Cru - Da Dirty 30 (June 15, 1997)

Some thoughts that popped into my head while I was searching for my copy of (Rhythm Blunt) Cru's first and only album, Da Dirty 30: 

 

 

-When I first heard about the project (thanks to The Source, I believe, but don't hold me to that), I assumed that Cru was a fake group, and the album was just a concept album that featured other rappers playing roles (not unlike what Prince Paul would later do with his hip hop opera A Prince Among Thieves), thanks to the early word that rappers as diverse as Black Rob, Slick Rick, and Ras Kass would appear. 

 

-On Foxy Brown's abysmal debut Ill Na Na, the introductory track inexplicably provides listeners with an unprecedented (to me, anyway) "coming attractions" reel, featuring Cormega (whose "Dead Man Walking" was featured, even though the song itself was banned in the United States for a time due to its graphic depiction of violence, and since Mega was dropped from the label soon after anyway, this preview was essentially useless) and Cru (I don't remember the song that was previewed, and it's not like I keep Ill Na Na within reach at all times). Even with this evidence, I still wasn't convinced that Cru was a real group. -It turns out that I was wrong. 

 

-Formerly known as the Rhythm Blunt Cru (and no, I don't know why they dropped two-thirds of their name), Cru consists of producer/rapper Yogi, rapper Chadeeo, and part-time rapper and hypeman The Mighty Ha, who fills the role that Flavor Flav played in Public Enemy. In no way should that last sentence be construed as any sort of comparison between Public Enemy and Cru. 

 

-The group's debut album, Da Dirty 30, a reference to both the district the three men lived in and the fact that they crammed thirty tracks onto the album, was released on Violator Records in 1997. Unlike most modern-era rap albums, Da Dirty 30 is produced in its entirety by Yogi, and this allows a consistent sound to shine through. Yogi seems to have a preference for that old New York boom bap, and his beats go a long way toward bringing that nostalgic feeling back, even if he mixes in a little of the flavor of the day for good measure (Bad Boy was a popular record label in 1997, and the inclusion of both Black Rob and The Lox are far from accidental). 

 

-Almost as if they knew the album was going to sell poorly (which it absolutely did), Cru emptied their minds of seemingly every single idea the trio had ever had, and committed it to wax, as if they were writing the Great American Rap Album. You shouldn't go into this CD believing that it will be filled with sociopolitical rants, Buddhist chants, and spoken word poetry, though: as was the standard at the time, Da Dirty 30 is filled with tales of violence, some remorse regarding said violence, treatment of women as objects, and multiple attempts at humor (most of which fail). Hell, one of the songs actually stops midway through to present an unnamed woman blowing a guy. The only track that attempts something resembling a commentary is the final song, "Armageddon", which discusses the ramifications of rap beef, or as I like to call it, when keeping it real goes wrong. 

 

-After the release of Da Dirty 30, Cru virtually evaporated from the face of the Earth. A brief appearance on a Violator Records compilation album can be easily explained away as a studio outtake, although it's not like I work for Violator, so I may just be talking out of my ass. Because of this career move, there isn't a lot known about the Rhythm Blunt Cru and the three men who swooped in to contribute to the cause of great hip hop music. (Yogi is still producing music, and landed two tracks on Method Man's Tical 0: The Prequel, but as any Wu-Tang fan will tell you, that shouldn't be seen as any kind of accomplishment.)

 

Now here are some thoughts that popped into my head while actually listening to Da Dirty 30: 

 

1. DJ FOOTLONG (INTRO) 

This guy has an annoying-ass voice, which makes this rap album intro even worse than usual. Also, every time I hear the word "footlong", I think of the episode of The Simpsons where Ned Flanders's wife is killed by an overexcited cheerleader with a T-shirt gun. Is that just me? 

