Erick Sermon - Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis (June 27, 2000)

In 1999, producer-slash-rapper Erick Sermon had just released Out Of Business, which was purported to be the final album by his legendary duo EPMD, which he formed with his longtime friend-turned-foe-turned-friend Parrish “PMD” Smith (and DJ Scratch, lest we all forget). Unlike all five of their previous projects, Out of Business failed to sell enough units to earn them another gold plaque, but Erick and Parrish enjoyed their elder statesmen roles, helping discover new acts while boosting the careers of their protégées Redman, Keith Murray, and EPMD., and the music reflected this.

Fast forward one year later. The relationship with Def Jam is terminated: neither Sermon nor PMD would ever release a project on that iconic imprint again in their careers. PMD is off spinning his wheels in the underground (a story for someone else to tell, as he isn’t the focus of today’s post), while the artist known as the Green-Eyed Bandit is recording for Dreamworks Records under an alias.

What the fuck happened?

For The Max-Approved Mixtape: Keith Murray - "Herb Is Pumpin'"

Artist: Keith Murray

Title: "Herb Is Pumpin'"

Producer: Erick Sermon

Album: The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World (1994)

Although "Get Lifted" gets far more accolades, and deservedly so, a lot of heads forget that Def Squad (does that crew even still exist at this point?) member Keith Murray's debut album, The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World, actually came equipped with a handful of weed songs, as that is Murray's intoxicant of choice.  Or at least it was: I have no idea whatever happened to this guy, other than his guest appearance on that Kool Keith album a few years back.  

While "Get Lifted" is obviously the superior weed track (and one that I love dearly), it falters just a tiny bit for me by having been released in the same year that Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Gin & Juice" dropped as a single: both tracks sample from the same source material (George McCrae's "I Get Lifted"), and Snoop's track is just better.  "Herb Is Pumpin'" had no such expectations inadvertently thrust upon it, and, as such, exists solely for Murray to helpfully explain how bonkers his mind can be whenever he's baked as shit, aided and abetted by Erick Sermon's elevated heart rate of a beat (I believe the word I used in my original review was "bananas"), which, weirdly, sounds more like a cocaine high than anything weed-related, but that's a minor quibble.  "Herb Is Pumpin'" is oftentimes overlooked: because it appears on the album immediately following the heavily-acclaimed-but-overrated-as-shit title track, it's entirely probable that a lot of hip hop heads found the tonal shift jarring and skipped ahead to "Straight Loonie" or even "Get Lifted" itself.  But it is worthy of a wider audience.

Do you agree or disagree with this selection?  Discuss below.

-Max

RELATED POST:
Keith Murray - The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World (Review)

Jamal - Last Chance, No Breaks (October 10,1995)

This album came out eighteen years ago.  No fucking shit.  This album is old enough to vote.  This album can get a tattoo without his parent's expressed written permission from Major League Baseball.  This album can get into a club, although it still isn't old enough to drink (in the United States, anyway).  This album has to go register with Selective Service, or at least flee the fuck to Canada when his name comes up in the draft.  This album is old enough to remember a time before Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and all of that other shit you kids use to not directly speak to one another.

Fuck, I feel old.

My Gut Reaction: Keith Murray - Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear Of Real Hip Hop) (July 31, 2007)

Keith Murray is not a subtle guy.  If he doesn't care for your music, he's likely to punch you in the mouth or hit you over the head with a bar stool, coastal alliances be damned.  If he doesn't like how you're marketing his album, he'll assault the street team while they sit in their offices in the label's own building.  And if he doesn't like your review...well, I'd imagine that he would probably go after the critics, too.  Not that any of this behavior is rational or justified, of course, but it's important to know where we stand.

After having been dropped by Def Jam Records for assaulting their marketing department, who failed to do a good enough job pushing his lone Def Jam release, He's Keith Murray, onto the paying masses, Keith Murray found himself, briefly, without a label to call home.  Due to his violent temper, he was no longer welcome at any of the majors: how he skirted past multiple potential assault and battery charges by simply accepting his resignation remains a mystery to me to this day.  Despite these setbacks, Murray felt that he still had something to offer the world of hip hop music, presenting the few fans that remained after He's Keith Murray tanked with a mixtape, Kickin' Ass Inc. Vol. 1, which featured his rants alongside those of his Legion of Doom team.

Somehow, that mixtape, which isn't very well-known in Blogland, was well-enough received that the Koch graveyard came calling, bringing a contract and several spicy chicken sandwiches from Wendy's over with them.  Murray quickly signed up, considering that this was probably the last corporation that would dare do business with him at this point, and he set about recording what ended up being his fifth full-length release, the ridiculously-titled Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear Of Real Hip Hop).

Now at this point, most rap critics were declaring Keith Murray's career as all but dead in the water.  His anger issues (which he claims don't exist) had continued to get the best of him, and he alienated damn near everyone that had ever considered working with him.  (This includes his former coworkers at both Def Jam and Jive Records, who released his first three albums: you may recall Britney Spears, also signed to Jive, once petitioning for Keith Murray's release from prison simply because the label wanted to show solidarity to their comrade.) 

Luckily, Keith Murray had an ace in the hole: he was still an original member of the Def Squad, which mainly consisted of himself, Erick Sermon, and Redman.  So no matter what, at least he could count on his boys to come through with some beats and rhymes, and come through they did: Sermon actually produced the majority of the songs on Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear Of Real Hip Hop), and the album features the obligatory Def Squad collaborative track that fans have looked out for with each subsequent release.  He also still had his friends in L.O.D., who stuck by his side through thick, thin, and back to thick again, and he still had enough charisma to convince a couple of bigger names to extend a greeting.

The other think working in Keith's favor was the fact that he is a genuinely good emcee.  Ever since he made his debut on Erick Sermon's "Hostile" back in 1993, he's been wowing audiences with his wordplay and lyrics that are twisted up just like the tip of a blunt.  Throughout all of the strife, he hadn't lost his edge in his writing: it's just his beat selections that suffered greatly whenever he tried to branch out, such as on He's Keith Murray.

I never cared to listen to anything else in Murray's long and storied career, but Dag Diligent's write-up on the Canibus/Murray collaboration EP a few months ago sparked my interest enough to hunt this down.  So is Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear Of Real Hip Hop) (an anxiety that I'm sure isn't currently cataloged) good enough to warrant a Keith Murray revival?  I'm not sure yet: I just barely finished up my opening paragraphs.

1. WALK UP (SKIT) (FEAT. TONE CAPONE)

Tricking consumers by not calling your rap album intro an “intro” is actually worse, Keith.

2. DA FUCKERY

Well, the title is both funny and apropos, and the chorus uses the phrase “Back up off of me and sit your ass down”, so there was potential for this track to not suck all that much. But Erick Sermon's beat creeps by like a reluctant hitman, one who has been hired to do one last job but is suffering from an existential crisis, so Keith's lyrics (which include some half-assed story about how he “had” to leave Def Jam Records because his immediate superiors moved on to better things – yeah, I'm sure attacking the marketing department had nothing to do with your “departure”) sound flat and pointless, turning the title into a self-fulfilling prophecy. This isn't good.

3. WEEBLE WOBBLE (FEAT. ERICK SERMON)

I'm pretty sure the stupid-ass title (which also lends itself to a shitty hook) was chosen only to draw attention to the sheer audacity of Keith Murray, as he twists a jingle for a children's toy into a hip hop hook, because this song actually works: this track was pretty good. In fact, this is the best Murray performance I've heard since his verses on Def Squad's El Niño. Sermon's beat is a simple loop, but Keith doesn't let the party die down, spitting clever bar after clever bar and proving that he can still captivate his audience using only his words. Nice move, Murray. Things are looking up.

4. DON'T FUCK WIT EM

Keith Murray apparently doesn't trust anybody, if this Mike City-produced track is to be believed. He's even smart enough to include himself in that classification, lest he sound too judgmental. Luckily, Keith doesn't fuck with the beat (he doesn't trust that, either): he rides it with ease, and the entire song is more focused than his previous two albums. I guess he's been fucked over a lot in his lifetime. Well, boo hoo, Keith: we've all been there. You're not special.  This wasn't bad, though.

5. I LOVE IT WHEN IT RAINS (SKIT)

…

6. U AIN'T NOBODY (FEAT. DEF SQUAD)

The obligatory Def Squad collaboration, which is also the first song that every single hip hop head reading this write-up skipped to when they picked up or downloaded Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear Of Real Hip Hop). (And if someone tells you otherwise, they're lying to your face. Are you going to take that shit from them? Huh?) Unfortunately, if Erick Sermon's lackluster verse (and beat) is any indication, this holy trinity has grown weary of this mortal coil. Keith sounds okay, and Reggie Noble tries his hardest to inject some energy into his verse, but this will never be counted among the Def Squad's finest work. So I guess we won't be seeing that second group album. Sigh.

