Second studio album for Tajj "Taj Mahal" Goodman, Qu'ran "Q-Ball" Goodman and their cousin Tarik "Reek Geez" Dawson, the three kids from Philadelphia who, aided by the father of the first two Lawrence "LG the Teacher" Goodman, make up Da Youngsta's.
The album comes out a year after their debut and is distributed by Atlantic (via EastWest). The guys manage to get Beatnuts, Pete Rock, Naughty by Nature aka 118th Street Productions, Marley Marl, and DJ Premier in the production side. Qu'ran also does some rhythm behind the keyboards. Lyrically, the trio doesn't change themes compared to the debut, it improves something, but it still struggles compared to competitors, albeit delivering their bars with a captivating, raw and rough hardcore style.
The record is open by bombs after a tight jazzy beat, then Beatnuts provide the second beat of the edition, for "Wild Child": energetic intro, energetic hook, jazzy boom bap, skinny, hard, slow, tight and heavy drum, dope Christmas bells in the background, good energetic delivery, the guys don't have the best technique of the circuit, but somehow it works. The bells remain for the following joint, produced by Pete Rock: jazzy rhythm with scratches, hard pounding and tight drum machine, the trio delivers hardcore again. The next two songs have similar characteristics to the previous ones and are produced by 118th Street Productions, the name under which Naughty by Nature is hidden. "Lyrical Stick Up Kids" is the first of two beats by Marley Marl and is an evident difference: jazzy music carpet, simple sample, hard tight pounding drum machine, simple hook, slow and smooth delivery of little kids.
Almost surprisingly, after minutes of nothing, the best moment of the edition arrives: Pete Rock's sublime jazzy boom bap, great samples, good intro-hook, slow hardcore syncopated delivery by the Philadelphia group, then Pete Rock on the fourth verse and CL Smooth closing the cut with a velvety style on a dope rhythm. LG the Teacher, credited as Lawrence Goodman, achieves a production that is almost up to the previous one: jazzy beat, quick squeeze skinny drum machine, Christmas bells, Qu'ran and the other two make a simple hook and deliver their own bars with a flowing style in a concise, solid tune.
Da Beatnuts also realizes "Honeycomb Hide Out" and "It's Natural", two jazzy lean choices that, despite a discreet production, don't affect and aren't up to the best moments in this project, the first song even sounds like a ragga filler. In between these tracks is "Da Hood", the second track produced by Q-Ball after the intro: the guy chooses a mediocre sample and gives it a tight loop, finding a better sound for the bridge on the chorus. Track number twelve is again produced by Marley Marl, it's not one of his best beats and the kids spit out some random bars. "Wake Em Up" is the last song before the thanks, it's the last noteworthy song, and it's one of the few that you should really watch this record for: P-P-P-Premier rhythm, jazzy boom bap, pounding drum machine, decent sample, the trio offers a slow and flowing style and archives the track among the best of the edition.
With 14 tracks and just under 47 minutes, the album is an improvement on the debut, especially thanks to the production of some of the best professionals in the business: it's useless be under any illusions, none of the above gives their best rhythms, these beats are pretty much b-sides and scraps that no level MCs would ever use, but they don't sound bad here, and the kids get along pretty well with spitting out meaningless youth bars, some against their rival peers in the rap game, with a hardcore style for three quarters of an hour, and carving out some interesting moments. Recommended for completists, Da Youngsta's has released two classic albums in the hip-hop genre and are the next two.
Highlights: "Wild Child", "Iz U Wit Me", "Who's the Mic Wrecka", "Count It Off", "Wake Em Up".
Rating: 7/10.
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