 

2. BLUNTZ & BAKAKEEMIS (FEAT ANTOINETTE, JIM HYDRO, & TRACEY LEE) 

Now that's more like it, dammit! Nice thumping beat, simple and effective. Haven't heard from Antoinette in a while, so this was a pleasant surprise. I still can't believe Tracey Lee is on this song: I loved that "The Theme" song that was produced by Bad Boy's own mad rapper D-Dot (and I'm sure I'm not the only one, don't kid yourselves). I do question sequencing a song that features multiple guests as the first real song on your debut album, especially when you're a rap group that nobody actually knows, making it even harder to distinguish who's who. But that's just me, I tend to make sense. 

 

3. THAT SHIT 

After what sounds like a looped sample of Godzilla rocking out with a Styx cover band, yet another simple and effective beat, although this one doesn't work as well as "Bluntz & Bakakeemis". The rappers aren't the best, but the sound decent enough over Yogi's instrumental. And I don't actually think Yogi sounds like Q-Tip, but I can see where the similarities can be found. 

 

4. JUST ANOTHER CASE (FEAT SLICK RICK) 

Not surprisingly, Slick Rick walks away with this track with all the subtlety of Ash's chainsaw hand. The chilled-out beat is good to relax to, but you should track down the remix, which finds room for some drums over the original instrumental. 

 

5. HOE 2 SOCIETY 

Skit... 

 

6. NUTHIN' BUT (FEAT BLACK ROB) 

Black Rob? What the fuck? He sounds better on here than he did on his entire debut album. Too bad the beat is wasted on the other rappers featured. 

 

7. STRAIGHT FROM L.I.P. 

While I appreciate the fact that Yogi has actually heard of Portishead, since he uses their "Sour Times" as a foundation for this song, truth be told Inspectah Deck did a better job of sampling Portishead on "Kiss Of The Black Widow" from the first Bobby Digital album, and all he did there was loop nine seconds of "Only You" repeatedly. This song sounds terrible. 

 

8. GOIN' DOWN 

The beat sounds like something Reggie Noble would have rhymed over on Doc's Da Name 2000. The blow job interlude came out of left field, but that I looked at the title of the song again, so I suppose the joke's on me. 

 

9. SHOOT OUT 

Skit... 

 

10. TEN TO RUN 

I like how the guy's heavy breathing (as he would be out of breath from the events of the last skit) is incorporated into the beat. This one-verse wonder is not bad at all. 

 

11. WRECKOGNIZE (FEAT BLACK ROB) 

Wow, that hook sucks balls. Black Rob and Cru pass the mic around the room, and while they never fulfill the promise of a Boot Camp Clik homage that the title would otherwise indicate (at least when it comes to mic skills), the final result isn't bad. It is kind of odd that Black Rob would make two separate appearances on an album by a group to which he is not affiliated, but this is the best I've heard from him in a while, so it's acceptable. 

 

12. BULLETPROOF VEST 

Skit... 

 

13. THE EBONIC PLAGUE (FEAT RAS KASS) 

The not-so-clever title betrays the hot beat and great rhymes, especially from Ras Kass, who always makes it a point to outshine whichever rapper is foolish enough to invite him to the studio. 

 

14. UP NORTH 

Utilizes a sample from Stevie Wonder's "Pasttime Paradise", which will remind you of fucking Coolio throughout the length of the track. That said, this isn't bad, but it's nothing to write home about. Dear Abby, Miss Manners, and Billy Graham, maybe, but not your actual house, and not just because your house is an inanimate object and you would be wasting both your time and your stamps. 

 

15. R.I.P. 

Skit... 

 

16. LIVE AT THE TUNNEL (FEAT THE LOX) 

This song is fucking awful. The underrated Sheek is the only member of The Lox that comes across as halfway decent. I know that Jadakiss and Styles P get all of the attention, but Sheek always sounds like he's trying at least four times as hard to keep up, which I appreciate. But it's not enough. 

 

17. PRONTO 

I think this song may have been a single. Which is absurd, by the way, when you actually hear the chorus: you will find yourself wondering what the hell Violator was thinking. 

