Saafir was born in Oakland, California, and lived with 2Pac, becoming a dancer for the hip-hop group Digital Underground. Saafir debuts on several songs on Digital Underground's "The Body-Hat Syndrome" (1993), participates in the movie "Menace II Society" (1994), and included in the movie soundtrack.
The debut album by Reggie "Saafir" Gibson is certainly different from all the other hip-hop products of the season: the Oakland MC relies exclusively on Hobo Junction, a group he founded, to complete the disc, there are few guests present and are included in the skits, while the rhythms are mainly entrusted to Jeremy "DJ JZ" Jackson, credited with the moniker Jay-Z, who also takes care of the mixing. Other beats are made by Big Nose and J Groove. The group Hobo Junction is composed by DJ JZ, J Groove, Poke Martian, Big Nose and Rational.
The production approaches the East Coast sound, thanks to jazzy samples inspired by the alternative scene of New York, combined with a difficult drum to deal with, pounding and slow, scarce and tight, often annoying, which is why the music isn't completely accessible. Saafir grows with 2Pac and is a member of Digital Underground along with him and DJ JZ: he forms in the battle rap scene and gets a deal with Qwest Records. This label is a joint venture between Quincy Jones and Warner Bros. Records.
His first LP is made up of battle raps and is similar to a "freestyle album" in which he renounces the main trends of the time and also approaches abstract rap, delivering discreet, rough and not always understandable lyrics, with an atypical and unusual flow, slow, unorthodox, but technically competent: distributed by Reprise and Warner Bros., the album didn't sell many copies, but it stands as one of the best West Coast records of the year.
Rating: 7/10.
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