introduce her to your folks and Death, the girl you and everyone knows is wrong for you but you still mess with her. What did you think of the song “Life and Death” and its message? Mike: This song was one I had to listen to a few more times once you asked me this question. You made me look into this deeper than the original impression it gave me. I liked how you described each. "Life" is the girl you want to bring home to your folks, but "Death" she's the one that brings excitement to your life, but at a toxic cost. After listening to the song a few more times it makes you think. How bad is going down a straight path? You flirt, build a pathway with "Life", and it's great. It brings joy, success, and fulfillment. Yet it misses that excitement of spontaneity. Then "Death" comes into your life, and in Grimm's words who you meet "through her cousin sleep" things change. I think this song is his way of saying "look kids this is what happens when you choose the wrong relationship" because even though he knew it was a bad relationship to get into he just didn't listen. 

Chris: It’s a very relatable song, which is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much. We all have to deal with that expectation of doing the right thing instead of pursuing things that are more pleasurable even if they

are more harmful.

MF Grimm – “Life and Death” 

 

Chris: The majority of the production on the album was handled by MF Doom under his alias Metal Fingers. When you’re going to have a conversation about MF Grimm it is almost going to include Doom and vice versa. What did you think about the production on the album and the tracks (“Foolish” and “Voice Pt. 1” featuring MF Doom? 

 

Mike: I think the production of this album, and the songs I felt embodied that East Coast sound. Like Wu-Tang. MF Grimm's album had that raw sound to all of it. Look at the intro of "Voice Pt. 1" when the track starts it legit sounds like some one is just singing a song they like in their car. That's the feeling this album gave me while listening to it. I think that is one thing this album really did well with is the production. Because it gives the listener that sense of this was recorded in a small venue somewhere in a hidden part of Brooklyn. I personally feel that if you are a true Hip Hop head. Especially the underground hip hop scene this is the sound you love. The sound that makes these artist who they are. I like it because its authentic, but in the end its not my favorite. Without doing these reviews with you I wouldn't have learned about this though. So with that I am Team West Coast haha. But I'm glad I've learned what I have from these. It's been a fun experience, and I'm looking forward to the next review. 

MF Grimm & MF Doom - "I Hear Voices Part 0 & 1"

   

Chris: As part of this review, we both read MF Grimm’s comic “Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm”. What did you think of it? Did it change the way you listened to the album? 

Mike: I really liked the book, and I am not a big reader. Granted it was a graphic novel, but still I usually don't enjoy reading that much. This was a cool bonus for this review when you mentioned he had done a book. I enjoyed how it went through his life from the beginning. From hanging out with Big Bird, to getting out of prison. There were a few things that the book informed me that you wouldn't have learned from the album in my position. Like him getting involved with Death Row Records. Performing with Tupac, Snoop, and a handful of other artists. So, it was really cool to learn more about the person behind the album itself, and get a little bit of a visual adaptation of what I was listening to. Music like a book can paint a picture for your mind. Especially Hip Hop artists like Grimm. Because their music isn't just a catchy hook. It's a story. It made me want to listen to the album again and try and see where in the book the song is talking about. It didn't exactly work like that haha, but it was fun to see the progression of Grimm's life from album to book.

Chris: Grimm is well known for his dope features and for his prowess as a ghostwriter. When I think of Grimm, one of the first tracks that comes to mind is the song he did with Kool G, “Take ‘Em To War”. Are there any tracks on “The Downfall of Ibliys” that stand out to you for their lyrical content? Mike: The first song that comes to mind for lyrical content immediately is "Teach the Babies". This song comes to mind because of how he twists the everyday ABC's. It might not be the most crazy lyrically driven song on the album, but a song that sticks out for lyrical content this song was the first thing i thought of. Just because honestly, it's a creative twist to something pretty basic. 

MF Grimm - "Teach the Babies"

   

Chris: What were some of your favorite tracks? 

Mike: Favorite tracks this is always a hard question because I feel with these reviews they always change the more you listen to the album. Because you pick up on more things that might not have caught your attention initially. So to keep this one short I'll list my 3 favorite tracks. "Foolish", "Rain Blood", and "Omega". This style of Hip Hop is still a little harder for me to fully dive into because of the raw style. Not being someone who has grown up listening to hip hop it's a different taste. Not bad at all, just different. It keeps to the authentic late 80's early 90's hip hop. Honestly next to the Wu-Tang review I never really knew this was a style of hip hop. But I've learned to appreciate that authenticity in the album. 

Chris: “Rain Blood”! Such a dope track. It is one song on the album that doesn’t feature Grimm’s vocals. Megalon kills that Doom beat. 

 MF Grimm feat. Megalon - "Rain Blood"

   

Chris: Other than “Life and Death”, my favorite track is “Words” which was produced by my guy Count Bass D. I dig the introspection and the dope harmonica sample. You don’t find a lot of harmonica sampled in Hip Hop, leave it to Count Bass D. 

