Debut album by Michael "Mic Geronimo" McDermon, rapper from Flushing, Queens. In the early nineties, Irv Gotti aka DJ Irv meets Mic Geronimo at a Queens high school talent show, and convinces him to record a song with him, "Shit's Real".
The song made a sensation on the underground circuit and allowed the young MC, at the age of 20, to get a contract with Blunt Recordings, a subsidiary of TVT Records. Between 1993 and 1994, he records this studio album. The producers, in addition to Irv Gotti, are Mark Sparks, Da Beatminerz, Buckwild, Chyskillz, Harve "Joe Hooker" Pierre & Nashiem Myrick for The Hitmen. Royal Flush is the main guest of the disc, a sort of second MC, present in half the album, seven tracks out of thirteen. The other guests are O.C. of DITC, and the three future multi-platinum rapstars Jay-Z, Ja Rule and DMX, the latter two making their debut.
Mic Geronimo isn't exactly your generic rapper and he's not even a mic phenomenon, he's not a weak dude, but he's never memorable; anyway, he's a good performer and does a good job for an hour. He provides limited arguments in these hard dozen tracks, almost all revolving around crime, violence, drugs, streets and brag, so, at some point, his monotonous rap style might start to tire you. On the other hand, the rhythm set chosen by the producers is excellent and holds the product optimally all the time. Mark Sparks and Buckwild are the primary makers behind the keyboards, with four and three solutions respectively. The rhythms made by Sparks sound discreet and simple, he doesn't have the best choice between samples, minimal drums and jazz loops with a dark aftertaste. His best production falls on the title track, in which he combines dusted percussion and a dry, hard midtempo drum machine with somber and dark samples, providing a good boom bap for Mic Geronimo's regular and slow rap.
Irv Gotti and Da Beatminerz boast two productions each. DJ Irv, also credited as producer on the remix of "Masta I.C.", and is a name that may not tell you anything other than the reference to Teflon Don, nevertheless, it makes two productions that are better than those of Sparks, for example. His choice to place an essential midtempo drum in "Time to Build" to bring out the rap of the performers is interesting. He also has a nice beat for "Shit's Real", the first track recorded by Mic Geronimo, where Irv Gotti places a harsh downtempo drum and a melodic sample from "Free" by Deniece Williams. The two Beatminerz rhythms are nothing special, however, on the second arrives one of the best MCs of the period, Omar Credle, who proves he's still fit on a good boom bap. Chyskillz presents only one production, a good beat for "Man of My Own": the production breathes DITC vibes, hard drum, great horn looped on the hook, hint of xmas bells, good regular rap by Mic Geronimo & Royal Flush.
Buckwild's choices are the most recognizable. "Masta I.C." boasts a beautiful soundscape, even without looking at the credits you can guess that one of the guys from DITC has arrived here: boom bap, dry hard midtempo drum, dark and elegant samples, xmas bells. The flow of the rappers is regular, slow, slick. "Train of Thought" features the signature supergroup Diggin in the Crates Crew, the raw xmas bells: boom bap jazz, dry and hard midtempo drum, honest samples, good regular delivery from the author. Finally, "Three Stories High", one of the many tracks that features Royal Flush alongside the lead performer: Buckwild's production is circular, dark and gloomy, with a light dry drum and good samples to support the duo's rap.
"Time to Build" deserves a separate paragraph. Irv Gotti manages to bring together Ja Rule, Jay-Z and DMX on the same track: Carter has already participated in a couple of records, while the other two guys are making their debut in the rap game. At the time, Mic Geronimo was the best-known rapper of the four, thanks to his first single which reached the Billboard charts; in the following years, the other three will sell certified multi-platinum records and become hip-hop icons. Irv Gotti brings all three to Def Jam, and given the great success each of them has achieved, Russell Simmons allows DJ Irv to found his own label under Def Jam. Murder Inc. is born and is the same name of the supergroup formed by Jay-Z, DMX and Ja Rule, with whom the producer plans to release a studio album in the late nineties, but the project never goes through due to the conflicting relationship between Dark Man X and Hova.
Both have known each other before this song and have also toured together before and after, their conflict dates back to a battle rap that took place around 1994 between the two of them. DMX, from Yonkers, is one of the best battle rappers of the moment and wins every challenge clearly, the confrontation with Jay-Z, from Brooklyn, arrives and it's decided to play in the neutral place of the Bronx. At the end of the battle rap, for the first time, DMX doesn't come out with a clear victory and indeed, for more than someone, the battle would have been won by Jay-Z. This is the first track in which the supergroup Murder Inc. is reunited: DMX, who arrived first in the studio, decides that he must be the one to close the song, at the time a great honor and privilege in hip-hop, reserved for the best rapper. Hova doesn't take this decision very well and decides to deliver a not too-veiled dissing to DMX in the same verse, which precedes it. The best song of Mic Geronimo's record comes out, Ja Rule is better than he'll be in the future, here he still looks like a competent rapper — this performance is often considered to be the best thing he has done — DMX has a rough and tight aggressive hardcore style, and Jay-Z kills the track with velvet, fresh, crisp delivery.
Released by Blunt, four singles are extracted from the album and the product reaches the top 25 among the rap releases and enters the pop chart. Except for that sensational posse track, the album has no memorable traits, it's quite solid, cohesive, and regular. The production is dirty, dark, gritty, purely underground, similar to that of several mafioso rap albums published in the mid-nineties, however, mostly without those cinematic vibes. Recommended for fans of East Coast and NY underground rap.
Highlights: "The Natural", "Masta I.C.", "Man of My Own", "Time to Build", "Shit's Real", "Men v. Many".
Rating: 7.3/10.
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