Underground Kingz - Too Hard To Swallow (November 10, 1992) & Banned (1992)

The Southern Way, the first album from the Texas duo Underground Kingz (or UGK, as they'll be referred to from now on), didn't exactly move a ton of units, as they were sold almost exclusively out of only the finest car trunks in the greater Houston area, but one of those tapes found their way to an employee at Jive Records, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Whoever the fuck "they" are.

Rappers Bun B and the late Pimp C received adequate financing to record and release their major label debut, Too Hard To Swallow, in 1992. Over half of the disc is made up of the same songs that had previously appeared on The Southern Way, albeit in a remastered and, on occasion, lyrically revised form. The duo threw in a handful of original compositions for good measure, and a Southern classic was born.

As expected, Too Hard To Swallow sold extremely well in their target market, but the surprising part of their tale is the mainstream attention the project kinda-sorta achieved. Their slow-rolling grooves eventually found an audience around the country, primarily due to word-of-mouth advertising (specifically from king of the hill Jay-Z, although his endorsement would come much much later), enabling UGK the justification to continue recording, although they would soon suffer through the same issues with their label as every single other rap act in Jive's fucking history.

1. SOMETHING GOOD (EXTENDED VERSION)
The music has switched up a bit (sample issues, maybe?), but otherwise, this is the same track as the radio version that appeared on The Southern Way. It's important that I make that distinction for the two of my readers that want to make sure they hear the hilariously vulgar original version of the track: this ain't it, folks.

2. USE ME UP
Same story as the last track, except there was no radio version of "Use Me Up" on the debut disc. This track is almost entirely different from its original, filthier incarnation. Both this song and the previous track were obsessed with sex, in a comically graphic fashion, and I suppose it's possible that Jive Records was aiming for the celibate demographic. Sadly, the "dirty" version is much more entertaining.

3. POCKET FULL OF STONES
This may just be me, but I tend not to like rap songs that move along so slowly that you're as likely to fall asleep as you are to possibly enjoy the music. Most UGK fans, if they read this blog, will probably trash my write-up because of my last sentence, but I don't give a fuck: I didn't like this song.

4. SHORT TEXAS
The same track from The Southern Way, although the sound is cleaned up a lot.

5. COCAINE IN THE BACK OF THE RIDE
See above.

6. IT'S TOO HARD TO SWALLOW
Meh.

7. CRAMPING MY STYLE
I made the mistake of commenting that Jay-Z's "Ignorant Shit" was the first to sample the second part of "Between The Sheets" from The Isley Brothers, but the truth is, I forgot about "Cramping My Style". I've realized that the reason I had forgotten about this song, however, is because it blows.

8. FEEL LIKE I'M THE ONE WHO'S DOING DOPE
There's no reason for this song to be over six minutes long (in fact, most of these tracks are longer than necessary), but Pimp C's tale of a bad trip (in the vein of the movie ending of American Psycho and not the Bret Easton Ellis novel) is pretty goddamn vivid in its description.

9. I'M SO BAD
I'm confused as to why two of the graphically sexual songs had to be redone for this album, but then songs such as this are included in all of their filthy glory. Anyway, this song is really terrible, as Pimp C sounds like he's forcing the issue, but the hook includes a boast that is just downright funny.

10. TRILL ASS N---A
Please refer to the comment for "Short Texas".

11. 976-BUN-B
See above.

12. SOMETHING GOOD (PIMP C'S REMIX)
Completely unnecessary.

FINAL THOUGHTS: If you somehow got a hold of The Southern Way, then you've already heard over half of Too Hard To Swallow, and the remaining tracks are consistently unimpressive, with the exception of the one I mention below. Pimp C and Bun B don't offer anything different with their major label debut, and while that may be just peachy with the crew's fans, there is actually no reason for anybody else to listen to this album. Musically, the beats aren't even as expansive as they were on The Southern Way, and this is with a bigger budget. Strange.

BUY OR BURN? A burn is sufficient, as only a handful of these tracks will survive a few days on your hard drive anyway.

BEST TRACKS: "Feels Like I'm The One Who's Doing Dope"

Prior to the release of Too Hard To Swallow, Bigtyme Records dropped an EP by UGK entitled Banned, which was allegedly made up of five songs which were recorded for the major label debut, but then deleted by Jive Records for being too raunchy. In reality, Banned consists of only two fucking songs, their respective instrumentals, and an intro, which is extraneous for an EP release in the first place, which makes this a glorified maxi-single more than anything else. I don't have information on how well this "EP" sold, but I'm truly hoping that it moved zero units and bankrupted the fucking company.

Here's why.

1. INTRO
Over a barely-there beat, Bub B spits a quick verse in reference to why he's much more real than you are and ever will be. No word on where Pimp C was during the recording of this intro, however.

2. PREGNANT PUSSY
This song is hilariously wrong. It's obvious that Bun B and Pimp C were using their Jive Records budget to record some of the most ridiculous shit ever, just to test their boundaries. It's also entirely possible that they wrote this comically graphic tale (which somehow manages to mix together the concepts of sex with a pregnant woman and statutory rape at the same time, although it seems to be consensual) just to make everybody laugh, with absolutely no intention of it ever seeing the light of day, and the suits at the label freaked out.

3. PUSI MENTAL
This is just the instrumental to the previous song.

4. MUTHAFUCKA AIN'T MINE
The title enough isn't enough to get you banned: witness "Dat Baby (Don't Look Like Me)", the recent hit by Shawty Putt, who is living proof that we have officially run out of rapper names. Hell, even threatening to assault a pregnant woman isn't enough to get you banned, as both Eminem and Biggie have discussed just that (the lyrics referring to the actions were edited out, but the songs themselves still made their respective albums). Pimp C and (especially) Bub B's abortion techniques are pretty fucked up, though, and shouldn't be recommended to anybody.

5. INSTRUMENTAL
Of the previous song, naturally.

FINAL THOUGHTS: This EP is a fucking mess. Since the two actual songs on here are so over the top that, had UGK recorded them today, they would be specifically for the mixtape market only, I found it hard to believe that these tracks were ever meant for an official release. I've heard worse from underground rappers, content-wise, but I don't buy that the artists were ever serious to begin with. Their cavalier attitudes are comically absurd, and while a few of you may find this shit funny, the rest of you won't even give this a second glance, which may be a good thing.

BUY OR BURN? This is only for the diehards. All others need not apply.

BEST TRACKS: None.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:
Underground Kingz - The Southern Way