After ten years on the circuit, Derrick "Nine" Keyes, rapper from The Bronx, released his debut album, recorded in 1994. The whole product is driven by the hit "Wutcha Want?", third among the rap singles, the most commercially successful of the artist whose moniker is inspired by the famous invention of Mr. Georg Luger.
As already explained in the past years by other reviewers, all the other songs fail to maintain the high level of quality of this track, which seems flawless: velvety jazz loop, warm and serene, with positive vibes, lively and hard midtempo drum, gripping delivery, energetic, rough, dope.
The other two singles, "Any Emcee" and "Ova Confident", come close to the best track, standing out from the rest of the material. Rob Lewis does most of the beats, including lead single, Tony Stoute provides four productions. The work of the two behind the keyboards doesn't reward the style of the interpreter, who spits hard on hard drums for over an hour, with lyrics that don't stand out from the rest of the scene: Lewis and Stoute combine an overly minimal and simplistic set of beats, with mild and lukewarm samples, underdeveloped loops, and slow, tough drums. Nine does his job well with an aggressive and rough delivery, nevertheless, his rapping is too static and he cannot afford particular inventions other than exhibiting a ragga influence or imitating a frog (sic!).
The record quickly loses the listener's attention after the half, the music is easily forgotten, difficult and in general, not good. Published by Profile, it manages to obtain a decent economic return, reaching the pop chart and the first twenty places among the hip-hop releases.
Rating: 6/10.
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