7. DO

Do you think that every single crack dealer in the United States is an aspiring “rapper”? What about those folks that peddle crystal meth? Do they all want to be Emmy award-winning actors who portray high school chemistry teachers? It's a cliché that has grown beyond old at this point, but Keith manages to insert some levity into what is really a dark path to follow, once again giving listeners insight into how his synapses fire, and his attention to detail is what makes this track work, because it sure as fuck wasn't the Sermon beat of the overused soul samples as the “hook”.

8. NOBODY DO IT BETTER (FEAT. TYRESE & JUNIOR)

Keith spits lyrics that attempt to ape his debut album and ends up sounding like the guy who released It's A Beautiful Thing, but that isn't the problem I'm having with the song. The beat sounds like it was intended for a love rap (which I truly hope Keith doesn't attempt later on the album...wait, I just jinxed myself, didn't I? Shit!), and the presence of Baby Boy's Tyrese on the hook only seems to solidify that notion, as he crams unnecessary R&B into what was supposed to be a show of dominance. This was a weird mutation of a song.

9. HUSTLE ON

Producer Shuko lends Keith a strange amalgam of reggae and Southern bounce music (think Juvenile's “Ha”) that poses as an instrumental, and to my amazement, our host actually tries to rap over it. And here I was hoping that he had been undergoing treatment for his tin ear for beats under Koch's employee health care plan. Fuck.

10. WHATMAKEAN---ATHINKDAT (FEAT. LIL' JAMAL)

The artist formerly known as Mally G makes a return to the spotlight alongside his Def Squad coworker (I had completely forgotten that Jamal was part of the crew, but be honest with yourselves, you did the same thing). It's too bad that Keith couldn't have scored him a spot on “U Ain't Nobody”, because at least that Def Squad reunion made sense, and it had Redman on it. This song was barely passable.

11. WHAT IT IS (FEAT. METHOD MAN & 50 GRAND)

I can only assume that Method Man pops up on this track as a favor to Reggie Noble, because this isn't the most natural collaboration otherwise. E-Double's beat sounds like one of the weaker offerings from Meth's 4:21...The Day After, and Keith never sounds quite sure how to handle it, while Method Man sticks with the cameo thing, so he never really needed to commit in the first place. 50 Grand, Keith's weed carrier, actually benefits from rhyming alongside both of these veterans, as he turns in one of his better performances, so at least some good came from this unlikely marriage.

12. WE RIDIN' (FEAT. L.O.D.)

Keith Murray has been showing love to his L.O.D. crew ever since Erick Sermon's “Hostile” way back in 1993, so I have to give him credit for his consistency and loyalty. He even graciously steps aside and allows his crew to have this entire song to themselves (save for the intro and the hook). Sermon's beat is a simple loop that sounded alright at first, but got more and more annoying as it went along, and by the time the nineteenth member of the Legion of Doom made his way to the microphone, I was worn out. But 50 Grand and Kel Vicious (the first and second guys to perform, respectively) sounded alright.

13. DA BEEF MURRAY SHOW (SKIT)

What a wasted opportunity. Keith Murray could have directly addressed his tendency to start needless fights with other rappers, or maybe even have made fun of himself for doing the same. Instead, we get an uninspired and unnecessary skit.

14. NEVER DID SHIT (FEAT. UNIQUE)

This song was pretty stupid. Keith Murray and Unique, who sounds like a cross between Hurricane G and Eve except after having been hit by a truck and suffering irreversible brain damage, engage in a boring battle of the sexes that hits all of the same points as every single other rap song that approaches this type of material. You're on an indie label now, Keith: you don't have to do this kind of shit anymore.

15. SOMETHING LIKE A MODEL (FEAT. JUNIOR)

While I thought it was funny that the song kicks off with an unexpected Beastie Boys reference, this track is what I jinxed myself with earlier: a Keith Murray song for the ladies. Is it bad that I was left wanting to warn any possible female love interest for our host to duck? Yeah, I know, I thought I had gotten all of the “Keith Murray has obvious anger issues” jokes out of my system. But here we are.

16. LATE NIGHT (FEAT. L.O.D., BOSIE, MING BOLLA, & RYZE)

Our host ends Rap-Murr-Phobla (Fear Of Real Hip Hop) with a dark hypothetical tale about what happens to folks who make fun of Keith Murray's obvious anger issues. Alongside his trusty weed carriers, Keith proceeds to torture a snitch, but the session goes awry, and they have to dispose of the body in pieces scattered throughout the city, in case you're a potential serial killer and were looking to a rap album, for some reason, for tips. It goes without saying that this was the most bizarre way I've heard a rap album end in quite some time. It could be argued that the entire track was a metaphor about how Keith feels about music critics or fair-weather fans. But at least he sounded at home on here.

THE LAST WORD: So can this career be saved? Not with Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear Of Real Hip Hop), that's for sure: there's an awful lot of bullshit to sift through, hampering the entertainment value. But, surprisingly, Keith Murray may still be deserving of a second act. The handful of good songs on Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear Of Real Hip Hop) are actually really good, and his lyrical dexterity sounds refreshing when compared to most of the artists who are popular today. The production is mostly boring (am I the only guy who feels that Erick Sermon should just fucking retire already? Anyone? Bueller?), but Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear Of Real Hip Hop) proves that, had he been accompanied by better musical backing, Keith Murray is still capable of making you listen to his every thought. This album isn't very good, so you shouldn't waste your time with it, but t hat doesn't mean that you should count Keith out just yet. Which was not the expectation I had when I found this album. Weird.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

Other Keith Murray posts can be found by clicking here.

My Gut Reaction: Redman - Reggie (December 7, 2010)

As it has been foretold at each year's passing, the major labels in the music industry tend to unleash product during the final month of the year that are best described as "tax write-offs".  As all major labels are essentially giant fucking corporations, and this is America, they are not very pleased with the idea of spending any additional money on goods and services that they can very easily unload onto the public with a minimum of effort.  Rushing albums for release in December of each year allows the bookkeepers to remove  line items that will not have to carry over into the start of the new fiscal year, and they also get the additional bonus of appearing to be artist-centric, as opposed to seeking out profits with each new project.

Redman's Reggie, his seventh solo album, will most certainly not make Def Jam any fucking money, so its surprising appearance on store shelves (after a nine-month delay and a title swap, adjusted from the more confusing Reggie Noble "0" 9 1/2 to what you're looking at now) can only be attributed to the label's incessant need to appear more hip hop friendly than it truly is these days, with its attempt to appeal to the older heads who grew up when the label was The House That Russell Built.  (Upcoming albums from Sheek Louch and Ghostface Killah also help further this theory.)

Tax write-off status aside, Reggie is unique within Redman's overall body of work, in that he has claimed in interviews that he is not the actual performer on here: instead, an alter-ego named Reggie is handling all mic duties.  Three years after his last solo effort, Red Gone Wild: Thee Album (and one year after dropping Blackout! 2 with his smoking buddy Method Man), Reggie Noble apparently decided that what he really wanted to do was release an album full of "pop"-type songs, those more likely to be heard in the club rather than exclusively within the earbuds of your friendly neighborhood backpacker.  This was a conscious decision, though: Redman has admitted that he was going for a much "bigger" sound, and probably attributes all of the adjustments to the Reggie alter-ego, so that his hardcore fans can simply sidestep this entry in his catalog and move along.

With this change comes a tidal wave of red ink, as Reggie edited the fuck out of his traditional blueprint to fit his new "character" (which, coincidentally, sounds exactly like him in every single way possible, but that was to be expected).  On Reggie, gone are the obligatory appearances by his fellow Def Squad members Erick Sermon and Keith Murray: hell, Reggie is Redman's first album to not feature any production from E-Double, and if I remember correctly (since I'm writing this after having listened to the disc), he doesn't promote that particular crew at all.  Instead, he brings in his Gilla House merry band of weed carriers, who have co-starred with him on two Ill At Will mixtapes (the first two, the ones that actually star Redman, not the ones drafted by other artists to talk shit about him) and on Red Gone Wild: Thee Album, along with some odd, out-of-place guests like Bun B, Faith Evans, and Kool Moe Dee.  And, naturally, Method Man makes his mandatory cameo, since Reggie Noble appears to feel more of a kinship with the Wu-Tang Clan then the guys who were actually around when his career began.  But I'm probably reading into things too deeply, and I'm sure Keith Murray will crawl up from under his rock and deliver a guest verse on whatever ends up being Reggie's follow-up.

In addition, Redman chopped all of the filler from Reggie, so this project ends up being the very first one in the man's catalog to not feature any skits whatsoever.  He also fired all of the recurring characters: Reggie features no introduction from Dr. Trevis, nor is there another chapter in the ongoing saga of Soopaman Luva.  All we are left with is a tightly-paced thirteen tracks consisting of actual songs, with mostly no-name production (which isn't always a bad thing) laying a foundation for "Reggie" to attempt to decimate.

