Debut album by Joseph "Just-Ice" Williams Jr., rapper from New York, former bouncer at clubs, charged with the murder of a drug dealer in 1986, but later proven innocent. From many points of view, the boy proves to be ahead of his time, starting from the title, in 1986 he's already nostalgic for the old school, to the point of becoming one of the first gangsta rappers of the period and among the first to use references to the Five Percenters. Kurtis Mantronik of Mantronix is the producer of the whole effort, Just-Ice's DJ The Human DMX (not that DMX) for the beatbox.
Despite the title, Just-Ice doesn't go back to the old school, there are no homages to disco or the carefree period of his early days. The young rapper spits hard, raw and crude with a normal flow, writing explicit and somewhat generic lyrics over a discreet production by Mantronix, who places typical hip-hop rhythms. Unfortunately, the mix doesn't favor Just-Ice's rapping. Released and distributed by Fresh Records of Kurtis Mantronik, sub-label of Sleeping Bag Records, the record enters rnb chart (#67) and, in retrospect, it's sometimes hailed as a «classic» by critics. 6/10.
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