Debut studio album by The Fat Boys, hip hop trio from Brooklyn, New York. The group was briefly known originally as the Disco 3, originally composed of Mark "Prince Markie Dee" Morales, Damon "Kool Rock-Ski" Wimbley, and Darren "Buff Love" Robinson aka "The Human Beat Box".
In 1983, as Disco 3, they win a rap contest whose prize is a recording contract: the song with which the trio win, which will then also be included in their debut album, is "Stick 'Em". In the same year, the group released their debut single "Reality" (later not included in the debut album), produced by James Mason, keyboardist and jazz guitarist of Roy Ayers' band. Charles Stettler, holder of that hip-hop contest and owner of a little label, Tin Pan Apple, decides to become the manager of the Fat Boys and took them on European tour, passing by the Switzerland, native country of Stettler. At the return to New York, the group changed name from Disco 3 to Fat Boys.
Stettler recruites the rapper and producer Kurtis Blow to produce their first LP, and Kurtis Blow turns to the drum machine programmers of Run-DMC, Larry Smith and Davy "DMX" Reeves", the hottest producers of the time. "Stick' Em" is the first song they recorded with Kurtis Blow. With Stettler's help, the Fat Boys carved out an increasingly important space for themselves in the nascent hip-hop scene, appearing at major hip-hop festivals alongside major acts of the time (Run-DMC, Newcleus, Whodini and Kurtis Blow), becoming one of the first brands in the new musical genre, appearing in television commercials and films. The group released five official music videos for the songs of their first studio album, three for the singles "Jail House Rap", "Can You Feel It?" and "Fat Boys", and others for "Stick 'Em" and "Don't You Dog Me".
The whole record was created to enjoy and is one of the first serious and not completely vulgar / obscene examples of comedy rap. The group is among the first to insert some skinny beatbox in the middle of the hooks and to drop a whole cut with beatbox as a rhythm for rapping ("Human Beat Box") and it'll also have other merits, but don't go looking beyond the technique, the lyrics don't go beyond generic and banal themes without anything truly quotable, on simple and skeletal funky rhythms provided by Kurtis Blow.
The group's 1984 self-titled debut album is considered by many to be the first hip-hop album to feature the element of hip hop known as beatboxing thanks to Darren "The Human Beat Box" Robinson, a pioneer in beatboxing. The three singles charted, with "Jail House Rap" among the top 20 of hip-hop songs, and the album goes strong in the Billboards charts, becoming sixth in the rnb albums and entering the top 50 of the pop chart. In the spring of 1985, the project is certified gold by RIAA.
Rating: 7/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment