Seagram Miller, aged just over 20, becomes the first rapper to sign up for Rap-A-Lot without being born or residing in Houston, Texas. He's originally from Oakland, Bay Area, and the album tries to mirror the sound of the Pacific coast in some tracks.
The production is handled by Seagram himself, Mark Anthony and Troy White, and the rapper's lyrics fall on generic g-shit topics: hard bars on hard funky beats. Most of the album is average, the MC delivers worthily with its style on these beats, it's a bit generic, despite some curious samples and Rap-A-Lot guests: Ganksta Nip and Bushwick Bill close the tape with a hardcore delivery on dark rhythm, the other Geto Boys are featured with Nip in "Action Speaks Louder Than Words", skeletal production, jazzy sample, slow drum, Scarface performs better than the others. Also, Veli delivers worthily in the fourth cut. Among the noteworthy samples, there's an almost random one of Bob Marley's "Get Up Stand Up" in "Dedication", and the ever-fresh "The Message" by Melle Mel for the title track: it's the last sample that I would have expected from Seagram and give him the best beat of the record, tight drum, smooth slow delivery, good cut.
Among these 13 choices, it stands out above all the first, "Straight Mobbin", with Gangsta P: skit, boom bap lo-fi, tight drum, urgent slow syncopated delivery on a frantic rhythm with simple hook, close a shooting and soulful female chorus. The cut is peculiar because Gangsta P and Seagram choose to deliver nearly every bar with the final suffix "iz", making the spitting words unrecognizable and illustrating a style that will then be copied and popularized by Snoop Dogg in the following years.
Rating: 6.5/10.
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