Fourth studio album made by the Geto Boys, which for the second time revolutionizes their lineup: Willie D decides to pursue a solo career and leaves the group in 1992. His place is taken by Big Mike, rapper already present in the ranks of Rap-A-Lot as half of the duo Convicts, a Houston group, while DJ Domination replaces DJ Ready Red, also out of the Geto Boys.
The production is almost entirely made by N.O. Joe, helped by other Rap-A-Lot beatmakers such as John Bido, J. Prince and Mike Dean, and other guys who provide some live instrumentation, including Roger Tausz, Preston Middleton, Tony Randle and the aforementioned multi-instrumentalist Mike Dean. In the rapping side, Scarface is at his best in career, he comes from his debut record and prepares to sign another auteur record in the following months, Bushwick Bill has released an honest solo album and here he mends a small space, while Big Mike debuted with his group three years earlier and here proves to live up to expectations, not making replacement Willie D regret too much: the record lacks its political streak, but you can't ask for everything to an MC who has been spitting g-ish all his career and coming from Rap-A-Lot.
The record, opened and closed by the founder of the label James Smith under the moniker Lil' J, is a solid, cohesive and coherent product, with many rough and violent cuts, some strong moments and rare weak points ("This's for You", vicious choice of five minutes, out of place and never necessary). The record reaches 65 minutes with 15 songs never under three minutes, but it has no skits and interludes, and is a particularly fluid listening: it maintains a violent and gangsta lyricism, hard and raw bars, with some conscious tearing, while the production tries to update itself to the sound of the 9-3, lending an ear to Compton and gets the feeling that perhaps a few live instruments are needed to reach a higher musical level. Despite this, musically, the group doesn't take many steps forward, there's some slow and generic funky boom bap, some honest and good samples, light rhythms, skeletal and slow drums, the record still screams "South!" in the face to all. It's not bad, but it's not an improvement on the past either, the group doesn't seem to have the same passion and energy as before, perhaps due to the lyrics.
Among the best cuts, stand out "No Nuts No Glory", blessed with layered samples, great beat, simple chorus, slow drum, and a slow-flowing dope delivery of Big Mike, in his solo piece; "Six Feet Deep", one of the few socio-conscious tracks present, good hardcore delivery of the trio on funky rhythm with samples of Marvin Gaye ("What's Going On") and Commodores ("Easy"); last one, "Bring It On" deserves a mention. This is a huge posse from Houston, made up of 2-Low, Seagram, Ganksta NIP, DMG, Mr. 3-2, Big Mello and the groups Too Much Trouble, 5th Ward Boyz and Odd Squad, who, if I'm not mistaken, bring two of their MCs each: almost all of them are making their debut in the rap game, among others there's also Devin the Dude in the Odd Squad group, who will then embark on a relevant solo career.
On a quite mediocre funky boom bap rhythm by N.O. Joe, with tight drum and generic samples, none of these guys do anything to stand out in this eight-plus-minute battle rap, they all spit generic words with a slow, hardcore flow. The only one who manages to stand out is the final performer, Scarface, the only one of the Geto Boys to participate in the song: he provides the best attack and brings out a powerful and heavy delivery that blows everyone else away, hardcore, technically clean, smoothness, dope, he's clearly the best. Aided by adequate promotion, the fourth effort of the Geto Boys becomes the group's first album to reach the top spot in the rap album chart, finishing on the threshold of the top ten among pop records and obtaining gold certification in two months, while the specialized critics are divided on the goodness of the project.
Rating: 7.3/10.
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