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.”

************

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.