Unsurprisingly, Def Jam Records failed to do any sort of real promotional push for Reggie, leaving the artist to do everything himself, even forcing him to record and release his own music videos.  Since this album was supposed to originally drop in the first quarter of 2010 (it was promised, along with a new Method Man solo effort, in the booklet of Blackout! 2), Redman tested the waters by unleashing a slew of new music, including tracks such as "Coc Back", which was originally intended to be the first single, but ended up on the cutting room floor.  The deleted tracks wound up on both a Reggie-endorsed DJ Rake mixtape, which is confusingly also entitled Reggie, and the self-released Pancake N Syrup mixtape, which hit the Interweb mere days before Reggie found its way to store shelves.  

So at least we can't say that Reggie Noble isn't a hard worker.  

1. REGGIE (INTRO)

Here lies proof that Reggie won't be your average Redman album: instead of enlisting his Dr. Trevis persona to introduce the project, Redman elects to spit a verse instead. Which is pretty goddamn good: the way it pairs up with this instrumental from The Futuristiks (with Team Ready getting a co-production credit), which reminds me of De La Soul's “Stakes Is High” (thanks to the use of the same Ahmad Jamal “Swahililand” source material that De La used), is fucking electric. And then Reggie starts to sing, via Shawn Carter's arch-nemesis, Auto-Tune. Truthfully, he doesn't sound any worse than every other rapper who has secretly harbored dreams of becoming an R&B singer, but it still throws the listener for a loop.

2. THAT'S WHERE I B (FEAT. DJ KOOL)

That's how the title reads in the liner notes and on the disc itself, so that's what I'm going with, regardless of what it says on the back cover.  On here, Reggie recruits his “Let's Get Dirty” co-star DJ Kool (of “Let Me Clear My Throat” fame – that shit still bangs today, by the way) and verbally dismantles the surprisingly effective club-ready Ty Fyffe beat. Our host refers to himself as a “'70s baby” on here, which may automatically cause my younger readers to look away in disgust, since Reggie Noble is probably the kind of guy who spins tales to his nephews and nieces about how gas prices used to be incredibly low and how he used to walk to school barefoot in the snow, backwards, twenty miles uphill each way, but I urge you to give this song a spin anyway. Redman has the unnatural ability to sound at home over nearly any type of beat imaginable: “That's Where I B” is no different.

3. DEF JAMMABLE

Although this song, Reggie's first single, has been floating around on other hip hop blogs for several months now, I've never actually listened to it until today. (I'll explain why later.) The title is kind of amusing the first time you read it, but it stirs up memories of how badly Def Jam Records has fouled up the marketing of just about every single Redman project post-Doc's Da Name 2000 (including Reggie, which you wouldn't even know was released this week had it not been for Redman's own street team promoting it on your favorite blogs). This song is only alright, though: DJ Khalil's beat is fairly boring, and Reggie's bars, some of which worked fairly well and some of which sound as though they were performed on autopilot, couldn't do much to salvage it. Auto-Tune makes a return appearance on here, as well, when the Funk Doc croons the chorus. This was the first disappointment on Reggie thus far. 

4. FULL NELSON (FEAT. READY ROC, RUNT DAWG, & SAUKRATES)

More singing can be found on “Full Nelson”, but this time it's handled by Reggie's Canadian import friend Saukrates, leaving our host more time to work on his verse. This Gilla House posse cut features two above-average contributions from Ready Roc and Runt Dawg and a killer performance from Redman, all laid over a window-rattling Tone Mason instrumental. This shit was nice, son! It's good that Redman has the ability to surround himself with talent when his immediate Def Squad family is otherwise occupied: there are very few rappers in our chosen genre with this trait. Speaking of which, whatever happened to Icadon/Icarus?

5. LIFT IT UP

This song only runs for two-and-a-quarter minutes, so it doesn't last long enough to annoy the listener, but it was still pretty awful. Redman's Reggie alter-ego is singularly focused on getting played in a club setting: that's the only explanation I can come up with for this project's overall sound thus far. Reggie sounds bored as shit during his two verses on here, almost as though even he wanted to burn through this as quickly as possible. “Lift It Up” should have been reassigned to mixtape purgatory. I did enjoy the visual imagery of being so high that marijuana emitted “through [his] veins”, though.

6. ALL I DO (FEAT. FAITH EVANS)

The appearance of a featured vocalist on any Redman song is cause for alarm, but, thankfully, Faith Evans, who takes leave of the magical forest she currently resides in to cash a paycheck, doesn't turn “All I Do” into a love rap: instead, Reggie crafts a personal ode to hip hop and how its various incarnations have molded his life and helped him with establishing his career and lifestyle. For that reason alone, “All I Do” isn't objectionable enough to complain about, especially since Redman sticks with the literal theme and does not try to turn it into an extended metaphor for something else. However, Reggie does sound a bit uncomfortable during this song, possibly because it doesn't sound as though it would fit in with the rest of his back catalog. But this was still alright.

7. LEMME GET 2 (FEAT. SAUKRATES)

Rich Kidd's beat leads the listener to believe that this song may be a mediation on lost loved ones or some other topic equally as serious, but instead, Redman and Saukrates (who sings another hook, but this time, also spits a verse) boast about living the high life by bragging about two of the three bullet points that always come up whenever a rapper is in this position: inordinate amounts of pussy, and the ability to travel freely. (For those of you who are curious, “having shitloads of money” completes the trifecta.) Reggie spends too many bars describing the act of being on a plane, which sounds about as boring as actually being on a plane (that isn't a private jet, anyway), but he still tries his best to sell the shit out of his verse, thanks to his attention to detail in what would normally be considered a pedestrian performance, and Sauk even sounds decent. This isn't bad, but I can't really recommend it to anyone, either.

8. MIC, LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

Hey, kids! Do you remember the producer Rockwilder? Of course you do: I keep questioning the validity of his successful career whenever one of his beats pops up on one of the older albums I review. Well, he's apparently still working today, as evidenced by his work on this awkwardly-titled Redman song that sounds corny as shit, especially when the robotic female voice during the hook dictates the theme of each of Reggie's three verses to the audience, which makes this song sound like a poor excuse to string together three otherwise unrelated mixtape freestyles. Reggie sounds technically proficient, but this song was boring as fuck. At least Rockwilder's beat has been updated for the 2010 audience, though it still sucks. It was nice for Reggie to send some work Rockwilder's way, though, since Redman is the reason Rock had a career in the first place and all.

9. CHEERZ (FEAT. READY ROC & MELANIE RUTHERFORD)

This song was underwhelming at best. Reggie and his weed carrier (given that this is Redman we're talking about, I mean that in the most literal sense this time around) have an effortless chemistry behind the mic, but the M-Phazes beat sounds as schmaltzy as pre-The College Dropout Kanye West, and having R&B singer (and Gilla House associate, if memory serves me correctly) Melanie Rutherford sing the chorus disrupts the flow of what is ostensibly a song celebrating the success of an underground hip hop career. (That sounds like an oxymoron, I know, but just go with me on this.) This was alright, but it's not real.

10. ROCKIN WIT DA BEST (FEAT. KOOL MOE DEE)

This enjoyable effort was a smartly calculated bid for Reggie's continued relevance in our chosen genre: our host reaches out to the older audience (let's be honest, the odds are pretty good that, if you're a fan of Redman, you're probably at least in your late twenties or early thirties) by including witty wordplay and what amounts to a fairly useless cameo from old school legend Kool Moe Dee, while also appealing to the newer heads by spitting over a rather hostile ThreeSixty instrumental that gets the neck moving. This song won't suddenly convert anyone over to the Doc side, but it was still pretty good.

11. LITE 1 WITCHA BOI (FEAT. METHOD MAN & BUN B)

It wouldn't be a Redman album without an ode to the stickiest of the icky: the weed song is possibly the only consistent theme running through his catalog now, since the Def Squad fails to make their presence known on Reggie. And of course his partner-in-rhyme Method Man would make his obligatory appearance on this track. But the problem is that this song fucking sucks, no matter what the other blogs tell you: neither Meth nor Red sound at all natural smoking homegrown over this Southern-tinted Audibles instrumental. (For the record, Bun B, who last worked with hip hop's Cheech and Chong on “City Lights” from Blackout! 2, sounds okay, since he's in his wheelhouse and all.) I find it troubling that a Meth and Red song can sound this fucking terrible: this doesn't leave me with especially high expectations for the upcoming Blackout! 3. Sigh.

12. WHN THE LIGHTS GO OFF (FEAT. POO BEAR)

Nope, I double checked: that is actually how the word is spelled in the title. Clearly, Reggie was in too much of a hurry to use spellcheck. This was, quite possibly, the most “mature” Redman song ever recorded. I put the “mature” in quotes because Reggie is still talking his shit, but this time around, he's also reflecting on his life in our chosen genre and how lucky he has been to enjoy it for so long, all while acknowledging that he has had to work hard for his position as an elder statesman. The beat is fairly non-Redman in nature, and Poo Bear's chorus is pretty generic, but there isn't anything technically wrong with this song. I don't think it'll end up on my iTunes Redman playlist anytime soon, though.

