Best Reviews Online - The Homeboy From Hell

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Move Free
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Best Reviews Online - The Homeboy From Hell

Post by Move Free »

I ran across Chris Isbell Jr's site, featuring hip-hop reviews and "The New Jack Catch-Up Awards" when I first started using the internet, and looking for more wu-tang websites. Its been almost 10 years since I first stumbled upon his website, and it's stood the test of time. His reviews are funny, well written, and on point. Check this cat out.

http://www.seditionists.org/HFh/reviews/BYindex.html

Here's his review of Illmatic, which is great to read now that the album is considered as the greatest rap record ever recorded.

Distinctiveness: Well, Nas himself is, but I've heard some of the sounds stylin' before.
Dopeness Rating: Steadily Phat+- (just a shade below Phat+). I have to go with the Hip Hop Nation on this one and give a prop and a half.
Rap Part: Oh. Often very nice. Just a bit below Phat+ on the bad ones. And there are some serious Kodak moments, so overall it gets a Phat+ for style of speak and lyrical lengthness.
Sounds: Solidly Phat-. Don't get me wrong, g, they're often mad nice, but not as inventive at they could be. What Nas is missing is a distinctive sound to go with his style... at least that's how Illmatic strikes me.
Predictions: Good question. I reserve judgement until the second album for long-term predictions, but it's not hard to see how he's doin' in the short term.
Rotation Weight: It's the summer jam so far. It's got legs, too.
Message: A bit more of that New York politicalness mixed with some NY style gangsterishness.
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Tracks: 10(!) @ 39:49(!)
Label: Columbia
Producers: Faith N and MC Serch are the executive producers on this one, but individual tracks sport such big names as The Large Professor, Pete Rock and DJ Premier. And even Q-Tip shows up.
Profanity: Yep, yep.

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So... who's Nas?

I dunno. He's that brother who's apparently blowin' up left and right. One day, I'd never heard of him and the next he's takin' up half the posts on alt.rap.

Well, I'm wary of these overnight sensations and I decided not to believe the hype. But then my boy mass@mit.edu--that jamaican knockin' out jafakins--told me not to sleep.

So I woke up. I went to the record store and picked it up.

And here we are. I didn't really give it a good listen for a good while... and when I finally did I was in a pretty bad mood. I was lookin' to be upset over $11.98. I picked up the CD, ripped off the shrink rap, fought with that stupid glue seal and stared at the cover.

My first reaction was: "What is this? That's not him as a kid on the cover is it?" I remember how disappointed I was when Whitney Houston put a baby picture on the back of her second album. Ugh. I flipped the jewel case over.

My second reaction was: "Ten songs? What is this? 1985?".

My third reaction was: "MC Serch on executive production?". I tried to remember the name of his first solo album. I couldn't. Wary, I placed it in the Sony (my Denon is in Boston and right now I'm in New Jersey).

"The Genesis" starts us off.

My fourth reaction: "Not bad." For a meaningless intro track ("That leaves nine songs," I thought with a little bitterness), it was pretty hype. Nice muzak. Made me bop my head.


"Regardless how I go down
we gonna keep it real"

"'There ain't nothing out here for ya.'
'Oh, yes there is... this.'"

Fighting a good mood, I let "N.Y. State of Mind" boom-bap out of my baby speakers. Dammit, it actually sounds good. That was my fifth reaction.

"I don't know how to start this sh*t, yo."

"It's like the game ain't the same
Got younger niggas pullin' the triggas
bringin' fame to their name
and claim some corners
Crews without guns are goners
In broad daylight, stick up kids
they run up on us"

One of the nice things about doing reviews the way I do them is that you're forced to listen to the tracks over and over very carefully so that you get the lyrics half right. It's time like these that one appreciates how well put together some lyric actually is. Nas has got some good flow goin' on here. And mix that with some DJ Premier production and you gots somethin' goin' on. My sixth reaction.

"I got so many rhymes
I don't think I'm too sane
Life is parallel to hell
but I must maintain
It be prosperous
though we live dangerous
Cops could just arrest me
Blamin' us
we're held like hostages"

My seventh reaction was mixed. The muzak on "Life's a Bitch" was too slow for my mood (that'd be "Yearning for Your Love" by the Gap band, apparently).

"We were beginners in the hood
as five percenters
but something must've got in us
'cause all of us turned to sinners
Now some restin' in pieces
some are sittin' in San Quentin
Others such as myself
are tryin' to carry on traditions"

But the lyrical pipe is long. And the flow is good.

