Tag: music

audio review : Done By The Forces Of Nature ( song ) … Jungle Brothers

“Tickle tickle, trickle trickle; you can’t buy Nature with a nickel,” Afrika insists before stopping what is supposed to be his second verse for an impromptu saxophone break. That’s one of several quirky bits that help make this song; the title track of the second Jungle Brothers album; the gem it is. “I’ll walk a mile for a funky beat,” Mike G says and this one; a fusion of hip-hop and jazz; certainly is.

my rating : 4 of 5

1989

audio review : Ghetto Music [ The Blueprint Of Hip-Hop ] ( album ) … Boogie Down Productions

audio review : Ghetto Music [ The Blueprint Of Hip-Hop ] ( album ) ... Boogie Down Productions

KRS-One is The Teacher and, as the title of this album suggests, his classes focus, almost exclusively, on two main subjects. Rapping about rap is appropriate enough. The genre is inherently lyrical. It’s his obsession with race, specifically “the black race”, that gets tiresome. Not that this isn’t good (Ghetto) Music because it is. The beats are “slamming” and the aforementioned rhymes are far from wack.

my rating : 4 of 5

1989

audio review : a DM Records compilation : Bass Sound Off USA [ Volume 3 ]

audio review : a DM Records compilation : Bass Sound Off USA [ Volume 3 ]

This third Volume in the Bass Sound Off series is about on par with the first two. That is to say it’s just as much of a bloated mess. An EP of the six actual Bass Syndicate songs; the rest are 808XS beats and random sound effects; would make for a decent listen. The better among them include Aruba Prelude, which should’ve started the set, and Backward Glances, which should’ve ended it.

my rating : 2 of 5

1997

audio review : Bass Sound Off USA [ Volume 4 ]

audio review : Bad [ Bigger And Deffer ] ( album ) … LL Cool J

audio review : Bigger And Deffer ( album ) ... LL Cool J

There’s no rapper Bigger And Deffer than LL Cool J on the grandiloquent title song. It starts the album with such a bang that the following “love” ode (Kandy) comes across as rather anticlimactic, especially considering the fact that J and his boys are Bad at hooks. The best songs are the ones without one; namely The Breakthrough, The Do Wop and My Rhyme Ain’t Done. I Need Love is another standout.

my rating : 3 of 5

1987