13. TIGER STYLE CRANE

This was the first song I heard from Reggie that was guaranteed to make the album (as opposed to those various teaser singles that our host dropped and the label forgot about), and I loved it so much that I refused to listen to “Def Jammable” or any other new product, just in case they tainted my theory that Redman was still capable of bringing some hot shit to the table. The Fyre Dept.'s beat is fast-paced and a perfect fit for Reggie's boasts (which are recycled from a satellite radio freestyle he performed over the beat for Jay-Z's Dr. Dre-produced “Trouble”), and his self-produced music video only adds to the lack of luster. “Tiger Style Crane” doesn't really fit on Reggie (indeed, the outro of “Whn The Lights Ho Off” implies that the previous song was originally conceived to be the ending of the album), but it's a welcome gift for the self-proclaimed “eleventh member of the Wu-Tang” to give his fans.

THE LAST WORD: Reggie is a step in the right direction for Redman, in that it sounds much better than the disappointing Red Gone Wild: Thee Album, but it still doesn't consistently work. In excising the elements that made his previous efforts run overlong (the multiple skits, recurring characters, and most of the guest spots from folks outside of his immediate Gilla House crew), Reggie Noble has also lost most of the sense of fun his earlier projects exhibited. True, Reggie doesn't have an opportunity to lose focus and ramble on during an album that consists of thirteen (relatively short) tracks, but our host is at his best when he has no such restrictions. About half of Reggie works beautifully, with Redman's nimble verses playing tag with instrumentals that manage to keep up, but when our host deviates from his previously-established formula, the results run the gamut from poor to terrible (or, in the case of “Lite 1 Witcha Boi”, terribly poor). Still, even though this wasn't a complete success, Reggie does manage to prove that Redman is capable of creating (some) compelling music, with or without the help of his boys. I just hope that his follow-up to this doesn't completely ignore his past life as a flagship Def Squad member, and maybe also provides some clarification on this whole “eleventh member of Wu-Tang” thing, since Reggie Noble would sound pretty good over some Wu-Elements contributions.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

Catch up with Reggie Noble by clicking here.

For Promotional Use Only: Keith Murray & L.O.D. - Kickin' Ass Inc. Mixtape Vol. 1 (2005-2006)

Def Squad member Keith Murray was signed to Def Jam Records for exactly the length of time it would take him to record He's Keith Murray, his fourth album (his previous three were all distributed by Jive Records, prior to his jail sentence). He didn't last at the label very long, as he was accused of assaulting a member of the Def Jam marketing-slash-street team, and was dropped almost immediately, leaving his fellow group member, Def Jam artist, and friend Redman behind to clean up the mess. As a result, the label failed to promote He's Keith Murray and allowed it to die a slow and painful death in stores.

Left without a label home, Keith began to record on his own, hoping to release his fifth album in 2006 on an independent label. (As he was too large of a liability, you can understand that major labels would be reluctant to look at a rapper who was prone to attacking members of the staff.) As a teaser for the fans that remained after He's Keith Murray ended up sucking the sweat off of a elephant's taint, he linked up with his band of weed carriers, who called themselves L.O.D. (or the Legion Of Doom), and released Kickin' Ass Inc. Mixtape Vol. 1.

Apparently, I didn't give enough of a fuck to figure out who exactly was in L.O.D.: I assumed it was just 50 Grand and Kel-Vicious, as they are the only two unknown rappers to get a significant amount of airtime on Keith's solo albums. Kickin' Ass Inc. Mixtape Vol. 1 includes a bunch of other folks whose names I won't bother listing, as they don't play as large a role as 50 Grand, Kel, and Keith anyway. But you should know that they exist.

Kickin' Ass Inc. Mixtape Vol. 1 purports to be the appetizer for the eventual main course: Keith Murray's fifth album. Instead, it turns ugly fairly quickly: unlike most rappers, Keith seemed to have felt that dissing other rappers on his studio projects wasn't the best forum for his complaints, but the freedom a mixtape provides gave him the balls he needed to finally return fire back at Prodigy of Mobb Deep, who had been sending subliminal (and not-so-subliminal) threats in his direction ever since The Infamous. Unlike most rappers, though, Keith had already physically assaulted Cellblock P before he started talking shit about him on wax.

That last sentence shouldn't surprise anybody who has been following Keith's career thus far.

(Note: the tracklisting that appears below contains the titles that came up on iTunes after I loaded up the disc. After researching Kickin' Ass Inc. Mixtape Vol. 1 online (and discovering that there isn't a whole lot of information available, hence the really small picture of the cover), I found that some of the skits may feature different titles, but you know what? They're fucking skits on a fucking mixtape. So let it go already.)

1. INTRO
Oddly, this mixtape intro doesn't even bother to set the listener up for what we're about to be subjected to. Making it thirty seconds of your life that you will never get back.

2. TAKIN' IT BACK (PRODIGY DISS)
Starts off one way, but then swerves into the “Keith Murray hates Mobb Deep” lane pretty quickly, if not randomly (title aside). Considering the fact that Havoc landed production spots on both the new EPMD album and Meth & Red's Blackout! 2, it appears that Keith was unsuccessful in getting the message to his comrades. As dis tracks go, this was completely scattershot.

3. Y'ALL KNOW MY STEEZ
Remember when Keith Murray was imaginative and fresh with his lyrics? Yeah, me neither. And this unnecessarily violent track doesn't help matters any.

4. SKIT
…

5. PULL YA BOOTS UP
I understand why Keith Murray is so obsessed with destroying Prodigy (sort of), but has anybody ever thought to simply pull the man aside and tell him that Cellblock P is no longer relevant to hip hop? Not that Keith Murray is a shining star, either, but still, Prodigy has been convicted of the involuntary manslaughter of his own fucking career.

6. SKIT
…

7. L.O.D. FREESTYLE
This freestyle was poorly recorded, as Keith's ad-libs are louder than the rhymes of his weed carriers. Maybe that's just my copy, or maybe that was intentional. If it was supposed to be this way, that's telling of this mixtape project as a whole.

8. WHEN DA LIGHTS GO OUT
This L.O.D. track has the same volume issues. I guess it doesn't matter much, though, as there isn't anything worth listening to on the track in the first place. Gilla House these guys are not.

9. I HOOK OFF (PRODIGY DISS)
I get that Keith is not a Mobb Deep fan, but his violent outbursts against Prodigy pale in comparison to how Jay-Z dismantled Cellblock P's career with just a photograph. The hook, in which Keith begs for a possible confrontation, is too wordy. L.O.D. also attack former Hit Squad affiliate K-Solo, which was kind of weird, but it keeps with the project's theme of attacking people for seemingly no good reason.

10. SKIT
…

11. TILL SOMEBODY GETS HURT
Finally, a halfway decent song! Keith has always sounded good over subtle boom bap such as this, and sparks of what could have been pop off all over this track. Oh, if only...

12. LIVE YOUR LIFE FREESTYLE
If this is a “freestyle”, then Keith's actual prewritten rhymes over the rest of this mixtape now sound even worse in comparison.

13. SKIT
…

14. VIGILANTE
Keith doesn't even sound like he's trying. Thank your respective spiritual entities that “Vigilante” is as short as it is.

15. IT AIN'T NOTHIN'
Keith takes a back seat to his boys, who don't sound terrible on here, but you're left wishing that the artists involved all had more to say.

16. STOP UR BULLSHIT
A Jay-Z bonus track, the Swizz Beats-produced “Stop”, is jacked to poor effect by Keith, although I may only be complaining because I've always hated the beat. Therefore, it's unfair to blame the artist for the lack of entertainment value on here, so the man gets a pass. For this one song only.

17. DAILY DEPARTED
That can't be the correct title. Unless Keith's referring to how many people pass away per day, as opposed to his "dearly departed”. Anyway, this mixtape seems to be made up of half-thoughts and sporadic violent outbursts that tend to happen whenever an artist has no filter between his brain and his mouth. Also, when said artist is surrounded only by his weed carriers and not by his other successful friends (*cough* the rest of Def Squad *cough*).

18. SKIT
…

19. I NEED BEER FREESTYLE
Well, the title is goofy, but the actual lyrics aren't very memorable. Except for when he repeats some of the same lyrics again, which, oddly, makes this sound more like a true “freestyle”, if you pretend that Keith had forgotten his lines and decided to repeat them.

20. SKIT
…

21. 80 BAR ASSASSIN (PRODIGY DISS)
I think everybody still following this post is aware that Keith Murray hates Prodigy, right? Enough already! Mobb Deep (or, more specifically, Cellblock P) released a track specifically calling him out (“In The Long Run”, a bonus track from Hell On Earth that was only accessible if you inserted the CD into your computer and punched in a secret code...orwhat you could do is just Google it), but apparently P's comments were such that Keith decided to basically devote an entire mixtape to him. (To be fair, Prodigy referred to Keith as a "fucking immigrant".) It would be one thing if the beef elevated the lyrics of the players involved, but it didn't, so what was the point?