 

18. YOU USED TO 

Skit... 

 

19. FRESH, WILD, AND BOLD  

Meh. 

 

20. O.J. 

A skit in incredibly poor taste. It would be one thing if it were actually funny... 

 

21. LISA LIPPS 

A Mighty Ha solo, and about as useless as a bag of condoms at a monastery. Unless they were used to make water balloons, which would just make them a huge waste of resources. Which you could also classify this song as. I don't like the guy's voice in small doses: imagine how I feel about spending three minutes with the guy. 

 

22. BUBBLIN' 

Makes you appreciate the limited rhyme skills of Yogi and Chadeeo that much more, especially after listening to "Lisa Lipps", but this song still isn't any good. 

 

23. GOINES TALE 

Chadeeo goes solo on a track that I found myself liking a lot. It probably doesn't even compare to any actual Donald Goines novel (as I've never read any of the books), but enjoyable nonetheless. 

 

24. THE ILLZ 

Not to be confused with MTV's pseudo-reality show The Hills, but just as unnecessary. 

 

25. FOOTLONG 

Skit... 

 

26. MY EVERLOVIN' 

This track is set up as a track for the ladies that was forced upon Cru by the label, in the same vein as Harvey Weinstein forcing all of those cuts on foreign films when he and his brother still ran Miramax. The tactic may have actually gotten radio spins for Cru and (gasp!) may have actually sold records, had Cru not fucked it all away by repeatedly using the word "bitch" on the hook, a term that has been scientifically proven that females love to hear themselves referred to as, regardless of context. 

 

27. PAY ATTENTION (FEAT ANTHONY HAMILTON)  

Zzzzz......I'm up! Sorry, dozed off for a bit, but that's to be expected with the overlong bloated affair that is Da Dirty 30. 

 

28. LOUNGIN' WIT MY CRU 

Reminds me of one of those chilled-out club songs that they played on the radio in my area a lot back in 1995-1996, like (Mad) Skillz's "Move Ya Body", and sounds almost as good, but with one glaring defect: the most annoying part of the song (the hook, which features The Mighty Ha repeating "I like") is the only part that will stand out in your mind, and that alone will make you hit the skip button. 

 

29. DA DIRTY 29 

Skit. We're almost home, kids. 

 

30. ARMAGEDDON 

Some people would think that ending your group's debut album with a diatribe against rap beef in rhymed form would be bizarre at worst, questionable at best. Questionable in a "who the fuck do these guys think they are" kind of way. Honestly, though, all of those concerns fly out the window when DJ Footlong appears to close out the album in the most dumbass way possible, thus negating the entire listening experience as a whole. 

 

FINAL THOUGHTS: Da Dirty 30 presents a consistent sound that, unfortunately, isn't engaging enough to require listeners make it through one sitting. Yogi and Chadeeo come across as a less talented and more thugged-out A Tribe Called Quest (oh, that's where the Q-Tip comparison comes in!), and The Mighty Ha is, honestly, a nuisance that would have been best left in the green room with the salsa. Overall, the disc is a disappointment, regardless of what ego trip's Big Book of Rap Lists or a lot of other blogs would have you believe. I know that my two readers were probably expecting me to pray to the shrine that is Da Dirty 30, but I'm not buying it: this disc isn't that great. I am surprised, though, that Cru didn't find new life on an indie label. Was the major label experience with Violator so taxing that Chadeeo decided that investment banking would be a better career move? 

 

BUY OR BURN? There are some things on here that I really like, but the package as a whole is fatally flawed. I would recommend a burn, but only of the songs I list below, as I don't want to be held responsible for your hard drive being full when you download the entire album, accursed skits and all. 

 

BEST TRACKS: "Bluntz & Bakakeemis"; "Just Another Case"; "The Ebonic Plague"; "Goines Tale"

 

B SIDE TO TRACK DOWN: "Just Another Case (Remix)" 

 

-Max