"Now it's all about cash in abundance
Niggas I used to run with
is rich or doin' years in the hundreds
I switch my motto
Instead of sayin' 'F*ck tommorrow'
That buck that bought a bottle
coulda struck the lotto"

Depressing chorus. Nice trumpet (Olu Dara is credited for that). And A.Z. (the "featured vocals") did a good job. All in all, I gots to give dap. By the end of the song, my seventh reaction had faded into my eighth: "Phat."
So by the time "The World is Yours" rolled around, I was actually in a good mood. This, of course, is Nas' big hit. Of the five songs I hear in any given day, this has been one of them since it came out. I'm tired of it and it isn't even the best song on the album, but if I hear it in the mornin' I'm singin' that chorus all day. Pete Rock wins again.


"I'm out for dead presidents to represent me"

And there is a nice bridge.

"And I'm amped up
They locked the champ up
Even my brain's in handcuffs"

So, I'm still feeling good for Large Professor production on "Halftime."

"You couldn't catch me in the streets without a ton of reefer
That's like Malcolm X catchin' the jungle fever"

Nice one.

"I set it off with my own rhyme
'Cause I'm as ill as a convict
that kills for phone time"

Insert prop here.
This brings us to "Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)."


"One for the money
Two for p*ssy and
foreign cars."

The muzak is phat. The flow is phat. It's too bad these aren't two great tastes that taste great together. They don't quite mesh. It's still nice, mind you, but the muzak and the style of speak don't mesh as well as they do on, say, "N.Y. State of Mind."
Not a big enough deal to force a ninth reaction. I'll stick with eight for now.

That brings us to "One Love" with A Tribe Calle Quest's Q-Tip on the production, um, tip.


"Flippin' talkin' about he acts too rough
He didn't listen, he be riffin' while I'm tellin' him stuff
I was like yeah, Shorty don't care, she's a snake too
F*ckin' with that fake crew that hates you"

"It's bugged
Plus little Rob is sellin' drugs on the dime
Hangin' out with young thugs that all carry nines.

I kinda like it. Skillz that pay the billz.

"The streets had me stressed somethin' terrible
F*ckin' with them corners
have a nigga up in Bellvue
or HDM hit with numbers from eight to ten
A future in the maximum state pen is grim"

In fact, it's very nice.
Very nice.

And so is "One Time 4 Your Mind." Nice muzak.


"When I'm chillin' I grab the buddah
Get my crew to buy beers
and watch a flick,
illin' and root for the villain"

Nicer lyrics.

"I'm tryin' to get this money g*d
you know the hard times kid
Sh*t, cold be starvin'
make you wanna do crimes kid
But I'mm'a lamp
'cause a crime couldn't beat a rhyme
Niggas catchin' three to nines
Muslims yellin' 'Free the mind'"

Mad madness.
"Represent" follows up. More Premier beats behind Nas lyrics.


"Straight up, sh*t is real
And any day can be your last in the jungle
Get murder on the humble
Guns'll blast, niggas tumble"

Yet another example of Nas dopeness.

"Before the BDP conflict with MC Shan
Around the time when Shante dissed the real Roxxanne
I used to wake up every mornin' see my crew on the block
Every day's a different plan that had us runnin' from cops"

Good. Reaction number eight is still holdin' steady. Only one more chance for me to have to change my mind.
The last track is "It Ain't Hard To Tell," another recent release.


"Nas is like the afocentric asian
Half man half amazin'"

Oh, look, it's the "Human Nature" sample.
Still, the lyrics are tight and the muzak works well enough. I stay with my last impression.

It's all good.




So, I slept. I'm a man. I can admit it.

In the end, this is a good album. I mean it ain't It Takes A Nation of Millons to Hold Us Back, but, then, what is? Look, this is more than just a collection of some for-the-moment phat beats. This will get more rotation in my ride than, say, Souls of Mischief--last year's new phat hype sensation--did.

Nas is a talent for sure. The lyrical beef is steak. The flow is distinctive and good. The muzak and production behind him is top notch. My only cause for complaint is that there's a certain lack of distinctiveness and originality that makes him stand out and keeps him from being more than just another damn good rapper. If he had that on Illmatic, I'd defintely be able to place him up there with the folks we'll be talkin' about five-ten years from now (I suspect we'll be talking about the album in five years, though). But it isn't too late. There's always album number two.

So where does this leave you? "N.Y. State of Mind," "The World Is Yours," "One Love" and "Represent" are pretty representative. If, after listening to those, you can feel your head boppin', go for it. If you don't feel that groove, listen to them three more times. If you still get no rise, punt. I suspect you'll be boppin' though.

The bottom line? I'm still waitin' for this year's big bomb to drop on me. Illmatic ain't quite it, I'm afraid, but while I'm waitin' for whatever it is I'm waitin' for, this'll do fine.

But that's just one Black man's opinion--what's yours?

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