Audio Two — What More Can I Say?

Hip-hop duo Audio Two originated in Brooklyn, New York, consisting of rapper Kirk "Milk Dee" Robinson (half-brother of MC Lyte) and DJ Nat "Gizmo" Robinson. In 1985, the duo released their debut single, "A Christmas Rhyme", on local soul label MCM. The following year, they signed with the newly formed hip-hop label First Priority Music founded by Milk Dee's father, Nat Robinson Sr., to release the group's music.

Also in 1986, the label released a split mini-album of Audio Two with rap group The Alliance. Unlike Alliance, Audio Two made a breakthrough in 1987 with the release of their new single "Make It Funky". Contrary to initial expectations, the single's b-side became a major hit, "Top Billin'", which was soon released as a single that same year. In the following years "Top Billin'" was paid homage to and sampled by everyone, both for its rhythm and its lyrics, even by Audio Two themselves who used the lyrics to title their studio albums.

Their debut CD revolves all around "Top Billin'", a classic that the duo cannot replicate and the first cut of the record. So, it starts very fast and you expect that the album will keep that level, and instead no, it immediately fades at the first gust of wind. Title and remaining tracks paying homage and / or directly sampling the same "Top Billin'" making practically the whole LP in vain: the rapping of the duo from then on is average despite trying to vary a little, going from a light-hearted and syncopated delivery to the hardcore, up to the hysteria in the final cut (produced by King of Chill of the Alliance), and the production is never inspired (it rely on the simple skinny beat, one third of the set is provided by Daddy-O) with different functional hooks and samples sometimes tight to the nuisance.

We therefore remain on the opening hit, the only listening that is worth and that I recommend, since anyone has either sampled it directly or paid homage in another way: it presents several lines that have come to us hailed as classics. Released by First Priority with Atlantic distribution, the effort enters Billboard 200, also peaking #45 among rnb albums.