Here, well, here we have a small example of how far the single of life can launch a whole career. Of one-hit wonders, in the history of music, you can find as many as you want. But, in hip hop, they still hadn't arrived, not at this level, and Young MC from Wimbledon, London, is the first of its musical genre.
The only cut for which he's remembered is the massive hit "Bust a Move": clean and clear funky rhythm, minimal and light drums in the background, the delivery of Young MC here is incredibly dope, crystal clear, flowing, creates a excellent cut, he's at his best in career and brings out the hit of life. Game. Set. Match. The boy takes it all, comes out with a piece that is welcomed positively by everyone, the public, friends, relatives, colleagues, rival rappers, hip-hop fans, TV presenters, mothers, grandparents, DJs, weather girls, grandpas in wheelbarrows, critics, little girls, retrospective critics, various producers, kittens and the record mafia, who awards him at the Grammys.
Young MC is in fact one of the main protagonists at the 1990 Grammys, succeeding the disputed victory of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince with their hit "Parents Just Don't Understand" with another even more disputed victory, because with his single "Bust a Move", the young rapper raised in Queens defeats the competition of Public Enemy, who arrive at the nomination for the Best Rap Performance Award with the immortal anthem "Fight the Power", his friend Tone Lōc with his "Funky Cold Medina" (written with Young MC himself), a new piece by Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, De La Soul and obviously all the other guys who did not even get a nomination.
In a year that saw the release of albums by LL Cool J, Gang Starr, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Ice-T, Big Daddy Kane, Stezo, Kwamé, 3rd Bass, Nice & Smooth, Boogie Down Productions, NWA, Jungle Brothers, Geto Boys, Low Profile, Beastie Boys, The D.O.C. and Kool G Rap, the best performance of the year goes to Young MC. "Bust a Move". The award is also considered by critics to be one of the biggest mistakes ever made in the history of music.
Marvin "Young MC" Young was born in Wimbledon, London, to Jamaican immigrant parents. With his family, he moves to Queens, New York, then earn a degree in economics from the University of Southern California, where he met Mike Ross and Matt Dike from the record label Delicious Vinyl. Having secured a contract, the boy released his debut single "I Let 'em Know" in 1988 for the American market, without any particular response. In the same year, "Know How" followed, which was released only for the English market via Delicious Vinyl and the local label 4th & Broadway, managing to make its way into the British charts. The following year, Young MC collaborated with rapper Tone Lōc on his songs "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina".
In 1989, he released his third single, "Bust a Move". Some boys decided to incorporate a series of samples from various tracks to compose the beat of the single, which is firmly based on the riff of a final section of Ballin' Jack's "Found a Child". Even though the production is credited to Dike and Ross, the song became an international success that launched the career of the newcomer Young MC as a rapper and that of the newcomers Dust Brothers as producers, here credited in co-production with the founders of Delicious Vinyl. The single hit #1 in Australia and Canada, where it was certified gold, peaking at #7 on the Hot 100 and earning platinum status from the RIAA.
Matt Dike and Michael Ross produced Young MC's debut album the following September. The Dust Brothers got credit for the single "Know How", Quincy Jones produced the album's closing track, "Just Say No". Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea collaborated on "Bust a Move" and "Principal's Office", the two biggest singles from the project. The London rapper delivers bars alone for over three-quarters of an hour.
For the first dozen minutes of this effort, the up-and-coming emcee could even pass as the best of the bunch with "I Come Off" ft. N'Dea Davenport (splendid funky rhythm and a spectacular boom bap was nodded by the delivery of Young MC, smooth and clean), the international hit "Principal's Office" and "Bust a Move", however, the remaining songs are more or less all quiet, regular, composed by simple and minimal funky-jazzy rhythms with a light-hearted and easy delivery that I can define as simply decent, generic. There are some fresh and above average tracks at the beginning of side B, but nothing more. It has been defined by many as pop rap because it's not easy to find another more accurate definition, that said, whatever is waiting for you in these quiet twelve songs, it's done well.
Published by Delicious Vinyl, it's distributed by Island Records all over the world, Polystar distributes the CD in Japan and in 1990 it's released on vinyl in the Colombian market by Philips. The album breaks into the top ten of the Billboard 200 and in New Zealand, being certified platinum (one of the fastest up to that point, just three months after the release) and also taking the lead single to platinum. For an album by a one-hit wonder, one of the first in rap, it's much better than you might expect, 6.5/10.
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