Second studio album by Grand Daddy IU and third to last for Cold Chillin Records, which closed its doors the following year. Production is provided by Grand Daddy IU and Kay Cee, while Big Snow produces one track. Big Snow himself, Kid Capri and Taheim are credited as guests on one track.
The first part of the album features several generic boom bap productions and in the standard of the rest of the hip-hop season, although not bad, while in the second part of the album, the music improves and the performer extracts some tracks above average also thanks to a fresh and fluid flow. "Blast a New Asshole", the piece with guests, does have a sample from ESG's "UFO", but it goes unheard if you don't pay attention to it. The best moments arrive immediately, in the first two songs.
The second is "As I Flow On", Grand Daddy IU & Kay Cee behind the keyboards create one of the best songs in the Queens rapper's discography: as well as a solid musical carpet, built around a perky and lively bass and a lean and solid drums, the song boasts a nice sample from Ronnie Laws' "Friends and Strangers", sample that you may have already heard in one of the cuts of the group The Ballers, in one of the instrumentals by MF DOOM or in a gem by DJ Shocca for Bassi and Ghemon, who fly on untouchable music. The song follows "Represent", a hit in which the Juice Crew emcee inserts two samples from almost homonymous songs and from the same period recorded by The Jazz Crusaders and Bobby Hutcherson, building a fresh jazz effort. The piece seems to have been created to be included in a DITC album and years later Buckwild christened it with a exceptional remix.
Epic Street guarantees major distribution through Sony, nevertheless the album fails to climb the charts and remains far behind even among hip-hop releases. Afterwards, Grand Daddy IU retired from the scene for twelve years. After the first few tracks the record loses some momentum and isn't essential listening, although it might be of interest to East Coast fans.
Rating: 6/10.
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