22. SECRET INDICTMENT
Taken from Keith's third album, It's A Beautiful Thing. Still a pretty good song, too.

23. DA MAGNIFICENT
What the fuck is this shit?

24. SKIT
…

25. L.O.D. FREESTYLE
Another imaginatively-titled freestyle from the Legion Of Doom, and once again, Murray's ad-libs are louder than the actual participants. What's up with that shit?

26. OUTRO
Well, at least he thanks us for listening. Keith promises a second volume in this series: to date, no such sequel has been released. Maybe more people would care about you if you stopped referring to your dwindling fan base as “motherfuckers”. Just a thought.

SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN? No, not at all. There is absolutely nothing redeeming on Kicking Prodigy's Ass, Vol. 1, and there is most certainly nothing worth actually listening to. I think I'd rather listen to Prodigy's current output than continue following the exploits of Keith Murray and his substandard potholders. No wonder they never made a second installment. Avoid this one at all costs, unless you enjoy wasting your time on stupid shit.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:
Other Keith Murray albums (of varying degrees of quality) can be found by clicking here.

My Gut Reaction: Method Man & Redman - Blackout! 2 (May 19, 2009)

I know, Max ran out to pick up a Wu-Tang Clan-related album the week of its release? How shocking! But you all saw this coming, anyway, so you two just need to play along.

Ten years after releasing their original collaborative effort Blackout!, Method Man and Redman (finally) bring us the long-awaited, awkwardly-exclaimed Blackout! 2. Unlike the first album, which at least pretended to be a Wu-Tang Clan/Def Squad presentation (with the ball falling into Reggie's court more so than Meth), Blackout! 2 doesn't include any Rza involvement at all. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if The Rza wasn't aware of this recording until he walked into Best Buy yesterday morning on his way to the grocery store to pick up some more honey to dip his blunts in.

Anyway, Def Jam Records reintroduces Clifford Smith and Reggie Noble, two elder statesmen of hip hop, into an environment where nobody really gives a fuck about either rapper. They have their fans (like myself), but they reenter a rap climate that has changed drastically in the past decade (which was also my complaint regarding Eminem's Relapse). This may help explain why Def Jam's marketing department decided to release three singles from the project at once: "Mrs. International" (the song for the ladies), "City Lights" (the track for the stoners), and "A Yo" (the song purportedly for "real" hip hop heads, featuring production from Pete Rock, himself a hip hop elder as well). The liner notes all approach My Bloody Valentine 3-D territory, which I don't really mind, since that movie was hilariously awful, but the fact that, underneath the CD tray, the label markets the fact that you can buy ringtones of all of the songs involved on Blackout! 2 scares me more than a little.

Fingers crossed!

1. BO2 (INTRO)
Red and Meth spit a verse apiece over this Allah Mathematics beat, making this the only semi-Wu instrumental on all of Blackout! 2. Good to see they got it out of the way. Reggie outraps his smoking partner, as he usually does anyway, but Meth sounds rejuvenated, excited by the prospect that his rap career may actually pick up again, and his attitude is contagious.

2. I'M DOPE N---A
I thought the stupid title was going to foreshadow a horrible song, but guess what? I loved this shit. Havoc's beat is the best thing I've heard from the non-imprisoned half of Mobb Deep in a long time, and both Red and Meth rip it to shreds. This would make some dope entrance music for either rapper. Or even for myself.

3. A-YO (FEAT SAUKRATES)
The Saukrates hook leads me to believe that Nate Dogg, an obvious influence, was simply unavailable. Upon its release, "A-Yo" never really impressed me, regardless of the pedigree of Peter Rockingham behind the boards, but within the context of the album, I still don't like it.

4. DANGEROUS MCEES
Standard Erick Sermon instrumental work, although it still sounds good. The hook sucks (seriously, whenever I wrote about a rap song, which is about 90% of the time, you should just assume that the chorus is terrible, unless I say otherwise), but it's good to hear both Red and (especially) Method Man ripping shit as if it were still the mid-1990s. Ah, those were the days.

5. ERRBODY SCREAM (FEAT KEITH MURRAY)
I give credit to producer Swiff D for trying something different, but no matter how hype the lyrical delivery of the three emcees sound, the slowdown during the hook is unsettling. Anybody else think it was a bit awkward for Def Jam to acknowledge Keith Murray (he of the "allegedly assaulting the Def Jam street team" infamy) and his contribution?

6. HEY ZULU
I liked this song, up until the lame-ass chorus. Reggie and Meth sound energized, though. With this kind of hustle, they may just get How High 2 greenlit yet, regardless of studio involvement. At least the soundtrack would probably be decent.

7. CITY LIGHTS (FEAT BUN B)
Sounds very much like Big Boi's "Kryptonite (I'm On It)": it took me a bit to separate the memory of the old song with the existence of this one. Especially since they're both about the same subject matter. Method Man sounds entirely out of his element, which will make listeners uncomfortable, but Reggie manages to adapt well, and Bub B (from UGK) is right at home: the contributions from those two help negate Clifford Smith completely, making for an enjoyable listen. Pimp C, rest in peace.

8. FATHER'S DAY
Method Man clearly had something to prove on Blackout! 2, as he pulls the rug right up from under Reggie lyrically. This song starts off sounding like an out-of-place interlude, but everything falls into place rather nicely. As long as they don't shoot a video dressed up as Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, we're good.

9. MRS. INTERNATIONAL (SKIT) (FEAT TANISHA GREEN, MICHELLE PINCKNEY, & SAUKRATES)
Kind of goofy, but like all skits involving Reggie Noble, I can see this becoming less funny with each listen.

10. MRS. INTERNATIONAL (FEAT ERICK SERMON)
Maybe I'm just not remembering correctly, but I don't recall the original Blackout! requiring a song for the ladies. I don't know whose idea it was to have Erick Sermon (a) not produce the track, and (b) actually sing on the hook, but the gamble works. This is wholly pleasant, in a "I probably wouldn't listen to it often, but I wouldn't change the station if, somehow, Meth and Red pulled off the impossible and managed to get on the radio in my neck of the woods" kind of way.

11. HOW BOUT DAT (FEAT READY ROC & STREETLIFE)
Did Icarus and Redman have a falling out that I'm not aware of? That's the only reason I can think of that justifies Ready Roc's new position as go-to weed carrier and kidney donor alongside Meth's longtime candle warmer Streetlife. This is not to say that he sounds bad, though: this shit is actually pretty enjoyable, thanks to the focus of all four rappers involved. The hook is a bit corny, though. I laughed out loud when Reggie shouted "I'm the boss!", though, thanks to the goddamn Lonely Island CD. Come to think of it, Blackout! 2 would probably go nicely with a bottle of Santana DVX.

12. DIZ S IZ 4 ALL MY SMOKERS
I picture an all-star pothead remix of this laid-back track, performed possibly to raise funds to post bail when Tommy Chong eventually gets arrested again. The sudden change of pace during the hook is jarring, but otherwise, this isn't bad.

13. LOCK DOWN (SKIT) (FEAT DJ KAY SLAY, C.O. ELLIS, & READY ROC)
...

14. FOUR MINUTES TO LOCK DOWN (FEAT RAEKWON & GHOSTFACE KILLAH)
The only song on Blackout! 2 to feature other members of the Clan and they couldn't even find a leftover True Master beat to rock over? This was kind of majorly fucking disappointing. The rappers all lack commitment, Raekwon's narcoleptic ass especially. (Anyone still looking forward to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2? Because, sadly, I still am.) Meth's line "next to Rza, ain't no n---a bigger than the group" is interesting, especially since he makes that point on a song featuring two members of his group who publicly complained about The Rza during the recording of 8 DIagrams (an album I still like today).

15. NEVA HERD DIS B4
Once again, Reggie refers to himself as the "eleventh member of [the] Wu-Tang [Clan]". It must be an honorary title, kind of like the "Ph.D in Bloggerology" I received from Arizona State University last year. Let me tell you, that thing gets you out of maaad speeding tickets, yo.

16. I KNOW SUMPTN (FEAT POO BEAR)
Redman is one of the few rappers I like who can attempt a club banger and not have to compromise his flow. (Even when he works with Christina Aguilera, with a song that is a guilty pleasure, and not just because of her assless chaps, he still comes off as Reggie fucking Noble.) King David's beat fit the man like a glove, and Meth sounds, well, at least he saw fit to show up that day.

17. A LIL' BIT (FEAT MELANIE RUTHERFORD)
Good to see Reggie throwing his Gilla House studio singer some work. The production proves that hip hop hasn't really been missing Rockwilder's sound (he co-produces this track with Chris n Teeb, two other producers that you'll probably never hear from again), This is easily the worst song on Blackout! 2, but considering the fact that this is also the last song on Blackout! 2, the pain subsides faster than you would think.

THE LAST WORD: I'm not sure who Def Jam thinks the audience for Blackout! 2 is, but this album is deserving of one. It's nowhere near as consistent as Blackout!, but it hits many high points, thanks to the professionalism of both Redman and Method Man. One wishes the production was on par with the talent that Reggie and Clifford still possess (today's rappers could learn a lot from these two stoners: maybe all the weed keeps them focused?), but even still, I enjoyed this throwback to a golden era more so that Relapse. This disc is destined to be overshadowed by Marshall Mathers, but you should still go to the store and support the arts. There's a two-disc version that includes a DVD or something: that version was sold out when I hit the stores, so I couldn't tell you what appears on it, but either way, Red and Meth have garnered enough goodwill in the past two decades to earn your money.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:
Wu-Tang Clan posts? Def Squad write-ups? Max has them.

Redman - Red Gone Wild: Thee Album (March 27, 2007)

2007 finally saw the release of Red Gone Wild: Thee Album, Redman's sixth solo album, which had been promised for several years at that point. The album itself was in danger of becoming one of those fabled follow-up projects that rappers discuss in interviews for years on end but never materializes (such as Dr. Dre's Detox, Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2, and, in a much more broad sense musically, Guns 'N Roses's Chinese Democracy (at least until it finally hit Best Buy store shelves fourteen years after its inception)). However, the difference between Redman's project and the other three listed is that Redman's previous album, Malpractice, caused him to lose a lot of fans, so there weren't a whole lot of folks out there anyway that gave much of a fuck about the guy's career in 2007. Malpractice found our rhyming hero managing to amuse only himself with increasingly nonsensical thematic structures (what the fuck was the "Roller Coaster Malpractice" skit supposed to be about, anyway?) and reliance on an uncharacteristically poor selection of beats. So Red Gone Wild: Thee Album was intended to be his return to form, which it could have been, had his label, Def Jam, not derailed his efforts by keeping the disc in the vault for so long, forcing Reggie to retool some older tracks and rethink his original concept.

As I mentioned in the write-up for Reggie's last mixtape, Live From The Bricks, the version of Red Gone Wild: Thee Album that we received was not the album that was intended to be released. Multiple tracks promised by Redman (and leaked to the Interweb) were ultimately cut, possibly due to age or poor reception, such as the Eminem-produced "I C Dead People", which was constructed as a dream/nightmare collaboration between Redman and the ghosts of 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Big L, and Big Punisher (or, rather, the ghosts of older verses from the late rappers). Other tracks which are missing entirely include "Fuck Da Security" (or "Rush Da Security", as it is known on the Def Jam promotional twelve-inch: it does manage to put in an appearance on foreign editions of this disc, however) and "Future Thugs", which also featured labelmates Ghostface Killah and Ludacris. However, one older track that did manage to make the cut was the Timbaland-produced "Put It Down", a song that Reggie had mentioned for many years: Redman bragged that he had purchased Timothy's instrumental (along with several others) long before his takeover of pop radio (with the assistance of Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado).

So, was Red Gone Wild: Thee Album worth all of the fuss?

1. FIRE
Well, it's not a rap album intro, so that's a plus. Although Reggie actually rhymes on this track, it's a pretty unmemorable effort, but I still prefer it to an intro.

2. BAK INDA BUILDIN'
Hey, Dr. Trevis has returned! This track could have made for a much better album opener. The instrumental (provided by Adam Deitch, a drummer and producer who has worked with Jean Grae, Talib Kweli, and Afu-Ra) and Chris Pinset (who has worked with Redman on Red Gone Wild: Thee Album)) is actually interesting, for one. But that could just be me.

3. PUT IT DOWN (FEAT DJ KOOL)
Redman has gone on record that he had this Timbaland beat in his back pocket well before Timbo's reincarnation as a pop producer. Considering that this instrumental sounds like one of LL Cool J's outtakes from the same sessions that produced "Headsprung", that may not be a solid bragging point. However, this shit does sound really good. Reggie rides the Timbaland track as if he and Timmy were born to create this song.

4. GIMMIE ONE
While I appreciate the reference to Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle (a flick that's really fucking good), I found this track to be boring as shit. The fact that this was produced by Pete Rock surprises me to no end, given the final result.

5. FUCK UR OPINION (SKIT)
...

6. SUMTN 4 URRBODY (FEAT BLAM, READY ROC, RUNT DAWG, ICADON, & SAUKRATES)
A posse cut featuring the supporting players from Reggie's three previous mixtapes. It's gracious of Redman to limit his own contribution to eight bars halfway through the track, but he really should have either started shit off or closed it out, if only as a show of dominance. Even though I was nonplussed with Saukrates on here, everybody else was pretty good, so as a whole, the song is decent.

7. HOW U LIKE DAT (FEAT GOV MATTIC)
With so many references to Reggie's mixtape series (Ill At Will, for those of you not keeping up), this track comes off more as a freestyle than an actual song. So it makes sense that the beat is of no consequence, as it exists solely so Reggie knows when his sentenced are supposed to end. Reggie dominates the track (his guest is only afforded the last thirty seconds to spit) and, curiously, refers to himself as having "a Wu-Tang tongue" while calling himself the "Def Squad lieutenant". Hmmm.

8. FREESTYLE FREESTYLE
I seem to remember bloggers going apeshit bananas for this track when Red Gone Wild: Thee Album was released. I suppose Reggie's rhymes are good, but he sounds a tad bit bored. That's probably because the song as a whole sucks balls, in most part due to Scott Storch's non-beat. Maybe if Storch was a better producer (he has a couple of good tracks on his resume, but that's where it stops), he wouldn't have so many financial problems right now. Maybe that last statement is a bit unfair, as the economy is rough all over, but maybe the guy should have saved his fucking money instead of buying a boat and whatever the fuck else he purchased in an ill-advised attempt to make Lil' Kim happy.

9. WALK IN GUTTA (FEAT ERICK SERMON,KEITH MURRAY, & BIZ MARKIE)
I didn't like this song back in March of 2007. Today, I can appreciate it for what it is, an above-average Def Squad song. Keith Murray sounds like he's actively trying to get his fans back, and Erick Sermon has (apparently) no need to improve his flow, since he still has everyone's nostalgic EPMD respect, but Reggie steals the show on his own album, which is not only nice, it should have been a given.

10. WUTCHOOGONNADO (FEAT MELANIE RUTHERFORD)
I'm going to walk away, that's what. This is nothing like the Reggie Noble music that people actually like to listen to. This track is followed by two separate skits, one of which ties up the trials and tribulations of the journalist that's appeared on previous Redman albums rather nicely, and those might be a better listen than this shit. Both skits appear prior to the next track.

11. DIZ IZ BRICK CITY (FEAT READY ROC)
For what is ostensibly an anthem to Reggie's hometown, this track sounds oddly sentimental. But it's not bad. Redman's punchlines are amusing, and the DJ Clark Kent beat is relaxing. The hook is all sorts of fucking awful, though.

12. RITE NOW
This was, more than likely, a condition of clearing the Al Green sample, but this song is edited. (For the most part, it's squeaky-clean, but a couple of gunshots, sexual content, and the word "fuck" manage to make an appearance.) Reggie sounds as if he's being physically restrained, and the beat isn't anything we haven't already heard from Erick Sermon.

13. BLOW TREEZ (FEAT READY ROC & METHOD MAN)
This is among the worst Redman/Method Man collaborations that I have ever witnesses, and I've caught episodes of their Fox sitcom. The flow of the song is a reggae-tinged crawl, which doesn't work for any of the rappers involved, and the lackluster stab at a South-esque hook (a repeated vocal sample) is simply the bow on a gift-wrappes pile of shit.

14. PIMP NUTZ
What the fuck is with that chorus?

15. MR. ICE CREAM MAN (SKIT)
This skit runs for just over three minutes, making this Reggie Noble's magnum opus. However, Prince Paul he ain't. This skit is entirely unnecessary.

16. HOLD DIS BLAOW!
At this point, Red Gone Wild: Thee Album has officially turned into a fucking chore to write about. Reggie brings absolutely nothing to the table, and he's supposed to be one of my favorite lyricists. The beat also sounds like a pale imitation of what Rockwilder might sound like today, which is great, since Rockwilder is actually behind the boards. Sigh...

17. GET 'EM (FEAT SAUKRATES & ICADON)
Meh.

18. MERRY JANE (FEAT SNOOP DOGG & NATE DOGG)
This weed anthem is pretty fucking stupid. Redman sounds alright, and I always appreciate a Nate Dogg hook, but both Snoop and the beat are in the running for the grand prize in a "Worst Part Of An Already Bad Track" competition. Still, I found myself wondering what Method Man would have sounded like with these three guys on the track.

19. GILLA HOUSE CHECK
I just don't care about this album anymore.

20. NO MO' SOOPAMAN LUVA
A skit that exists only to lead the listener into the next song, which just so happens to be all about Reggie's Soopaman Luva persona. Fans of the "Bathtub" intro from Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle might get a kick out of it.

