DJ Swinn, Dread One, Kev and Roberto form the Rough House Survivers, a forgotten group from New York City. Unlike almost every other group in the Big Apple, this one should be remembered: fantastic relaxed jazzy production, done by a Tony Dofat clearly inspired by Pete Rock, quiet and smooth rapping, flowing, clean, clearly inspired by CL Smooth.
It's sort of a second league album of that duo, it keeps an East Coast / NY sound and it's a fun album, mostly braggadocio with some conscious bars, unfairly overlooked, it's one of the many hidden gems among the East Coast records of the 90s. The presence of the Brand Nubian (Sadat X is a guest in "We Come to Get Wreck", where he rip the cut with an excellent flowing, technical verse, dope on a skeletal jazzy boom bap with a lean and syncopated tight drum machine, after a good delivery of the group; while Grand Puba produces the latest song, providing a decent, simple, jazzy boom bap with lean slow drum machine, the group plays the beat with good syncopated slow delivery) earns it deserved comparisons with the duo themselves.
Overall it's a good album, which I recommend, even if the rappers don't give you anything new and Dofat, after copying enough doesn't seem to have many ideas anymore, tries to go into the mainstream with a medium-commercial filler (the ragga attempt "Rough House") and at a certain point he places the usual ESG sample at random around the hook of "On the Flex". The record is pretty good, the samples are guessed, the delivery of the group is fit with the rhythms, and CL Smooth is also featured as a guest on "Can U Dig It?": boom bap jazzy dope, simple rhythm, skinny syncopated drum, good group delivery and simple functional chorus, but the guest rapper tops them all with his smooth, effortless, dope flow.
Highlights: "Take a Trip", "Can U Dig It?", "We Come to Get Wreck".
Rating: 7/10.
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