My Gut Reaction: Blahzay Blahzay - ENYthing Iz Possible (October 16, 2018)

When I wrote about Blahzay Blahzay’s 1996 debut album, Blah Blah Blah, over ten years ago on this very blog, I mentioned that I didn’t come across a copy myself: instead, my wife happened upon it in the used CD section of a Sam Goody in a fucking mall, and gave it to me for our anniversary. An unorthodox gift, certainly, but it was in fantastic condition. She’s always been pretty lucky when locating items known for their scarcity, though, even with the degree of difficulty assessed to a physical copy of Blah Blah Blah.

I have no such heartwarming story about their second album, ENYthyng Iz Possible, however. Hell, I wasn’t even aware that this thing existed until fairly recently.

I’m willing to bet you two had no idea, either.

Blahzay Blahzay - Blah Blah Blah (August 13, 1996)

Blahzay Blahzay are a Brooklyn, NY-based duo made up of rapper Outloud and producer-slash-deejay PF Cuttin'. They had been in the game for several years, helping produce tracks for other artists, and in 1995, they decided to try their hand at their own hit song. The first single, "Danger", hit the streets like a fucking steamroller, burning up the airwaves on radio stations throughout the country, thanks to its commanding beat and Ol' Dirty Bastard vocal sample. It became so goddamn popular that DJ Premier (of GangStarr, another duo made up of one producer and one rapper, who Blahzay Blahzay were influenced by) produced a remix. But when Fader/Mercury/Polygram Records released the duo's debut, Blah Blah Blah, in 1996, nobody gave much of a fuck, and the duo essentially faded into the distance. True, they've continued to work (PF Cuttin' more so than his partner in crime), but not nearly to the same degree.

What the fuck happened?

I honestly couldn't tell you. One usually points to a lack of promotion, and that may be the case here, but I remember seeing at least two videos from Blah Blah Blah on Rap City. "Danger (Part 2)" also took off in my area, possibly because, around the same time, rappers such as Smoothe Da Hustler and Trigger Tha Gambler (who made cameo appearances on the track) were awfully popular. Blah Blah Blah seems to have suffered from a case of lack of interest: none of the other tracks on the album even remotely resembled "Danger", and that may have caused potential customers to look elsewhere. But it's hard to tell when you're talking about the music industry: stars have to align in order for a rapper to get the audience they feel they deserve, and some artists have more pull than others, which is the only reason I can fathom that Soulja Boy somehow garnered two additional hit singles after that "Crank Dat" bullshit.

Blah Blah Blah is currently out of print, which also doesn't help matters. I have to admit, Blah Blah Blah was one of those albums that I overlooked many times in the late 1990s, but when I actually wanted to pick it up, it was impossible to find. I had to settle for a burned disc, or at least I did until last year, when my wife, who is awesome, stumbled across a used copy in, of all places, a fucking mall. And she found it for cheap. I can't guarantee that you two readers will chance upon it in the same fashion, but one can hope.

1. INTRO
Typical rap album intro nonsense.

2. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH
A good and pleasant way to start an album. The piano keys mix well with the sparse drums, and Outloud comes off as an artist that, while he may not have anything new to say, can at least sound good saying it. This is some good shit right here.

3. MEDINA'S IN THE HOUSE
You will either see this as a short interlude, or you'll accept it for what it's supposed to be: a declaration of the East Coast's dominance over the West in this here rap game. (The fact that, on the very next song, the first line you hear is “Now we're 'bout to show you how the East Coast rocks” only proves my point.) Sadly, this proclamation didn't really take, but it's not Blahzay Blahzay's fault: Dr. Dre's influence was hard to beat back in the 1990s.

4. DANGER PART 2 (FEAT DARK MAN, SMOOTHE DA HUSTLER, TRIGGER THA GAMBLER, & D.V. ALIAS KHRIST)
It is very strange that the sequel to Blahzay Blahzay's “Danger” would appear in the sequencing before its predecessor, but here you go. A lot of readers may be wondering why it took me so long to mention this song after having already written about both Smoothe Da Hustler and Trigger Tha Gambler. Well, here's why (and this will get long, so you may want to get a snack): I only had a burned copy of this album until recently, when my badass wife happened upon it in a used CD store, as I mentioned above. (My wife likes it when I talk about her within the context of the blog.) All of the online information I could find indicated that the “Dark Man” who is featured was actually Wu-Tang affiliate La The Darkman, and Dark Man's verse sounds nothing like La (and, side note, La had his own record deal at this point in time: dude had that one ad in The Source advertising his 12-inch single, which featured Raekwon on the b-side, running for at least a year when this album dropped), so I needed to find proof. (I told you to get a snack!) Now that I have the liner notes, I can say with full certainty that everybody seems to have it wrong online, and unless La himself contacts me and tells me otherwise, I stand behind my belief that Dark Man and La the Darkman are not the same guy. The liner notes don't name other writers for “Danger Part 2”, but seeing that La was legally obligated to a different label at the time, if it were him, it would make sense that the label would have to be mentioned somewhere, and it wasn't. (It's not as if Blah Blah Blah was an underground album with a cover printed at a Kinko's or something.) Anyway, about the song: it rocks. Everybody sounds fucking fantastic over a beat that is a vast improvement over its predecessor's (even with a random Star Wars reference from Outloud), although the original track isn't a slouch.