21. SOOPAMAN LUVA 6 (FEAT E3, MELANIE RUTHERFORD, & HURRICANE G)
This installment is rather ridiculous, since it's all about Reggie trying to break Hurricane G out of prison (although, predictably, he gets a tad bit distracted). Speaking of which, Hurricane G's presence completely fucks this track up. I can tolerate her on some things (okay, mainly on the Cocoa Brovaz's "Spanish Harlem"), but, for the most part, I find her voice annoying as fuck. I'm kind of mystified as to how Erick Sermon could have knocked her up in the first place.

22. SOOPAMAN LUVA 6 1/2 (FEAT HURRICANE G & MELANIE RUTHERFORD)
Picks up immediately where the last installment left off, and while the beat is a lot better, there still isn't anything on here worth listening to. Maybe it's time for the Soopaman Luva to retire in Miami-Dade County.

23. SUICIDE
Adam Deitch and Chris Pinset's beat is half-great and half-annoying as shit. Hearing Reggie singing is oddly compelling, but rapping is obviously his bread and butter. I have mixed feelings about this track, but regardless of what I believe, this song should never have been designated as the last song on any Redman album.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Red Gone Wild: Thee Album is a major disappointment, considering the buildup over the past several years. I realize that a few of my two readers may try to rationalize their purchase by proclaiming that this disc isn't actually that bad, but it is what it is. With only one possible single for the radio and one other track that appeals to the hip hop heads ("Put It Down" and "Walk In Gutta", respectively), if I were running Def Jam, I wouldn't have promoted this shit, either. It should have been left in the vault: at least that way Reggie could have continued to talk it up in the press and it could have taken on a mystical quality, not unlike Rakim's Dr. Dre-produced tracks recorded while he was signed to Aftermath. I'm now officially depressed.

BUY OR BURN? If you are currently in a coma and the promise of some new Redman material is the only thing that could possibly get those brainwaves going and revive you, then your caretaker should burn this and play it for you ASAP. However, that's the only reasonable excuse for even attempting to track down this shit. I'm a Redman fan, and even I want to throw this disc out of a moving vehicle.

BEST TRACKS: "Walk In Gutta"; "Put It Down"

-Max

RELATED POSTS:
Here are some write-ups for some better Redman projects (and also Malpractice).

For Promotional Use Only: Redman - Live From The Bricks (2007)

Reggie Noble's sixth solo album, Red Gone Wild: Thee Album, had been promised to consumers for at least three years as of January 2007. Redman had seen multiple release date changes, complete album overhauls, and even a negative review in Blender (one which referenced songs that never made the album, leading me to believe that there's a bootleg of that motherfucker somewhere to be found). Reggie also had to deal with a record label (Def Jam) that had little to no faith in the older members of its roster (see: Redman, Method Man, LL Cool J) and, as such, failed to promote them properly. So Reggie opted to market himself by his own damn self.

Reggie fans saw two mixtapes from his Ill At Will series hit shelves in support of Red Gone Wild: Thee Album (to date, no third volume has been released). A steady buzz had been created, and eventually Def Jam had to acknowledge it, lest Redman sic a rabid Keith Murray on their street team again. Once the label announced a firm release date for March 2007, Reggie quickly dropped Live From The Bricks, a mixtape meant to keep hope alive. A partnership with DJ Scoob Doo, Live From The Bricks showcased Redman and his weed carriers (including the skilled Icarus, or Icadon, depending on which side of the bed he woke up on that day) rhyming over various beats (both original compositions and those jacked from established artists). The mixtape is sequenced like a regular Redman album, skits and all, except for the fact that there are several songs in the disc's second half that fail to feature the star attraction entirely.

The jury's still out as to whether Live From The Bricks either hurt or helped Reggie's actual sales, though.

1. JERSEY CONFERENCE CALL
Wouldn't be a mixtape without an intro setting up the whole house of cards, right?

2. LIVE FROM THE BRICKS
Reggie rips the shit out of the Jake One beat that was originally blasphemed by Hot Rod (from the G-Unit...hey, whatever the fuck happened to that guy?) for "Be Easy". (For those of you two that care, the beat was originally used by Bishop Lamont for "Fuck Yo Couch", and he did a much better job with it than what Hot Rod could ever dream of.) The pairing of Jake One and Redman could do hip hop some good. Perhaps someone should set up a meet and greet.

3. SHUT 'EM DOWN
Not very impressive. Redman sounds awkward as he slows down his flow to a conversation-style. Maybe this track only sucks because of the beat, but it still sucks.

4. HOW THE BRICKS GET DOWN
Wake me up when it's over. No, really. I can be a deep sleeper.

5. CLICK CLICK
Okay, now that's more like it. This shit is just cool to listen to. Sorry, but that's all I got.

6. WALK IN GUTTER
This was a sneak preview of the Def Squad reunion track "Walk In Gutta" off of Red Gone Wild: Thee Album, although you only get to hear Reggie on this version. I didn't like the song when I heard it for the first time, but in listening to it today, it's actually pretty good. I have no idea what I was smoking back then.

7. YES SIR
Reggie jacks Justin Timberlake's "My Love", with only decent results. This song sounds exactly like how you would imagine it to after reading the first six words in the last sentence. The outro runs for waaay too long to be taken seriously.

8. BRICK CITY CHAMPION
There's just something about Jay-Z's "Lost Ones" beat (produced by Dr. Dre and friends) that causes rappers to wax poetically (and seriously) about life. Dre, you should give Reggie a call. Considering how he kills this instrumental, you two may be able to help each other out.

9. IT'S OURS (SKIT)
...

10. BRANSON BRANSON
This song would have been alright had there not been the sound of a burp incorporated into the beat. I'm not sure what a burp has to do with a song that was titled in tribute to hip hop's foremost drug dealer, but whatever.

11. FROM THE BRICKS TO THE WEST (SKIT)
...

12. IF YOU GOT BEEF THEN RUN ON UP (FEAT MARKIE)
Reggie participates in a West Coast slow-roll kind of thing that is so West Coast that a Nate Dogg soundalike even pops up on the hook. Hell, it might even be Nate Dogg for all I know, although it doesn't sound much like him. This isn't bad at all.

13. WE MOBBIN' (FEAT READY ROC)
Nothing special here, folks. Move it along.

14. IS YOU DOWN (SKIT)
...

15. GET OFF MY DICK (FEAT READY ROC & ICARUS)
Just in case you believed Reggie abandoned his Gilla House crew in the name of promoting Red Gone Wild: Thee Album, this track is proof positive that his sixth solo album would be more of a group effort. This track is alright, but in about an hour you'll just be hungry again.

16. BRICK CITY CODEINE
Zzzzzz.......

17. PIFF PIFF
I'm almost embarrassed for Reggie at this point.

18. FUCK YA OPINION
This is a move in the right direction, although the title is actually better than the song itself.

19. R&B SMOKE BREAK (FEAT MELANIE)
Reggie's resident studio singer Melanie sings over Snoop Dogg and R. Kelly's "That's That Shit". While she does a pretty good job, I really did not want to remember that particular song. Sigh.

20. SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE SHOW (FEAT YUMMY & ROCKWILDER)
Although it isn't appropriate to the song itself (which is actually more than decent), Reggie's verse is fucking hilarious: his delivery alone of "I hit your barbecue with family like the Wayans, 'cause I'm deep, n---a!" is just funny.

21. I KNOW (FEAT E3)
Clearly you don't, or else you would have realized this song was a bad idea.

22. I TAKE YA CHAIN (FEAT ICARUS)
With this track, Reggie takes a smoke break and lets all of his weed carriers take a crack at a song of their choice. I've always hated Fat Joe and Lil' Wayne's "Make It Rain" (one guess as to why), but Icadon's song-jacking is just funny to me. This may not be an actual good song, but it was entertaining enough, in a mixtape kind of way.

23. LET'S GO (FEAT SAUKRATES)
Saukrates sounds fucking great over this beat. I have to say, although I haven't liked a lot of his work ever since he hooked up with Redman's camp, I'm impressed about this.

24. I DON'T BUDGE (FEAT READY ROC)
Ready Roc jacks one of Obie Trice's most underrated beats, with excellent results. Damn, this beat is catchy: Witt & Pep, the producers of Obie's "Cry Now", should give themselves a pat on the back. Go ahead, I can wait.

25. ASK SOMEBODY (FEAT RUNT DAWG)
Runt Dawg sounds like a less-mumbly Curtis Jackson, but he still comes off good over this beat. Some of this shit is actually really funny, so the comparison to the G-Unit general is negligible.

26. BRICK CITY GANGSTAS (FEAT MR. RED, MR. PURP, & READY ROC)
Well, it's about fucking time Reggie (also known as Mr. Red for this one song only) appeared on his own goddamn mixtape. While the track itself is alright, there's hardly anything memorable about it.

