Tag: Gotti Mob

Kurupt – “Tales from My Hood” review

Kurupt is a 53 year old MC, songwriter, actor & occasional producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who relocated to Hawthorne, California to comprise 1/2 of Tha Dogg Pound with Daz Dillinger. He eventually made his double solo debut Kuruption! under A&M Records almost 3 decades earlier, following it up with a widely praised sophomore effort Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha & Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey until dropping Against tha Grain through Death Row Records in tandem with MNRK Music Group to mixed reception. Same Day, Different Shit produced by Daz & his previous full-length Streetlights each left audiences further divided even if the latter helped launch Young Gotti’s own imprint Penagon Records, remaining on Tha Row now distributed by gamma. following Daz’s departure to have DJ Battlecat solely produce his 7th studio LP.

After the intro, Sneacc Attacc” featuring Charlie Bereal & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg begins spitting that gangsta shit over a g-funk instrumental whereas “Me N the Boyz” samples “Mothership Connection (Star Child)” by Parliament to talk about getting money. “Special” featuring Jane Handcock finds the pair getting romantic over a smooth beat while the summery “Mystic River” represents the D.P.G.C. even after Daz & Snoop fell out.

D Smoke & Snoop Dogg appear on “Wat U Do to Me” bringing back the g-funk vibes instrumentally to kick off the 2nd half of the album talking about him & his Death Row inmate being unable to fake how they do things but after “Love Letter” featuring Jane Handcock soulfully addresses the people in their lives who were made for them, “West Coast Muzik” once again shifts towards a g-funk direction representing the west coast hip hop scene altogether.

“Mindstate” featuring Ill Camille gets the Tales from My Hood’s final act going embracing a jazzier sound & some grown man subject matter Tha Kingpin’s delivering while “I Don’t Luv Her” featuring Akeem Ali & Soopafly brings the trio together so they can promise their soulmates that they’re not in love with anyone else over a g-funk beat. The closing track “Gunna” sends it all off suggesting for people to duck whenever he’s out in public.

Considering how much of a superiorly skilled performer Kurupt has always been on the microphone, I found myself being more excited for Tales from My Hood than I have been with Daz’s last few solo efforts & it sure enough makes up for Against tha Grain’s mediocrity by surpassing Tha Streetz Iz a Mutha to become Young Gotti’s finest hour by himself. DJ Battlecat’s g-funk production paired with one of the most underrated lyricists of all-time who also became 1/2 of the Gotti Mob & 1/4 of The HRSMN makes for possibly the strongest album Death Row’s dropped this year.

Score: 4/5

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Gotti Mob – “Don’t Be Stupid” review

The Gotti Mob is a newly formed hip hop duo consisting of Kurupt & C-Mob. One is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania born albeit Los Angeles, California bred veteran notable for being 1/2 of Tha Dogg Pound alongside Daz Dillinger & the latter coming straight outta Marion, Indiana turning heads in the underground since 2005, particularly within the horrorcore scene. They’ve only crossed paths with each other on wax a few times over the years, but are linking together & putting their chemistry to the test with a full-length debut.

“Mid West” is a grim piano/boom bap opener produced by Tone Spliff to start off the album talking about being so much more than the images that both MCs have portrayed whereas “Want Smoke!” works in some melodic vocal chops & dusty drums courtesy of Johnny Slash acknowledging that people don’t wanna fuck with them. Too $hort tags along for “Dumb Shit (Delirious)” to talk about not dealing with stupidity over a syrupy sample just before “I Ain’t Even Know!” has a more spacious sound speaking on living their lives & not trying to do anyone wrong.

Moving on from there with “Player’s Ball”, we have WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg joining the Gotti Mob over some production blending g-funk & boom bap referencing the titular gathering of pimps that takes place in Chicago every year leading into “Da Buzine$$” diving into trap territory talking about doing big business only. After the “Game Recognize Game” interlude, Sacramento veteran & the newest addition to the Strange Music roster X-Raided comes into the picture for the bell-infused “Often” advising to take caution prior to the bouncy “Take Me Away” showing a more romantic side lyrically.

“Medicine” with MC Eiht finds all 3 of them over a dark trap beat asking if one wants to do some gangsta shit or handle a certain situation like gentlemen while the song “Move Nice” pulls from hyphy music instrumentally recommending that one needs to be aware of all the tension surrounding them. The penultimate track “Wanna Be a Ho” returns to the trap sound 1 last time telling their significant others to be themselves around them, but then “Everywhere” with KXNG CROOKED & Spice 1 truly ends the album with a delirious ballad about being all over the place.

Now despite already being familiar with Kurupt at a young age due to his history with Death Row Records & the D.P.G.C. collective, I personally haven’t really heard much of C-Mob’s own material outside of some features he’s done for artists like Tech N9ne & Kung Fu Vampire throughout the last 3 years. All of that being said: the Gotti Mob gave us a pretty solid debut here & only time will tell if they plan on working with one another more down the road. The production from start to finish is trunk-rattling & the styles of both MCs gel with one another impressively.

Score: 4/5

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