Jamal

Jamalis one of those rappers that never got a fair look. He had all the intangibles -- flow, solid production, a strong crew to back him up -- but he never managed to catch on for some strange reason. His debut alongside Mr. Malik as the kiddie duo Illegal was dope and you could tell then that, despite them being teenagers, Jamal had skills. well, Last Chance, No Breaks was a good display of his talents, but it wasn't a very coherent album. It was really hard to figure out what he was going for here because it seems like he was trying to carve out an identity for himself. The production is another story. Erick Sermon, Rockwilder, Redman, Easy Mo Bee and a handful of others contribute nothing but bangers. His lead single -- the classic "Fades 'Em All" -- is a pretty good indicator of what you can expect for the most part when it comes to the beats. Pete Rock did remix Fades 'Em All and it's heads and shoulders above the original, in my humble opinion. I'll be sure to upload that once I find the vinyl I have laying around here somewhere...

Last Chance, No Breaks [Rowdy/Arista 1995]

1. Live Illegal
2. Keep It Live
3. Situation
4. Insane Creation feat. Redman
5. Fades 'Em All
6. The Game
7. Da Come Up
8. Don't Trust No
9. Keep It Real
10. Genetic For Terror feat. Keith Murray, L.O.D., Erick Sermon, & Redman
11. Unfuckwittable feat. George Clinton & Passion

Insomnia: Erick Sermon Compilation

So, I'm over on Wake Your Daughter Up when I spot a LOTUG video for "What I'm After." After watching it like 10 times straight (lol), I spot Keith Murray's "It's That Hit" in the menu bar. I don't know about anyone else, but I fuckin' love that song along with the other single from that album -- Redman's "Funkorama." Remember how videos used to be low budget and still come off extra lovely? Maybe I'm just old, but now it seems like the bigger the budget, the poorer the video. Enough with the mini tangents though. I went and dug up "Funkorama" and I put both videos just underneath the track listing. Back to the album though. In my book, Erick Sermon is one of the best producers in hip hop/rap history. This entire album (obviously) is produced by him. It's not his best stuff in terms of production, but his C level stuff was better than a lot of other producers A level material. The rhymes are supplied by the usual Def Squad suspects -- Redman, Keith Murray, Erick Sermon, Jamal -- as well as lesser known acts from their various offshoot crews (PPP, L.O.D., etc). The lesser known acts are decent, but you can kind of hear why they stayed in the background. They aren't bad, but they don't jump out at you or wow you in any way either. Just for clarification purposes, I feel it necessary to mention that the Tommy Gunn listed on this album is not the M.I.C. rapper Megalon (Megalon uses "Tommy Gunn" as an alias). The Tommy Gunn on this album passed away back in 1996 just before the release of this album.

Insomnia: The Erick Sermon Compilation Album [Interscope Records 1996]

1. Intro
2. Funkorama - Redman
3. The Vibe - Xross Breed
4. As The... - Passion
5. Beez Like That (Sometimes) - Jamal & Calif
6. It's That Hit - Keith Murray
7. Up Jump The Boogie - The Wixtons
8. Caller's Interlude
9. I Feel It - L.O.D.
10. On The Regular - Duo
11. Fear - Tommy Gunn
12. Ready For War - Domo
13. Reign - Erick Sermon