Twinz — Conversation

First and only album by the Long Beach Twinz duo, formed by twin brothers Deon "Trip Locc" & DeWayne "Wayniac" Williams. The boys debuted the year before on Warren G's first album, which produces their entire LP (one track is left to Priest Brooks) and is the biggest guest on the record, with four appearances. The other guests are Jah-Skillz and Neb Love of 5 Footaz and Foesum. Lyrically, this is one of the rare West Coast documents from the mid-1990s that isn't gangsta: the two young rappers come up with simple topics about partying, friends, youth and having fun. The Williams brothers bring out honest bars with a slow, calm, relaxed delivery style, pleasantly in synchrony with Warren G's chosen music: the guys aren't phenomenal and their rap isn't surprising, but they both flow well and smoothly on these rhythms.

The Warren G production is the highlight of the album. Aided by Sean Thomas on keyboards, the Long Beach artist realizes a project that is a sort of sequel to his album. The sound painting he draws is velvet, warm, calm, he chooses relaxed, fluid, smoothness beats, composed of hard, lean and midtempo drums, often perfect, and light g-funk / mobb samples, which are joined by soul extracts, relaxed melodic synths, Sean Thomas playing with keyboards in the background, great dirty bass lines and the singing contribution from some girls on the hooks. The choice of samples is brilliant, wonderful, there are tributes to Surface, The Stylistics, Keith Sweat, Rufus & Chaka Khan, Deniece Williams, Eric B & Rakim, and they are all classics.

Nancy Fletcher and Tracey Nelson do a great job, and help deliver some of the album's best moments, thanks to flawless, beautiful, velvety and laudable rnb hooks. "Eastside LB" is one of the best songs: melodic synths, Tracy Nelson's amazing melodic rnb hook, perfect hook, fantastic work. Warren G chooses a splendid rhythm, dirty, slow, thin, hard, perfect drum machine, fantastic, light, melodic samples, from the classic "Free" by Deniece Williams, slow smooth delivery of performers, Warren G excels and eats the cut. Its velvety, mesmerizing flow is a great addition to the project. Among the guests, well also Foesum and the girls Jah-Skillz and Neb Love of 5 Footaz, who deliver with a relaxed and slow style in "Hollywood".

Released by G-Funk Music (Warren G's label) and by Def Jam, the album gets a good commercial success, reaching the top 40 of the pop chart and the top ten among hip-hop records. Consisting of 14 cuts (3 skits) and 41 minutes of listening time, the album is short, solid, coherent and boasts good replay value. He excels musically, he's really cool, elevating the boys' rap, and he's one of the West Coast's hidden gems. Recommended for g-funk fans.

Highlights: "Round & Round", "Good Times", "4 Eyes 2 Heads", "Eastside LB", "Sorry I Kept You", "Hollywood", "1st Round Draft Pick", "Pass It On".

Rating: 7.8/10.