isbell@athena.mit.edu (Charles L Isbell) (06/21/91)
What up?
I'm livin' hard.
I'm livin' large.
Hmmmmm. Time to do a bunch of Catch Up Reviews.
This time: _The Valley of the Jeep Beets_ by Terminator X
Next time: _And Now The Legacy Begins_ by Dream Warriors
_Mr. Hood_ by KMD
Catch Ups: _Seminar_ by Sir MixALot
I had to drop Vanilla Wafer because I find myself unable to retain a copy
of his album long enough to review it properly. Oh, well, maybe next week
I'll get a copy.
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Distinctiveness: Ahhhhh, it's ah-ite.
Dopeness Rating: Overall, it is dope. Not stupid hype dope. But dope.
Rap Part: Uneven, given that there are maybe a million different
rappers, but it's mostly kickin'.
Sounds: Really, really dopedope+. Terminator X, the real reason
one would buy this befoe hearing it all anyway, makes
dopealishousness. It's pumpin'.
Message: Varies for the same reasons. But most of them seem to have
a political point to make.
Tracks: 13 tracks at 47 minutes.
Profanity: Almost completely on one track.
The various members of Public Enemy are branching out. The Bomb Squad is
doing lots of work (Ice Cube, Young Black Teenagers), Flavor Flav is supposed
to release an album (_that'll_ be interesting) and the Assault Technician
himself, TERMINATOR X, has released a album.
Terminator features many different rappers and styles on this CD, the only
real constant being himself. One might not expect this sort of thing to
work as these things sometime vary in quality and style so much that
it becomes irritating to bounce around half of the stuff you don't like.
Well, fear not at all, homey--this is a _very_ nice effort. What were you
thinking? Would the PE let you down? Of course not.
Still, I will be providing a mini dopeness rating for each act. I'm
such a nice guy.
The CD opens with "Vendetta...The Big Getback," a Terminator instrumental in
the style of Terminator's instrumental stuff on PE. It sounds pretty good,
as one might expect, and should make nice DJ fodder, but this isn't the kind
of thing that makes a good single.
"Buck Whylin'," on the other hand, featuring Chuck D and introducing
Sister Souljah is the kind of stuff that does make a good single. It's
as militant as you'd expect, but even moreso. Flav is nowhere to be found,
his place being taken by Sister Souljah. She serves the same function on
this track--kibitzing--but she is definitely more serious than Flav would
ever want to be. She makes an interesting counterpoint to Flav. Alt.rappers
inform me that she will actually be joining the group on a permanent
basis. I am forced to wonder how this is going to work. I don't see
how both she and Flav can kibitz at the same time, so I'm curious about
what the new Public Enemy will do. Anyone know?
"If the truth hurts, then you'll be in pain.
If the truth drives you crazy, then you'll be insane."
Oh, yeah, the track is dope. Chuck is still Chuck and Terminator is
Terminator. What else is there to say? It's hard stuff. DopityDope+
"Homey Don't Play Dat" features Bonnie 'N' Clyde, two female rappers in
the hard style. Very good stuff. I've never heard of them before (or
anyone else on the CD other than PE for that matter) but they come off
very professionally. If they haven't already gone far, I'm sure they
will (assuming they can get a dope sound-maker like Terminator X). Dope.
"Creative jucies flowin, flowin'
thru the veins in my brain
Rhyme on top of rhyme,
I find it hard to explain."
Just like on _Fear of A Black Planet_, Terminator just throws a couple
of minutes of sounds on a track. He does this for about 50 seconds at
the beginning of the next track, "Juvenile Delinquintz" featuring
Juevenile Delinquintz. Sometimes I wish he'd give those things
seperate tracks. Anyway, this track is about school and how much it
sucks. I think the parental warning sticker might just be for this
track alone.
"The President, the pope, the idiotic
Why pledge allegience if a nigga ain't patriotic?"
"'All right class, are there any questions?'
'Yeah, who give a f*ck?'"
I like how this tracks goes. There is an interesting mixed message
here.
"The things you go thru to get a diploma
As I move on, my feet get calluses
Without the paper, the Black man's powerless
I won't do what you want me to do.
Yeah, we say f*ck school, but we still get through."
Anyway, the JD's have very high voices, so I assume that they're
pretty young. With the proper dope sounds, I'd buy an album
from them. Dope+.
