Brutal and catastrophic sophomore jinx for hip-hop group Fu-Schnickens, from East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City. The guys have never been the best MCs even at their peak and they've never sucked up to this point, bringing their own almost original style to the game.
After debuting with a promising and discreet record, the group returns after more than two years, in order to capitalize on their mainstream popularity, mainly due to the passion of the basketball player Shaquille O'Neal for the group: the Fu-Schnickens place him in their main single, "Whats Up Doc?", a tribute to Bugs Bunny, who was supposed to participate through a sample, however, the group didn't have permission from Warner Bros. and the phrase was recited by Shaq himself in the song. He's also the only guest of the edition, while Rod "KP" Kirkpatrick, K-Cut, Jim Nice, Diamond D and Lyvio G. alternate behind the keyboards.
The beginning is acceptable: funky boom bap, cheerful and lacerating syncopated drum machine, light-hearted samples. KP's beat is cheap, bad, and ignorant, but he's happy to be, and he supports dull 'n quick delivery. K-Cut produces the second song, musically, it doesn't differ from the previous one: decent funky rhythm, ok sample, slow and pounding drum, decent easygoing quick delivery. "Visions 20/20" is perhaps one of the best things on the record: relaxed East Coast rhythm performed by KP, slow pounding drum machine, decent samples a bit sci-fi / left-field, almost whisper-spoken, easygoing, relaxed delivery. The song is the longest on the LP, but it's one of the best. The fourth choice completely changes the course of the album and leads it to drift: Jim Nice's bad musical carpet, thumping tight drum, decent sample, fast delivery, something is wrong with this cut. Two consecutive Diamond D rhythms arrive, probably at his worst in career.
The fifth track features a simplistic rhythm, with ridiculous samples and tight pounding drum, the guys can't save the cut due to their mediocre rapping. "Sneaking Up On Ya" is even worse: boom bap jazzy, sample looped in an embarrassing way, drum choked as the sample. Chip-Fu and Co. spit poorly, while whoever made the rhythm should be arrested: Diamond D stands out as the worst producer on this record, a curious fact for a DITC member. Two similar productions follow, respectively by KP and Lyvio G, with funky rhythms, honest samples, tight drums and Chip-Fu trying in every way to tone the tracks with his eclectic style, without success. "Hi-Lo" is one of the best songs of the edition: lo-fi cut, fantastic and light boom bap that returns J Dilla vibes, thanks to relaxed samples, a pounding midtempo drum and a slow, relaxed, calm and flowing rapping. Shaq is the protagonist of the last song, continually going out of time over a funky K-Cut beat, with bad drum. KP produces the remix of "Breakdown", which he produced himself: he manages to place a bad sample and a worse drum than the original, the guys play badly.
For 44 minutes, Chip Fu, Moc Fu and Poc Fu, these guys with uninspired cartoon monikers, spit out bars without really saying anything, filling ten tracks and a remix. Musically, the production of these five guys is forgettable and generic at best. Chip Fu tries to flow away, but fails, stopping several times to make nonsense sounds like random pig sounds and coughing here and there. Released by Jive / Zomba and distributed by RCA, the album ends up in the top 20 among rnb records and close to the top 80 in the pop chart: it's a commercial flop that definitively puts an end to the career of one of the most forgettable groups of nineties rap. Recommended for fans of Native Tongues and alternative rap, who will surely appreciate all the various facets provided by the guys in this project, 4.5/10.
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