A few months after releasing his debut studio album, Kool Moe Dee begins work on his second LP with basically the same producers as his previous effort, recording the project in London.
The Harlem emcee proves himself stronger than ever here, driven by the title track dissing to LL Cool J. It's also his most successful track here, in front of several bangers ("Wild Wild West", "No Respect", "Suckers"). Musically, he remains anchored to the hard and pure skinny beats clearly still tied to and inspired by the school built by Run-DMC and Rick Rubin, but technically he continues to improve by providing a more complex rhyming scheme than the others, and dropping verses with a smoothness and clean flow style. The functional hooks and some thematic and rhythmic variations ("I'm a Player") help the fluidity of this record.
Incomprehensible how it still remains partially hidden among other old school records, despite Kool Moe Dee being one of the best rappers of the period, one of the few veterans still alive and relevant in the game after 1985 and one of the most respected, facilitating with his works the complicated transition between the new school and the golden age. The cover is serious: Kool Moe Dee appears in front of it, behind there's a Jeep that crushed a red Kangol hat, a message to his rival LL Cool J, with whom he fuels a feud that began when Kool Moe Dee claims that LL stole his style and ignored giving proper props to pioneers like him and Melle Mel.
Released by Rooftop, Jive and RCA, supported by three singles (the title track, "Wild Wild West" and "No Respect"), the new LP of KMD sells 300.000 copies in few months and is certified platinum by RIAA in late 1988, peaking #4 among rap efforts and remaining in the Billboard 200 for fifty weeks (with a peak of #35). It's hailed as the best album by Kool Moe Dee and one of the finest in the eighties hip-hop.
Rating: 7.5/10.
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