Debut album by John "Casual" Owens, rapper from Oaktown, member of the Hieroglyphics, on which the whole CD is based. Domino is the lead producer with eight rhythms, followed by Casual with six, then Del tha Funky Homosapien and Jay-Biz make one beat each. The guests are all members of the crew: A-Plus, Tajai and Phesto of Souls of Mischief, Pep Love, Extra Prolific, the affiliate Saafir and Del tha Funky Homosapien, the main guest of the disc with three appearances.
Like most early nineties Hieroglyphics records, the production is mediocre: Domino and Casual choose cheap, bouncy, weak funky rhythms, composed of a lean and poor drum, decent jazzy and funky samples and simple bass lines. Thematically, the album doesn't move away from simple bravado and Casual proves to be a decent lyricist and competent rapper with good dynamic flow, despite no track stands out. Among the guests, no one adds anything, except Del.
Distributed by Jive Records, it's well received by critics, less well by the public: the tape doesn't exceed the top 100 in the pop chart and the top 20 among rap records, and is considered a commercial failure, despite being the second best result in sales by a Hieroglyphics member at the time, after the debut of Souls of Mischief. Made up of 16 short songs for a total of around 50 minutes, it's an honest and erratic LP, never memorable.
Rating: 6/10.
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