A gem in the dirt rind! A merciless, unforgiving & abrasive masterpiece of sweltering urban decay & anti-establishment dissidence from the bowels of NY (I think it’s the Bronx? they never seem to specify?). Although I think this is most propitious in the Hardcore Rap bracket, but due to the venom & brutality expelled, it’s probably got more in common with the extreme Southern truculence of early 90’s Gangsta Rap prime, a-la Ghetto Boys, Too Much Trouble, Street Military & the like. Hyper aggressive, expletive-sodden turbo-hostility & a militancy & integrity that often flourish in instances of pronounced poverty & slumification (a spin off article altogether). Truth, warrior-hood & the devotion to the Rap sub-culture substitute that was devised to create value as a counter-principle from social persecution/exclusion & became a life code are the central subjects for this absolute classic. The album is consistently ferocious with no quarter given, steeped in the authentic trauma & related wounds of street scenarios, Americas revolting prison depravity & the many hazards of the environs. Brittle listeners will be smashed, this is a different definition of Hardcore & does not possess or choose to enact the NY suaveness that their coeval counterparts were performing under. As already stated, this material reminds me much more of the gnarled Southern shit. Aside from all the ire & violence is an extremely invective social & political criticism, more than anything from the laceratingly astute Mike Rude, the most prevalent MC from the collective. It’s advanced & cutting with far more political magnitude than most of the comparisons in such territory. A&B’s secondary MC – Waxwell is by & large strictly street. Making occasional MC cameos, laying down all the samples, drum-programming & acting as producer is Mamado who is actually female! This is worth noting as she does such an extraordinarily good job & operates amongst such bellicosity & machismo with total proficiency. The production for me is also richly familiar with the early Rap-A-Lot/H-Town Rap…raw as fuck, course & littered with guitar samples from Blues & Rock LP’s. The syndicate also boasts a Cut Master specifically called JMC & even a secondary deck-wrecker by the name of Puerto Rok. The scratching is top notch & the final exit wound “Needle Torture” really levels the foundations. The “cult” factor & acoustic ambience is colossal…it’s 1991 for bollocks sakes. If you dig early 90’s/pre gold-rush Rap & can stomach the extremity, this will blow yer grill out yer skull mun!!! total’ total classic.

Rekd: 1991

Label: Attitude Records