Terminator ends the track with more instrumentalness, then
moves on to "The Blues" featuring Andreas 13. This track
has a woman singing the blues while the rapper does his thing.
The singer sounds okay, but I've heard better. Andreas is breaking
down the common working man's blues(tm). I like this, but I'd have
to hear more before I'd buy an album. KindaDope.
"I'm that brother that is g*d gifted
so tell me why I'm another statistic?
Payin' all my bills and still being evicted."
Next, the Interrogaters kick it with "Back To The Scene of The Bass."
The sounds are particulary stupid dope on this track. Somehow or another
one of the verses goes from talkin' about boom-boom bass to talking about
crack head base. I'm not sure how, but bass (the sound) does have at
least three meanings, so why not?
"Well, they know next week not to be at the same place
or show the face back at the scene of the bass."
Well, this gets a dope, but I'm not sure if it's the Interrogaters
or just the superhypedopitvity from the sounds. Therefore, I will
have to hear more before I think of picking up an album.
"Wanna Be Dancin'" featuring Celo of The Casino Brothers is preceeded
by Terminator's "Don't Take My Style." Another track of terminatorness.
"Though I walk through the Valley of The Jeep Beets,
I shall fear no evil."
Celo's thing doesn't do a whole lot of stuff for me. His voice style
doesn't make my head bop, ifyanowhatImsayin. Mind you this isn't
horrible stuff and the sounds are nice, but it isn't as good as most
of the offerings. I'll have to hear lots of good things before I
try a Casino Brothers album. Still, dope-.
"No matter what race, so long as you're a human being,
You want to be dancin'"
"DJ Is the Selector" featuring Dubmaster is preceeded by some more
random Terminator instrumentalness.
Uh-oh. It looks like another horrible reggae wannabe track. Is it?
Is it? AAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Yes.
You know, I respect reggae a lot and I've never heard any that I've disliked
(although I'm sure there is horrible stuff out there). I really wish
rappers would stop doing this. It so rarely comes off. This one, I must
admit, come close during some of the chorus parts, but I have to treat
it like a stepchild. Also, I find Terminator's stuff on this one a _bit_
too bass heavy (I know, blasphemy). Whick-whack.
"Terminator X, well that's your selector.
And the Dubmaster, that's your Dj."
"Run That Go-Powered Thang" features Spacey B. Experience. Ick. Nice
horns. Otherwise, I, personally, as an individual, with his own
opinions, biases, and views find this to be a complete waste of time.
At least the two weak tracks (not bad, out of 13) are next to one
another. Oh, I should mention that this isn't rap, but that doesn't
have anything to do with my opinion. I gotta treat it like
a step cousin. Whicker-chair-whack.
(horn noises go here--the only thing I liked about it)
Continuing his experiments with non rap styles, Terminator brings us Section
8 on "No Further." If Dubmaster was supposed to be reggae and Spacey,
go-go music, then this is R&B/Soul. No rapping here again. Nice Soul
singing tho. Of course, I'm not buying Soul, I'm buying rap, but that's
okay. This comes off, even if it's also a bit too bass heavy. Dope--.
"High Priest of Turbulence" by Terminator X and "Ain't Got Nothing"
featuring The Chief Groovy Loo round out the album. "Ain't Got
Nothing" is a counntry music selection and... juuuuust kidding.
This is all rap. It's not particulary great rap, but it's better than
that reggae thing. NotQuiteDope.
The end of this track has a nice instrumental. Hearing him sample
"If I Was Your Girlfriend" by Prince is worth going through Spacey
B. to get here.
Well, the sounds alone make this a dope album. I wish the performers
were a bit more even, but this is a nice array of talent. The first
seven or eight songs are what really make this album, with Section 8
doing a nice round out job. I'll dis the two really bad tracks and
I'll probably never listen to "Ain't Got Nuthin'." Still, this is worth
having and I'm glad I bought it.
But that's just one Black man's opinion--what's yours?
Peace.
`Many Americans might not like me or my lyrics,
but I'll still make my millions, and
unlike many others, will pay my taxes on time.'
- paraphrase of Luther Campbell,
head honcho of 2 Live Crew
--
Don't just adopt opinions, | \ / | Charles Lee Isbell
develop them. | \/ | Homeboy from hell, living axiom and
------------------------------| /\ | anonymous absolute ruler of the cosmos
MIT has no opinions to adopt. | / \ | isbell@athena.mit.edu, isbell@ai.mit.edu