5. DON'T LET THIS RAP SHIT FOOL YOU
Having that loquacious of a title would usually mean an awkward-sounding hook, right? In this case, you two are correct. This track is alright, but nothing special: don't let the success of the previous two songs fool you.

6. PAIN I FEEL
To my knowledge, this was the second single off of Blah Blah Blah, and it was a really good choice. Outloud rides the PF Cuttin' beat as if they were twins equipped with telekinesis. I seem to recall the video taking place in a mental institution or something (possibly because of the pain he feels), but I'm not concerned enough to look it up on YouTube at the moment.

7. POSSE JUMPA (FEAT DARK MAN & MENTAL MAGICIAN)
The line deliveries, especially from Mental Magician (great rap name, by the way), who sounds like a slower-paced Smoothe Da Hustler, leave a lot to be desired, but, even though the song is a bit too long, it works, thanks to PF Cuttin's instrumental, which manages to sound both simple and intricate. Not bad at all.

8. MANIAC COP
A skit with relatively low production values, but save for the horrendous dialogue at the very end, it lends itself nicely to the next track.

9. GOOD COP / BAD COP
Easily my favorite song on here. Outloud takes on the persona of a racist cop who becomes increasingly appalled at the actions of his partner, the titular “good cop”. PF Cuttin' provides a beat that showcases a master at work, and everything from the drums to the vocal sample in the hook help this song fucking knock.

10. SENDIN' DEM BACK (FEAT TANYA BREWER)
I found myself nonplussed. Maybe it was the boring beat, or maybe it was the female vocals on the hook, but either way, I would urge my two readers to skip this track.

11. LONG WINDED (FEAT MENTAL MAGICIAN, VERBAL FIST, VERBAL HOODS)
It always makes me laugh when a virtually unknown rapper or rap group (at least at the time) includes a song on his/their debut album that heavily features weed carriers. How would they have been able to financially support the entourage prior to copping that record deal? Anyway, this jazzy excursion is actually very nice, and although none of the guests involved should be immediately signed or anything, the track still sounds good.

12. JACKPOT
Meh.

13. DANGER
Blahzay Blahzay's breakthrough single. A simple-sounding East Coast anthem that slowly invades your subconsciousness, which will inevitably lead to you shouting “Danger!” at random intervals, especially whenever you're in the middle of a meeting with an important client. At the bank. The samples (prominent vocals from Ol' Dirty Bastard and Jeru the Damaja, who appears in the video even though, later, he felt that Outloud stole his verbal style wholesale) are perfectly placed, making this track one of the East Coast's finest from the 1990s. DJ Premier took it upon himself to remix this track with, um, blah results: this original version has an energy level that Primo couldn't match for some reason. Also, the video sucks balls for what is supposed to be some sort of street anthem. But you can't have it all.

FINAL THOUGHTS: It's kind of sad that Blah Blah Blah was Blahzay Blahzay's only album, as it is quite entertaining. Lyrically, Outloud is saying nothing new, and PF Cuttin's instrumentals are truly a product of their time, but I liked that time in music, and when you blend those two elements together, you're rewarded with an unsung gem from the mid-1990s New York movement. The great songs on here will still captivate audiences today, if anybody ever got a chance to fucking hear them.

BUY OR BURN? As I mentioned above, this album is out of print: I was just lucky that my wife was able to find a pristine copy that someone who obviously didn't appreciate the quality (or scarcity) of the product simply cast off. As such, you may not find this one for less than twenty bucks, but you should definitely track this down online. And who knows? Maybe with enough interest garnered with this post, Blahzay Blahzay will see fit to re-release this fucking diamond in the rough. Well, I can hope, anyway.

BEST TRACKS: “Good Cop/Bad Cop”; “Danger Part 2”; “Pain I Feel”; “Blah, Blah, Blah”; “Long Winded”; “Danger”

-Max