In 1991, this large group of Houston made up of Icey Hott, KB from Kidnappa, Lil' Flea, Pharoah and Nutt, debuted in the rap game with an extended play of over twenty-five minutes.
It's a clear tribute to the West Coast and the NWA, so you expect the group to come from the West Coast, and instead come from Texas. The chosen production recalls simple sounds, jazzy / funky boom bap with skinny and syncopated drum machine, sometimes regular and tight, light bass, deep or heavy synth in the background, sometimes other elements supported by excellent soul, funk and jazz samples. The group delivers braggadocio and gangsta lyrics with a smoothness style that continues to vary with each track, going from extrovert (title track) to rough ("Never Leave the Pad"), to be slower and reggae ("The Next Episode") to be faster ("Kick the Door"), to a more crude ("That's of NGA I Am") and syncopated style ("The Episode").
The best song is clearly "That's of N-G-A I Am": splendid jazzy rhythm with syncopated, sparse and distant drum machine, heavy synth in the background and excellent slow, heavy and flowing delivery of the first rapper; they all go quite well on a boom bap dope, several scratches during the track, functional chorus with jazzy bridge and scratched samples.
Rating: 7/10.
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