 MF Grimm - "Words" (Produced by Count Bass D) 

 

 Andrae Crouch - "I'll Be Thinking About You"

   

Chris: Probably my favorite part of reviewing albums with you is that you’re coming from into these reviews blind. I think it’s safe to say that had it not been for the way we chose to review this album, the likelihood of you hearing MF Grimm wouldn’t have been very great, where for me, MF Grimm is one of the best. So now that you’ve heard MF Grimm, where does he rate in with the other rappers you’ve heard? Has listening to “The Downfall of Ibliys” encouraged you to check out more of the MF Grimm discography? 

Mike: Oh, I for sure would not have thought to check out MF Grimm's music. That's why I felt this would be a fun/different way to choose an album to listen to. Now after listening to this album would I listen to more of his work? I will check out some more of his stuff. See how or if his style changed as his releases came out, because you know no artist puts out something that sounds the same their entire career. You asked me where I rate him compared to other artists I've listened to. I still want to say Dr. Dre, and the West Coast rappers rank higher. There's just something about the West Coast style that for me I enjoy more. The East Coast from doing these reviews with you I've noticed are the more raw, and real artists in the way the record. Whereas the West Coast guys I personally think they have a more generic structure to their songs. They have a catchy hook, and more a beat that I pertain to like when listening to Hip Hop, but I like that because of these reviews I get to expand on music I've never listened to or thought of listening to. 

Chris: I really enjoyed listening to this album again, even more now knowing the back story. Just straight loop based Hip Hop, reminding me of the late 80s, the Golden era. I appreciate Grimm’s honesty and the lengths that he went through to get this album out there. I’ve often heard people say that your first album is often your best because you’ve had your whole life up to that point to create that record. I think this holds true in this case.

Coolio - "Gangsta's Paradise"

Coolio released his second studio album, “Gangsta’s Paradise”, November 21, 1995 on Tommy Boy Records. His most successful album sales wise, “Gangsta’s Paradise” sold over 3 million copies in the United States alone. The title track, which was used in the film Dangerous Minds, also won Coolio a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance. On the album, Coolio depicts the trials of life as a gangster, cautions against the practice of unsafe sex, urges Men to take the responsibility of fatherhood seriously, and blesses us with the Coolio standard party jam. Production was handled by several different producers, each brining a unique sound, but also befitting Coolio, to the album. The album also features appearances by the 40 Thevz, E-40, LA, “J.T.” Taylor, and Ras Kass among others. “Gangsta’s Paradise” is in grained in the memory of every 80s and 90s baby, Hip Hop fans or not. Coolio’s ability to draw fans of other genres is a quality not held by many other artists and is one of the reasons Coolio is so well regard amongst fans of music.

 ******Guest's choice review James (@ghostdriver22) 

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Chris: James! Welcome to the blog! Thank you for coming on! First off, what made you want to review “Gangsta’s Paradise”? Do you have any specific memories from listening to this album when you were younger? 

James: Chris, thanks for having me! What made me want to review “Gangsta’s Paradise” was the memories it brought with as a kid. I was 9 when I first heard it and bought the cassette with my older Godbrother Kevin. One specific memory was finding the cassette in my Mom’s office between a couple office files after she had heard some of the songs I was listening to. 

Chris: So did you take it back then? I think that I’ve mentioned it before on the blog that my parents censored us growing up but it didn’t stop us listening or procuring albums with that “Parental Advisory” label. Actually at one point I had gotten my collection confiscated and I had to resort to keeping my tapes at my next neighbor’s house. 

James: I did. I searched for the tape the next day but it was not until about a week later that I noticed the case peeking out between a couple books on the upper shelf in her office. 

Chris: When I read other reviews on this album, the critics lauded Coolio’s ability to describe the harsh realities of inner city life all while maintaining mainstream appeal. For me, especially when listening to songs like “Geto Highlites” and “Gangsta’s Paradise”, it was hard to take Coolio seriously. The mainstream appeal is probably would turned me off from really delving into what he was actually saying. It was just kind of funny to me. What do think of Coolio as a chronicler of the ghetto experience? 

James: In some ways I can completely relate to how you feel. Some roads Coolio took his listeners down, were a little bumpy and straight up a wall which many just ran into. When I was 9, those songs went right over my head and the only similar experience I had to a ghetto was my first deployment in Kandahar living in a tent with people from around the world that left their country to survive. I think Coolio lived it and was not always sober when he wrote so to understand some/many of his lyrics could be impossible. 

Chris: So after that experience in Kandahar, do the lyrics of a song like “Gangster’s Paradise” resonate more with you now? I can imagine that it might. I don’t know if it’s the hair or the fact that he reminds me of my Uncle or the content of some of his other songs but I couldn’t and still can’t get there. James: I think unless you came up near Coolio or lived the same situations, all one can do is listen and try their best to appreciate each story. 

