Ross "Remedy" Filler was born and raised in a Jewish family on Staten Island, New York. He goes to school with Clifford Smith, Jason Hunter and Corey Woods, later known as members of the Wu-Tang Clan in the early 1990s under the monikers Method Man, Inspectah Deck and Raekwon respectively. Filler chooses the pseudonym Remedy in 1987. Nearly ten years later, Filler comes out with a single, "Seen It All", self-produced together with Charlie Marotta and released in 1996 on the independent label Fifth Angel Records. A few years later, Remedy participates in the Wu-Tang Killa Bees' "The Swarm" compilation with their track "Never Again", a song about the Holocaust that was particularly appreciated by critics: the boy is one of two solo artists to have his own song in the compilation together with Ghostface Killah who presents himself with "Cobra Clutch". The album achieved good commercial results and was certified gold by the RIAA. Remedy becomes the first Caucasian rapper to be affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan.
"Never Again" became the best known and most appreciated piece in Remedy's discography and the boy included it in all his subsequent albums, including this one. After releasing an EP in 2000 (which includes "Never Again", of course) via his own label Remedy Productions, in 2001 the Wu-affiliated rapper and producer released his first studio album, managing the entire production. The latest beat is created by Killarmy producer 4th Disciple. Guests include RZA, Cappadonna, Solomon Childs, LoungeLoe, Clocka, Sweetleaf and Children of the World.
Remedy creates a bland and poor album, which manages to hold up worthily for a quarter of an hour before fading away. "Education" is a competent introduction to the album by this almost unknown affiliate of Staten Island's most famous group: simple boom bap created by Remedy himself, dry midtempo drum, good bass, dull and weak rap from the main rapper. The hook sung by the children pays homage to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall", then comes the contribution of Bobby Steels, hardcore rap that overwhelms the rhythm, the Abbot seems inspired as he has rarely seen in his career, he has a good flow, he brings out a good energetic contribution and does a nice job on this cut, ultimately.
Having somehow carved out one of the major highlights of his musical career, Remedy brings us to the second track, "Fallen Angels": his boom bap is honest, there's a dirty and dusty midtempo dry drum, good bass, guitar licks, dark and elegant melancholic piano to support the performer's calm rapping. His style is ok, the beat breathes deservedly for a minute in the background at the end, accompanied by crickets for whatever reason. On track number three the guests return to support the author of the album. Simple boom bap, midtempo dusty and dirty drum, tense strings, messy hardcore rap by Cappadonna, Remedy sounds discreet, while Solomon Childs sounds with exactly the same hunger as a Wu-Tang-affiliated rapper that everyone has forgotten about for some reason.
With "Whiteboy", the record loses its momentum. Up until then, everything had worked and there were still no bad or bad tracks. Then comes this choice, an unfortunate choice: unfortunately, here there's an unbearable loop that doesn't allow me to continue the track for more than a few moments, very simply. “Words to Live By” is barely better: decent boom bap, mediocre sample looped in the background, Remedy isn't the worst rapper you can remember, but he's not really trying hard here. Solomon Childs returns in "Calm But Deadly": skit from a kung-fu movie that makes you understand that you're in an album by a guy vaguely associated with the Wu-Tang Clan, mild and discreet boom bap, non-invasive dry midtempo drum, mild sample, calm inoffensive rap from the performers. A solo cut from Remedy follows over simple boom bap production with dirty, dusty drums and okay rapping.
Sweetleaf performs a soft rnb hook over soft production with weak drums and sparse samples on track number eight, with Remedy's playing fading more and more with each passing minute. Cappadonna, already a guest in the first quarter of an hour, also returns to support his friend in "Girlfriend": this beat isn't saying anything either, the drums are too weak and the guys on the mic don't bring the right personality to carry this track forward. The kids also return in the following tune, but this guy's beats start to feel too cheap and cheesy to even remotely consider. Cappadonna decides to further help Remedy by also bringing his younger brother Lounge Lo aka LoungeLoe into this album on the song "Can Can", together with the other guest Clocka: no one really sounds good on a poor boom bap with poor samples and yet another weak drum of the edition.
"Never Again" should close the album, it's Remedy's symbolic cut and is a must in his debut album and also in all his other records. It's not over though, because 4th Disciple also puts one of his beats in the last song of the album, "Warning": this boom bap sounds exactly like a waste of him. Female soul sample, shaky organ, sparse, dirty and stuttering drum, Remedy tries to manage this rhythm, but I think none of Killarmy wanted it and ended up on this record this way. The rapper also includes Clocka and for the hook there's Sweetleaf, but Remedy fails to construct a truly noteworthy piece despite the name behind the keyboards.
Remedy leaves no room for anyone behind the keyboards and he carves out a lot of space for himself in rapping, with modest results and without excessive attention to the Wu, calling the sole founder RZA and the affiliates Cappadonna (only later will he be an effective member of the Clan) and Solomon Childs, both later part of Ghostface Killah's group Theodore Unit a few years later. Besides them there are also Cappadonna's younger brother Lounge Lo of Othorized FAM, Clocka, Sweetleaf and some kids performing some hooks.
Recorded between Manhattan (in the Wu-Tang studios), Long Island and Los Angeles, the album is published by the independent label Fifth Angel Recordings and is supported by Wu International for the European market, with Southwest Wholesale distribution: Remedy's first CD gets a comforting response from the sales numbers, entering the Billboard 200 up to position 130, reaching the top 30 among hip-hop records, the top 5 among independent releases and among Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart.
Bland album from every point of view, this effort doesn't have its own distinctive identity compared to your generic hip-hop album. 5/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment