Debut album by the rap group Yaggfu Front, composed of the rappers Spin 4th, Jingle Bel and D'ranged & Damaged, the latter also takes care of the role of DJ. The trio, originally from Durham, North Carolina, moved to New York to pursue their career in the hip-hop world. The production is carried out by the group together with New Vibe Messengers and Minnesota, while some instrumentalists linked to the group provide piano, trombone and trumpet in some tracks.
A triumphant intro with horn samples, disordered drums and a poor rhythm, lead to the first three cuts of the edition: the rapping of the three boys is simple, relaxed, smooth and calm in the first choices, hardcore in "Mr. Hook", on similar rhythms, with jazzy samples and dry and pounding or tight and cheap drums. Track number five is a first slide in project quality, due to an annoying sample. "Fruitless-Moot" boasts a good flute sample that is killed by a messy, boisterous, grumpy and violent drum: on this musical carpet, the guys spit out bars in a rough and energetic way. "Black Liquid" features an excellent contribution by Torrin McBynum with trumpet, which makes the atmosphere noir, joining a hard and slow drum. Two decent generic tracks follow.
"Left Field" is one of their best pieces both from a musical and thematic point of view: they explain their relationship problems on a glossy boom bap, with slow and tight dirty dusty drum machine, and samples of horn, performing the lyrics in a slow syncopated style. Two more mediocre songs follow before another highlight in "Frontline": beautiful sax sample left to breathe, messy, dirty and gaunt drum, smooth relaxed delivery. In the last minutes the beat goes out, replaced by a festive skit on good samples of horns, soon overshadowed by the festive and noise delivery of the boys, supported by a slow and incessant drum in the background. It follows a skit that has a good dusty and lean drum, tight and fast, and a sax sample, to anticipate the last track of the edition. The title is placed to deceive, instead of the typical sexual filler cut that rappers have accustomed the market to, the track is a lively response to the "parental advisory" the group received due to the PMRC led by Tipper Gore.
I have no idea how these guys did it, but somehow they get a deal with PolyGram, which distributes the record via Mercury: thanks to a jazz rap soul, an irregular jazzy production, a light-hearted rapping on light and abstract themes, an extravagant name and a simple cover, the group is hailed as a kind of affiliated member of Native Tongues crew and sells several hundred thousand copies in the underground market in the years following the release of the album. Perhaps PolyGram thought so too, doing little to promote the product of 15 songs and almost an hour of listening, leading the group to leave the label and practically ending their career. Listening isn't essential, I recommend it to fans of alternative rap, Native Tongues and De La Soul in particular, they will find some scattered gems.
Rating: 6/10.
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