Grand Agent — By Design

Debut solo album by Jared Lee Taylor aka Grand Agent, rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The emcee comes from the collaborative project NAME together with producers Larry Fowler Jr. aka Mr. Cisum and Ozzie Jones, with whom he released an album in 1998 ("Lost Page of the B-Boy Document"), which never goes beyond promotional copies and never gets an official press. Later, Taylor was part of the duo 2MC together with rapper Chops, with whom he released the album "Men of Respect" in 2000.

In 2001, Grand Agent debuted as a solo artist with his own project. The album is recorded between Philadelphia, New York, Santa Monica and Los Angeles. Production is done by Kut Masta Kurt, Mr. Cisum, AG, Amed, Chops, Lord Finesse, M-Boogie, Profit Zakariah, Hi-Tek and Grand Agent. The guests are AG, Lord Finesse and Planet Asia, others are credited as background vocalists.

After a brief introduction, Sean Geez opens the album with "From the Gate". Fat bassline, plucked strings, syncopated drums, oriental vibes, clean slow delivery from Grand Agent, flowing nicely over his beat, dropping a single boastful verse. "The Man Who Could Be King" follows, introduced by a hook from Maureen Torsney-Weir, then the author recites another battle with a monotonous flow on his quite good production, East Coast boom bap beat with sparse drum and a horn going back and forth.

The fourth choice features an effective beat from KutMasta Kurt, boom bap uptempo, raw bass, dry drum, urgent samples, the production is rough and cinematic, thanks to a sample taken from Mandingo's "Fever Pitch": Grand Agent jumps on it and delivers with his style, managing to feel at ease on this not simple musical carpet, deciding to deliver three verses in what is designated as his lead single, "Every Five Minutes". Mr. Cisum produces "New Mingling" and also guests on it with Chops. Both have collaborated with Grand Agent, the first as a member of the group NAME and the second as a member of the duo 2MC: the two are sometimes credited as guests, but in reality the song features three stanzas of Grand Agent. Mr. Cisum's rhythm is normal, the drums are fine, the samples work but are not memorable (there's a reference to "Best Kept Secret" by Diamond D) the rapper flows adequately.

Choice number six features AG as a guest, an emcee from one of the most popular hip-hop crews in the underground scene, DITC. AG is called upon to work both behind the keyboards, together with Amed, and at the mic together with Grand Agent. The guys are in shape, the production is pretty poor: there's a discreet bass line that remains in the background, the rest of the beat is totally canceled out by the sound of an alarm that makes a mess every half second and also stains the performers' executions, ruining the piece.

"Two Bitches" features Grand Agent's latest production on his debut album, the boy chooses a funky rhythm with questionable sounds, if we don't consider a drum that continues to do its dirty work in the background. As if you still hadn't understood that this cheap musical carpet wants to be a copy as faithful as possible to g-funk and the song's sexual theme are direct homages to "Doggystyle", the author drops into a laid-back mode à la Snoop Dogg and slows down his delivery so you can savor these bars even better. It's an interesting piece because it turns out to be a rare filler in this backpack rap album, the rest of the album being based on battle and simple boasting.

Also, Taylor tries for once to make a point through a narrative and unfortunately fails, It's not really his writing style, plus he doesn't have Snoop's appeal, Dre's ear or gift for storytelling: the setting of this failed lyrical attempt in three verses reminds me for some reason of what Mos Def achieved in "Ms. Fat Booty", but while Yasiin Bey manages to create a timeless masterpiece, Grand Agent comes out with a mess that isn't going anywhere lyrically or musically. Luckily, it's a rare misstep in an album otherwise free of glaring flaws.

Skit, then Chops is behind the keyboards for "Grand Right Now", where Grand Agent returns with the beloved battles over a fairly average funky production. Mr. Cisum is credited on scratches, Mr. Cisum, Chops, Mountain Brothers-affiliated rapper Mastery and Myxtique are credited as guests, despite having no verses or hooks. Lord Finesse crafts an exquisite beat for "Know the Legend": the first moments come from one of Lord Finesse's favorite samples, that of the theme song of one of the Scooby-Doo movies of the seventies (later used by Three 6 Mafia and MF DOOM, among others), then the DITC producer combines it with samples from Sammy Davis Jr. and Beside.

What emerges is one of the most beautiful soundscapes of the edition, very fresh, rich, loud, good bass line, competent drums, Grand Agent perhaps doesn't have his most concentrated delivery here, but his gaps are filled by brilliant production. Lord Finesse himself is also credited as a guest, however his contribution is limited to reciting as a foil to Grand Agent by repeating a single phrase in the hook and reciting the final outro.

M-Boogie busts out a bouncy boom bap for "Patience", Grand Agent flows nicely on this uptempo beat refreshed by DJ Revolution's scratches. "You Don't Love Me" is a gem thanks to what could also be identified as the most New York rhythmic solution of the project. Profit Zakariah aka Zach Katz is credited on the beat and creates a classic, going for some shaky, dark violins at the end of "Rudy" by British rock band Supertramp and pairing them with a dry, hard drum, an ungainly bass line and a series of light and soothing, heavenly piano keys. Grand Agent flows like silk on this blessed beat, nice work by Kut Masta Kurt on the mixing.

“It’s Only Right” is another highlight on this record. Hi-Tek has a banger on its hands. Magnificent dirty violins, guitar riffs, loud and crisp drums, the song opens with a tribute to Mobb Deep ("Quiet Storm"), then introduces the last guest on the CD. Planet Asia comes in and kills the rhythm with a sharp, cutting, lethal flow and neat writing. He doesn't seem to be doing anything exceptional and maybe he really isn't, but it's as if he did it: this is how the main rapper should sound throughout the rest of the album, with this energy, with this intensity, with this desire, which for some reason the Philadelphia artist never presents in these sixty minutes. Grand Agent is consequently a little overshadowed by the guest's performance, which returns in the third verse, delivering with a more careful metric pattern than the opening stanza, before Grand Agent last verse. Hi-Tek does an excellent job, a few years later the Italian producer DJ Shocca will pay homage to this cut to build the introduction of one of the best Italian hip-hop albums, "60 Hz".

Grand Agent slows down his style again, returning relaxed in "Waughter", on a funky beat well constructed by Chopz, in a slick song that would probably have been ideal for radio if it had been shortened by half. It closes joint number fifteen, another Kutmasta Kurt invention, another bouncy, uptempo, rusty production. The drum kicks, the samples are rough, Grand Agent spits quite pleasantly, although the beat may not be appreciated by casual listeners.

Published by Superrappin, a subsidiary of Groove Attack Productions, exclusively for the German market in 2000, the CD also arrives in the United States the following year, distributed by Landspeed Records. Ignored by the public and neglected by critics, over the years, Grand Agent's debut album has achieved cult album status among underground hip-hop fans for its old school productions and good rapping. Among the weak points are an accentuated lyrical disorder, an excess of verses that swell the tracks beyond what is necessary, leading the album to have over an hour of material when a good half hour would have been enough and the hooks, which aren't the bread and butter for this guy.

Surrounded by an invisible aura, we could even say the invisibility cloak of nineties hip-hop, the album certainly feels out of place and "late" coming out in 2000/2001, having a style that would have better suited the end of the nineties, if not even within the golden age. It might appeal to backpack rap fans, there are some scattered gems to discover. 6.5/10.