Coolio feat. L.V. – “Gangsta’s Paradise”

   

Chris: An easy topic for discussion would be Weird Al’s parody of “Gangster’s Paradise” but I’m more interested in your opinion on some of the other “Gangster’s Paradise” parodies that are out there. What are your thoughts on David Lopez’s “Hispanic Paradise” and Miss Cartmell’s “Mathematics Paradise”? 

James: I think those parody’s are entertaining and a tool to latch children by relation into learning. Weird Al was a genius in his own right and the other versions I’m newly familiar with. I typically prefer the original. 

 Chris: If “Gangster’s Paradise” were too come out today, a #GangstasParadiseChallenge would undoubtedly go viral. The “Hispanic Paradise” hits home for me and I enjoy the math humor in “Mathematics Paradise”. After re-listening to this album, I have more of an appreciation for the OG as well. Did you know that LV, the guy that sang the hook, also did all of the voices you hear in the choir? 

David Lopez – “Hispanic Paradise”

   

Miss Cartmell’s Class – “Mathematics Paradise”

   

James: Not until you mentioned LV did I know he did all of them. There may have been a gap from my childhood ‘til now that I did not listen or research Coolio. 

Chris: There were several different producers that contributed to the beats on this album. What did you think about the production on the album? Did you feel like it lacked cohesion with that many different people behind the boards? 

James: As simple as the beat was for “Gangsta’s Paradise”, it was complex for its time. Some of the other songs on the album seemed like fillers but that’s typical with albums is to have 1 or 2 songs that make it to the charts and the rest just sit and fill the room. 

Chris: One thing I learned after listening to this album again is that J.T. from Kool & the Gang sang the hook on “Too Hot”. That got me wondering how J.T. felt singing the hook on a reinterpretation of one of his old songs. The Kool & the Gang version was about a tumultuous relationship hitting its boiling point, while Coolio’s was about the importance of practicing safe sex. Again, this was a song that just came across as funny to me and I appreciate Coolio on that level even if that was not his intention. What did you think of Coolio’s “Too Hot”? 

James: With a couple 15s bumpin’ and a girl in the passenger seat, with tracks like “Too Hot”, there is nowhere else I’d rather be. Once I was old enough to drive the streets, beats like these always made me feel care free. Coolio was being a realist in this track because kids are going to explore and learn the world. Human nature will always prove this. The best thing parents can do is try their best to prepare and make kids aware. 

Chris: My favorite line on “Too Hot” was “Understand that we livin’ in the the 90s, loc/Nuclear waste, cannibalism and pistol smoke”. That cannibalism line really caught me off guard. Was there really a high incidence of cannibalism in the 1990s? So I googled it and there actually was! 

James: Cannibalism is a horrifying topic but still happens today around the world. I think this was noted in the song because people may have had so little that after taking out an enemy in the hood, some may have taken the body home to survive. That is just my guess. Nuclear waste, in Compton CA? Maybe, I was north of Oakland but I know Oakland produced some stuff that was not good for the environment, surprising being right on coast… 

Coolio feat. James “J.T.” Taylor – “Too Hot” 

 

Chris: Probably my favorite song on the album is “1, 2, 3, 4”. It’s just Coolio doing what he does best. The party track. “1, 2, 3, 4” isn’t quite “Fantastic Voyage” but it’s right up there and the use of the Tom Browne sample is just brilliant. I actually prefer the video version (the “Timber Mix”) to the album version. What was your favorite song(s) on the album? 

James: Truth be told, I will always remember and mention “Gangsta’s Paradise” first, but “1, 2, 3, 4” is probably the song my Mom overheard and ended up taking the cassette that day back in 95’. So that memory of the censorship will make me laugh…since I kept listening anyway after I found the cassette later. 

Chris: Do you remember which line it was? James: “Gotta Gotta get up to get down” My mom took it I was listening to songs about partying and hooking up. I was even banned from listening to some disco because of similar lyrics. This lasted a short time. 

 Coolio – “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New)” (Timber Mix)

   

Tom Browne – “Thighs High (Grip Your Hips)”

   

Chris: “Gangsta’s Paradise” was a highly successful album in terms of sales and impact on popular culture. Did it stand the test of time for you? How do you feel “Gangsta’s Paradise” now after re-listening? 

James: Yes. Typically I listen to the more upbeat songs to improve my mood. “Gangsta’s Paradise” is one of the songs I will never forget and used to go to sleep to so now days it is still fresh in my mind. After re-listening, I think “Oh man” if I ever met Coolio, I would have to pay respect for what he survived growing up and all the hard work he put in back in the day. Motivates me to keep a poker face and work hard because I have it better than he did. 

Chris: I definitely appreciate how special it is too achieve that level of success. To me, the song “Gangster’s Paradise”, the music video and even the movie “Dangerous Minds” did not age very well. This wasn’t an album I listened to all that much growing up, so in many ways this way my first time through it. It definitely inspired me to listen to more Coolio. While I may not be a big fan of this album, I am definitely a fan of Coolio.