Da Brat — Funkdafied

Debut studio album for Shawntae "Da Brat" Harris, a young rapper from Chicago, Illinois. In her school days, she won a rap contest sponsored by the show "Yo! MTV Raps", the prize of which is the meeting with Kris Kross, kid rap duo that made a sensation at the time. The duo takes her to their producer Jermaine Dupri, who signs Da Brat for his So So Def label. Two years later, the album comes out: Dupri is the author of the production, while in the role of guests are called Kandi, LaTocha Scott, Y-Tee and Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly of Kris Kross.

The first has a poor production: cheap boom bap, tight and light drum, wacky samples, the rapper delivers decently slow. The following two cuts are qualitatively inferior: Dupri places pounding, dry and slow drums, combining them with cheap or extravagant samples. On these musical carpets, Da Brat sounds bad, slow syncopated, at best decent, and his hooks don't work, albeit cheerful and festive. There's Kandi in "Fa All Y'All", but her contribution goes unnoticed, basically. The title track boasts a decent rhythm, tight drum and acceptable samples, the MC spits bars with slow syncopated rapping.

 

LaTocha Scott is a guest on "May da Funk Be Wit 'Cha", where Dupri invents g-funk synths on a pounding, tight drum, providing a slow beat. Y-Tee performs in "Ain't No Thang", one of the worst cuts of the edition, consisting of a poor rhythm, slow and lean drum, mediocre samples and a generic delivery. The next song is no better: Dupri brings out completely bad, wack and cheap g-funk synths, which destroy the quality of the track. Da Brat delivers lyrics with confident style, Mac Daddy adds little to the song. Track eight has an almost decent musical carpet, with slow pounding drum machine and wacky samples: the beat is left to breathe at the end, I'm not sure why. It closes, incredible, the best tune of the entire LP: glossy boom bap, thumping drum, slow and energetic, rhythm let to breathe, disco-dance vibes, synthesized chorus that sounds electronic, slow syncopated delivery.

No need to lie, the album isn't good: the record suffers a lot in the first part and gets worse in the second section, biting all the time the West Coast g-funk sound, the rhythms of Dre and the style of Snoop. Dupri's production is simply ridiculous and bland, while the delivery of the MC is generic and at times annoying, in her attempt to mimic Snoop Dogg, sounding thug-gangsta and hardcore. Composed of 9 songs for over half an hour of listening, the disc is released by So So Def which has a distribution agreement with Sony through Columbia: I don't like Jermaine Dupri's music, but it can't be said that the boy can't sell records, this CD comes first among rap chart and eleventh on the Billboard 200, becoming one of the best-selling rap albums in two consecutive years. Within a month and a half, the title track, first single, was certified platinum by the RIAA, and in the following January the same album was too: Da Brat becomes the first female solo rapper to achieve platinum certification, and the second female rap act to do so after Salt-n-Pepa. Forgettable album, not recommended, 4/10.