In 1992, "Jump" dominated anything that could be dominated, it was a worldwide hit, goes multi-platinum and was the Country's third single at the end of the year. The Kris Kross, what a group, what idols.
Group, if you can define such two children caught from an Atlanta mall and randomly put together to make some money with commercial music that some yokel will surely go out and buy. Idols? No. But you can't take away the fact that Jermaine Dupri is a genius, a true entrepreneurial genius: this album features very simplistic lyrics and equally simplistic music, and he made both of them. Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo, a well-known producer in the southern scene, musically fixes things in the mix, and Dupri adds a few guests to do the background vocals for the songs.
In general, the beats on the record are pretty cheap, lean, grounded in the cheerful funky and simple samples you've heard on other records, there are some drops in production with tracks that sound awful and annoying or just plain poor and annoying ("Warm It Up", "The Way of Rhyme", "Party", "A Real Bad Dream", "It's a Shame") and on this soundscape, these two guys with backwards pants, Chris Kelly and Chris Smith, they deliver ridiculously basic bars with a cheerful and lively, sometimes lazy and indolent, boring style.
The last two songs are the remixes of "Party" and "Jump", the latter being the only one worth listening to, were it not that the original tune is better. Dupri signs with Ruffhouse Records and Columbia and the record is strong, really strong, in the US charts: it's first among hip-hop records and first on the Billboard 200, still a rare event for a rap album. At the end of the decade it was among the top 100 best-selling albums in the United States, kills the rap music market and within the first seven months was certified platinum by the RIAA for the fourth time.
Rating: 3/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment