DJ Vicious Lee, Lonnie Mac, Jon B and Prince E-Z-Cee, four guys from Houston come up with a decent debut album under the name Def IV. Ahh... maybe without too much imagination? It matters little because... maybe it matters, instead. Because here we find the usual simple beat and the longtime friend drum machine waiting for you on the doorstep and welcoming you for a warm tea on the sofa. The four entertain you – I didn't realize they were four during the listening, whatever – for a good three quarters of an hour with a regular and rapid rapping, decent, but a little bland, it seems to me close to pop rap. The scratched functional hooks help little, the crossover attempts are pretty bland and lazy, the skinny beats are never-inspired and the drum machine, yes, the dear old drum machine is now close to being sent to a nursing home because it doesn't make it more. Instead, the essential samples are the masters in this curious LP: James Brown, Rick James, Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, Eric B. & Rakim and Barry White. For the last cut, they borrow the theme of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", 1966 spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, but the music comes from the genius of Ennio Morricone. For the fact that they come from Houston, I wanted to take a look at Spin's rap map of June 1990: they're mentioned last in the local scene, not for some sort of merit, but they were among the pioneers. 5/10.
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