The Native Tongues crew is certainly one of the most talented hip-hop collectives of its genre, and over the years between the late 1980s and early 2000s it presented some of the best artists of the scene: De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah, Brand Nubian, Leaders of the New School, The Ummah, The Beatnuts, The Pharcyde, Common, Fu-Schnickes, Mos Def. A monstrous paddock of thoroughbred absolutes. In this case, there are Dres and Mista Lawnge in the part of the nag under the name Black Sheep, a New York duo raised in North Carolina, and randomly affiliated to the legendary collective (Dres is a cousin of Q-Tip: this is the only reason).
These two guys, well, they don't know what to do. I understand them, after all: how could you think of bringing out something decent in 1991, when some of the best albums of the decade have already come out, your friends are releasing classic after classic after classic, and the seedy pop rap is dominating the market? It's hard. Most would stay at home, bleat in peace, the black sheep would not, he should stand out in the crowd in every case.
Somehow, Mercury Records gives him a contract and the duo have to invent something: the result is extraordinary. Oh wait, maybe not extraordinary. Everyone, and by everyone I mean most of the reviewers, want to let you pass it like a wickedly and sneakily forgotten classic by osmosis (I want to clarify right now: the Jungle Brothers has classics, De La Soul has classics, ATCQ has classics, Latifah has classics, damn, even this record must be a classic...) on the muddy bank of the East Coast, that you have to go looking for yourself in the midst of the wharf rats and the sewage in an attempt to bring out this gem: I want to tell you, this is not a gem.
The production is accessible and acceptable, based on jazz, there are not too many highlights from the musical point of view and the offer proposed by Dres and Mista Lawnge themselves is insipid, mediocre and insignificant, sometimes vicious, in a strange and perverse attempt to resemble to the soundscape of the other Native Tongues albums, raised only by quite fresh, classic, spot-on samples.
The rapping of these two players huh... must be approached in some way: their style is relaxed, easygoing and flowing, pretty simple, they've a playful and humorous mood without resulting in comedy rap, but they fill this album with eccentric and senseless cuts, most of the lyrics are about girls, braggadocio and alcohol, even touching the dirty obscene with Q-Tip ("La Menage"), they also make a mockery of the gangsta who's commercially sinking their collective fellas ("U Mean I'm Not ”), of the Afrocentrism on which most of their collective fellas' records are founded (“Are You Mad?”), and they're misogynist only for the sake of being so.
Yes, sometimes they tear you a laugh with misogyny or mocking feminism ("LASM"), but what's the point? I mean, if it's not deliberately a gangsta record, why all this senseless misogyny? Clear sign of the lack of ideas that has plagued this LP, devoid of direction: another hilarious cut arrives in the only instrumental of the project, "For Dog That Slept", where the duo places an infinite looped "fuck you", directed to anyone who hasn't listened to this record. However, I can't tell you why you should listen to this whole effort and lose seventy minutes in the void: it's also excessive from a temporal point of view, there are too many weak points, not particularly successful hooks, random, vulgar and meaningless bars, and in generally the guests seem to always go better than they do (sensational "Pass the 40", where Chi Ali goes with many greetings, without being credited).
Promoted by four singles, among which "Flavor of the Month" peaks at the second place of the rap chart, "The Choice is Yours" topped rap singles and "Strobelite Honey" topped dance music singles chart, released by Mercury, the CD is distributed worldwide by PolyGram, peaking #30 in the Billboard 200 and #15 among rap efforts, becoming one of the best-selling rap albums of the 1992, certified gold by RIAA. Enthusiastically welcomed by practically all specialized critics as the latest masterpiece released by the guys from the Native Tongues crew, in 1998 The Source includes it among his list of "100 Best Rap Albums Ever".
Surely not one of my favorites, recommended to Native Tongues / alternative hip-hop fans.
Rating: 7/10.
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