Drink Coasters: John Forte - Poly Sci (July 14, 1998)

Before I start, I just want to thank my many two readers that religiously check for updates. I realize that I'm not being as prolific as I'd like to be, so sorry about that, but hopefully that will all change. Eventually. I'm realistic enough not to say "soon". So, here's a quickie to help me ease back into things.

John Forte, whose debut album Poly Sci is pictured at left, is currently serving time in a federal prison for possession of cocaine. This is clearly worse than his original gig, possessing weed (instead of coke) for The Fugees as their not-exactly-unofficial-fourth-member-but-should-have-placed-higher-up-than-Pras. He's been locked up for about seven years now, which is most definitely not what I expected to say about the last rapper to appear on The Fugees's "Cowboys" posse cut (a song that doesn't get enough love in my opinion). But that's not why I regret to inform you that Poly Sci doesn't hold up nine years later. The true reason is that I really wanted to like this album, and I just couldn't.

It wasn't always this hard. I remember picking this album up from Best Buy the week it dropped, having only heard the first single "Ninety Nine (Flash The Message)" exactly once, because I was going through my "I have to have every single thing from any rapper who is even remotely affiliated with (insert popular rapper here)" phase, which thankfully has stopped since then, or else I'd be pretty fucking broke. (I actually remember getting mad that it was pushed back from its original June release date, but that's probably because I made the trip to Best Buy based on the promises made by their Sunday circular. You would think I was the guy's biggest fan or something.) Back then, I enjoyed the album thoroughly; Forte has a flow like a more nasal Shawn Carter, his own production work (he provides the majority of the album's 14 tracks) wasn't bad, and there was obviously some thought put behind the lyrics. Yeah, none of that matters now since the album sucks.

The production on the majority of the songs sounds, for lack of a better word, old. (I guess dated would have been a better word. Oh well.) It's not that the music is bad overall, but it's instantly forgettable, in the way that you forget that Forte is in the middle of a verse when you reach for the 'skip' button. The two brand name guest spots are borderline ridiculous; Fat Joe and DMX provide cameos for rent-paying reasons only. X sounds okay on "We Got This", as this was around the time he had something to prove and ripped every guest spot that he could; Big Boned Joe, however, has never impressed me, and as such, remains consistent on "They Got Me". "Madina Passage" sounds like a bad posse cut by a gaggle of Wu-Tang B-Teamers, for good reason; loose affiliates Black Rose Kartel pop up on their only true mainstream offering, and then promptly return to the sewers from which they came. And you know that your album listening experience can't be going well when you feel that Pras submits a decent sounding vocal. Pras! Come on, John!

But the true reason this album fails in 2007 is due to a reason that I let slide for unknown reasons in '98. John Forte relies too heavily on the vocals of one Jeni Fujita, which was a terrible mistake. Her thin voice sounds awful over these tracks. The aforementioned "Ninety Nine" (known mostly for its utilization of Nena's "99 Luftballons") actually sounds pretty decent now; it's catchy enough, and it's exactly what you would have expected Wyclef Jean to produce back in 1998. But then Jeni fucks the whole thing up with an awful chorus that beats any of the track's momentum within an inch of its life. She also demolishes both the intro and outro, which share the title "Hot", neither of which were named accurately. I believe she appeared on Canibus's Refugee Camp-approved Can-I-Bus as well, and was probably the reason that album sucked too. It's just bad. I don't know what else to say about this. I'm tired right now, so it's probably not coming out properly in my writing, but I mean this with every fiber of my being; she is baaaaad.

I listened to this album twice before writing this because I wanted to like this album so much, but it was to no avail. I am happy to report, though, that one of my favorite songs from back then, "P.B.E. (Powerful, Beautiful, Excellent)" still sounds pretty good today; hell, I bet that if you put some harder drums on the track, kept the synths, and turned the vocals up a bit, Forte might have had a club banger on his hands. Always good to hear a catchy pop song with a somewhat positive message that's not all about cranking a soldier boy or something. And "God Is Love God Is War" is an interesting listen, especially with the Suzanne Vega-interpolation in the chorus.

Overall, Poly Sci is one of the biggest disappointments that I've heard since starting this blog back in February, so I just cannot recommend in good conscience. It just doesn't work in 2007, and I feel the need to point out to my two readers when they can easily keep their money in their pockets. If you are curious, download "PBE" and leave me a comment is you agree or disagree with me. And hopefully I can get back on a more regular schedule. Thanks for reading!

-Max

THE ALBUM YOU SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR ON 9/11/2007:

Baby Elephant (Prince Paul, Bernie Worrell, and Don Newkirk) - Turn My Teeth Up!