Third album for the Digital Underground, a group led by Shock G and Money-B, with the guitarist of Funkadelic Michael Hampton as guest. The album is produced, written and performed by the group itself and by some affiliated collaborators, and is distributed by Tommy Boy: it arrives well in the charts and gets critical acclaim, despite being completely uninspired, gaunt and drained.
20 cuts, including 6 skits, for a total of about 75 minutes, the songs often go over four minutes with the grueling eighth peak of "Doo Woo You". The music chosen by the D-Flow Production Squad is similar to that of the previous records, decent and light funky boom bap, honest drum, funky, soul and rnb samples, extravagant and festive, often extrapolated from George Clinton's groups.
Shock G and Money-B, together with the other side rappers, deliver light-hearted and cheerful effortlessly, with good rapping, but struggle to attract the listener due to the lyrics, already performed better in past years: the group remains focused on parties, fun, braggadocio and above all sexual choices — the "Digital Lover" hook kills the track, along with bad production and annoying sound looped in the background — that massively bloat the entire LP with weak and redundant tracks.
The only exception is "Wussup Wit the Luv": song of over six minutes, second and last single. Samples from James Brown and Prince, amazing eclectic piano in the background, hook with female backing vocals, then slow syncopated delivery of the group on bare funky boom bap, with lean and tight lively syncopated drum machine, vocal part on the hook, vibes ballad.
Money-B, Shock G and Clee (new entry in the group together with Saarif) deliver their bars, then 2Pac arrives, in his latest appearance on a Digital Underground album, and delivers with a style clearly superior to all the others in this effort, with greater energy and intensity, fluid flow, smooth, clear and rapid. He has a different pace than the others, closes the solo of Funkadelic guitarist Michael Hampton.
Praised by critics, promoted by a couple of songs that struggle to climb the rankings, the lukewarm commercial response (#16 among rap albums) coincides with the last album of the group with Tommy Boy.
Rating: 6/10.
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