Biz Markie — Goin' Off

Marcel "Biz Markie" Hall was born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York and grew up on Long Island. Passionate about hip-hop, his moniker pays homage to Busy Bee. In the early 1980s, he met and became friends with Roxanne Shanté, who in 1986 released the single "The Def Fresh Crew", produced by Marley Marl in which Biz Markie is the author (uncredited) of the beatbox.

In the same period, the rapper took part in the Dutch documentary "Big Fun in the Big Town", signed with Prism and released an EP credited as "The Inhuman Orchestra". The effort saw the collaboration of Juice Crew member TJ Swan and was produced by another Juice Crew member, Marley Marl, with the supervision of Tyrone Williams, founder of Cold Chillin' Records.

The following year "Nobody Beats the Biz" was released, again joined by TJ Swan with Marl behind the keyboards and the piece soon became an underground hit. Biz Markie signed with Cold Chillin' Records and released his debut studio album in 1988, again supported by the Juice Crew All Stars, of which he became a member.

The record presents silly and simple lyrics, written largely by Big Daddy Kane, and a typical production of the period, built by Marlel Marl with simple and tough skinny beats, some decent guessed samples (James Brown for "Vapors") and minimal drum machines, scratches, and bass lines. It's a relaxed and fun album, easy-going, works on the same concept conceived by the Fat Boys but is interpreted with a stronger personality, therefore it provides more satisfying results. For being a record labeled "comedy rap" it had a sensational influence on the whole game that still pervades us today.

Released by Cold Chillin with a global distribution by Warner Bros., five singles were released, of which only "Vapors" managed to make an impact among the R&B songs. The vinyl received a lukewarm response from critics, which elevated it to a cult album in retrospect, while it was mostly appreciated for its light-heartedness by the public, entering the pop charts and reaching the top 20 among R&B albums. 7.5/10.