27. BRICK CITY TO ROCKLAND COUNTY (FEAT BLAMM & LD)
I liked the beat, as it sounds different that what Redman typically chooses to rhyme to. However, while Reggie sounded good, I found myself slowly becoming annoyed with the guests.

28. INTERNATIONAL (SKIT)
...

29. WELL WELL WELL
Meh.

30. WALK ON
This is weird. This track is essentially made up of all of Redman's verses from his collaboration with Method Man, "Walk On", from Meth's 4:21...The Day After. The reason I find it weird is that, at this point, Meth's album had already hit the shelves, so everyone that cared had already heard all of Reggie's rhymes, which are all run together here. It leads me to believe that Reggie's original verse was chopped up to infinity and beyond when they were constructing the Meth song, and that Redman and Method Man weren't actually in the same studio when they recorded their duet. You know, that may help explain my comment on the Meth album, where I was confused as to why it took three separate producers to create one fucking song...

31. MY FIRST BRICK CITY SONG
Reggie certainly loves jacking beats from his then-boss, Jay-Z ("Lost Ones" from earlier in the album, the R.Kelly/Jay-Z jack from the second volume of Ill At Will, his freestyle over "Trouble" that hit the airwaves after this mixtape's release (the one that proved that Paul Wall was vastly inferior when paired up with an actual talented rapper), and now Jay's "My 1st Song"). I'm sure it gives him a bit of a thrill, stealing his boss's thunder like that. This is a decent outro to what has become an overlong mixtape.

SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN? Sure, why not? There's enough good on Live From The Bricks to warrant seeking it out on the Interweb. As with all mixtapes, there is a lot of utter bullshit on here, and it's much longer than it absolutely needs to be, but the great tracks (including some from the Gilla House crew that don't even feature the headliner) will make it worth your while. Feel free to download this and enjoy. It's at least a far better listening experience than Malpractice was.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:
More Reggie Noble-related stuff to be found here.

For Promotional Use Only: Redman - Ill At Will Mixtape Vol. 2: BC4 (Straight Outta Lo-Cash) (2005)

In 2004, Reggie Noble was allegedly scheduled to drop his album Red Gone Wild on Def Jam Records. However, sensing a shift in momentum, Def Jam shelved the release, claiming that Redman wasn't the best outfit for the day. Our chosen genre had evolved, almost overnight, into, essentially, a funhouse mirror image: it was distorted, mutated into a shell of its former self, resulting in people liking the garbage from the South, which had the nerve to call itself fucking rap music. Reggie seized the opportunity to keep his name alive in the industry by releasing Ill At Will Vol. 1, a mixtape designed to market what was slowly becoming a nonexistent album in the vein of Cormega's original version of Testament and Large Professor's The LP.

In an ideal world, that mixtape would have dovetailed nicely in to the marketing of Red Gone Wild. Since we don't live in an ideal world, it's important to note that, while the disc was met with a positive reaction, Def Jam still wasn't convinced that Reggie Noble had fans, choosing instead to keep its head buried in the sand. In 2005, Redman quietly dropped a second volume, Ill At Will Vol. 2: BC4 (Straight Outta Lo-Cash), an awkwardly-titled mixtape that can be seen as more of a showcase for Reggie's Gilla House cronies Icarus, Saukrates, and fellow Jerseyite Gov Mattic.

Ill At Will Vol. 2 was made available for sale online, and if you really wanted to, you can score an import copy on Amazon. However, it wasn't nearly as successful as its companion, and Reggie was forced to shake his head, all while Def Jam quietly laughed behind his back, chuckling about the fan base that didn't actually exist. Reggie scrapped the majority of Red Gone Wild (an album that saw its promotional copies reviewed in magazines such as Blender, who I remember giving it a bad review), abandoned the few singles that had leaked ("I C Dead People", the Eminem-produced song that featured haunting sampled vocals from deceased artists 2Pac, Biggie, Big L, and Big Pun, was one of the many casualties: other tracks, such as "Fuck Da Security" (or "Rush Da Security", depending on where you found it), and "Future Thugs", a collaboration with labelmates Ghostface Killah and Ludacris, still haven't officially seen the light of day) and started from scratch.

None of the following songs were even close to consideration, by the way.

1. LO-CASH INTRO
Well, it is a mixtape, after all, so it would be kind of strange if there wasn't an intro on here.

2. I'M HIGH AS FUCK (FUNK DOC)
I'm not really sure why Reggie was compelled to refer to himself as "Funk Doc" on this mixtape (issues with Def Jam, maybe?), but regardless, Redman's lone verse on here is pretty damn good, and he's always sounded decent over even the most awkward of beats.

3. PARTY PEOPLE (FUNK DOC FREESTYLE) (FUNK DOC)
Reggie obliterates Marley Marl's beat for Big Daddy Kane's "Long Live The Kane". Nice!

4. TURN DAT SHIT UP (FUNK DOC)
And then we're presented with this shit.

5. DEEPER COVER (FUNK DOC FEAT ICARUS & SAUKRATES)
There's something about the beat to Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Deep Cover" that makes it almost impossible to sound bad, although Saukrates tries his best to prove me wrong. Reggie sounds pretty good, but the real star is Icarus, who rips his verse to pieces and makes a reference to an older Christina Milian song that will cause your mind to wander elsewhere.

6. ONE ON ONE (SAUKRATES)
This Sauk solo shot is a much better showcase for him. I highly doubt Dr. Dre would go out of his way to promote an artist that isn't one of his own on a random mixtape, but the impostor, who isn't convincing in the least bit, is a nice touch.

7. SAUKRATES SEASON (SAUKRATES)
This isn't objectionable in any way, but it's also not very memorable.

8. GILLA GRIND 4 HOES (FUNK DOC FEAT MELANIE & ICARUS)
Reggie swipes Shawn Carter's "Change The Game" and shares mic duties with his boy Icarus (or Icadon, depending on where you look him up) and female singer/rapper Melanie, who kind of fucks the song up. Reggie and Icarus sound good, though.

9. MADE IT (ICARUS)
The beat for this Icadon solo shot is annoyingly perky, like a hot, vapid cheerleader, but Icky has impressed me so far, and this track keeps those expectations high.

10. STAND UP (FEAT ICARUS)
Bonus points for not simply jacking the beat from that Ludacris song about the life and times of the midget that hangs around his neck. Kanye West's beat for Luda's song is at least engaging, though: the instrumental on here is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Like in the "don't bother" field. Oh well.

11. G.W. BRIDGE (FUNK DOC FEAT GOV MATTIC)
There's too much of a buildup, so much so that you'll probably think this is an interlude and not an actual song. Once it kicks in, Reggie and Gov Mattic (in his first rhyming appearance on an Ill At Will mixtape) dress to impress, and it shows.

12. DA BANGER (FUNK DOC FEAT R. KELLY & JAY-Z) (BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, PART 2)
I'm not sure if anybody really wanted to know what Redman, Kells, and Shawn Carter sounded like when on the same track, but here you go. At least Reggie inserted himself onto one of the better tracks from the second Best Of Both Worlds disc, and not the insipid, uninspired, ridiculously horrible first collaboration, which has been determined to be the root cause of most people giving up hip hop for Scandinavian death metal.

13. TEAR IT UP (FUNK DOC FEAT GOV MATTIC)
Nothing to see here, my two readers.

14. 8 1/2 MILE (FUNK DOC FREESTYLE) (FUNK DOC)
I actually prefer "8 Mile" to "Lose Yourself" when it comes to motivational Eminem songs, so I was pleased to hear about this track. However, this song sucks ass in an almost irresponsible regard.

15. LO-CASH OUTRO
Reggie and Gov Mattic proceed to promise two additional volumes of this series (numbers 2 1/2 and 3: both of them are also advertised on the back of the liner notes, but neither one ever materialized). Pretty run of the mill outro for a pretty run of the mill mixtape.

16. YOUR SO GANGSTA (BONUS CUT BITCH) (FUNK DOC FEAT FATIMAH)
If this were on an actual Redman album, you would skip it. The fact that it appears here on a mixtape and that it jacks the beat from a Twista song doesn't make it any less skippable.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Ill At Will Vol. 2 suffers from a fucked-up subtitle, a reliance on guests artists, and the use of weaker instrumentals than we're used to from our mixtapes. The real problem, though, is that Reggie Noble fails to impress, and I'm a huge Redman fan. His rhymes sound good on some of the songs, but on others he comes off as coasting, an unusual tactic from an artist that was getting fucked over by his label for not meeting expectations. Ultimately, this mixtape didn't set up Red Gone Wild very well at all, which may explain why it took two additional years for that disc to crawl up from under its rock.

SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN? Naah. Don't bother: it's not very good. Fans of Reggie's (probably literal) weed carrier Icarus may find something of merit on here, but your time would be best spent discovering the cure for cancer or tracking down a prostitute with twelve toes.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:
Read all of the other Redman-related posts by clicking here.