Daddy-O – “East New York Stories” review

Daddy-O is a 64 year old MC & producer from New York City notable for being the frontman of the original hip hop band Stetsasonic with 6 solo albums under his belt. The group officially reunited last spring signing to SpitSLAM Records & putting out Here We Go Again to warm welcoming praise after over 3 decades of inactivity last spring, initially signing to the label for 1st Team & the 9th full-length LP under his own name kept my fingers crossed it would do the same since I enjoyed the predecessor.

“Keep Dat” featuring Lena Jackson produced by C-Doc pairs the 2 over a soul sample with horns advising not to bring that wack shit over their direction whereas “Cheating” takes a bit of a soulful boom bap direction instrumentally playing harps in the ghetto. “Gloves Off” continues the sampling mixed with kicks & snares looking to bring it to you without any ifs or maybes until “Small Ting” talks about the posers & savages over a reggae beat.

Meanwhile on “CounterAttack”, we have Daddy-O speaking on chillin’ at a Brownsville party during a Friday evening & shots ringing out leading into the self-produced “Off Dem” explains that he felt taking up hip hop as a career was far better than a bitter alternative. “The Pros 2” featuring Choclatt fuses trap & reggae for a collaboration dedicated to the Brooklyn borough while “Clap” tells of a story ending in gun violence.

“Here But Gone” counts down the final minutes of East New York Stories sampling the late great Curtis Mayfield to talk about needing to be warned beforehand if you don’t know him by now refusing to erase his roots because grew up as a trooper & “Raised by Wolves (Ask Cavario)” wraps up the half hour collection of experiences with a drumless string instrumental refusing to call it quits until he gets his respect.

Many a Daddy-O album thus far has left Stetsasonic finds divided like You Can Be a Daddy, But Never Daddy-O as well as From My Hood 2 U or G.O.A.T. Antidote & only a week since Public Enemy returned to a Bomb Squad sound on Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025, the East Coast pioneer takes us on a trip through the neighborhood he grew up in from the hoods to the hustlers to the pros & the MCs.

Score: 4/5

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Public Enemy – “Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025” review

Long Island, New York political hip hop icons Public Enemy now consisting of frontman Chuck D alongside Flavor Flav & DJ Lord putting out their 17th LP on Bandcamp without any prior announcement. Their first 5 albums are hip hop essentials as what Chuck & company were saying on all of them are still very much relevant today. They ended up leaving Def Jam Recordings in ‘98 after releasing the He Got Game soundtrack, putting out a total of 10 full-lengths independently until returning to Def Jam posing the question What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Radio Armageddon marked Chuck’s official Def Jam debut as a solo artist last month & is transitioning that energy onto Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025.

“Siick” produced by C-Doc comes out the gate with a consciously charged rap rock intro observing the world being stricken in hate due to the current political climate until Flav joins Chuck on “Confusion (Here Come the Drums)” trading a verse with one another to talk about being the last of a dying breed of emcees. “What Eye Said” instrumentally feels reminiscent to The Bomb Squad asking if anyone can write a verse without cursing when Method Man & No Malice are the best modern examples of that, but then Flav pops back in on “C’mon Get Down” to hit y’all that old school shit.

Meanwhile on “Evil Ways”, we have the rhyme animal himself self-producing a rap rock cut of his own preaching that even the baddest savages eventually get humbled by the averages just before “Sexegenarian” works in more heavily sampling to talk about being 65 & speaking to every 35-year old out there strugglin’ with hopes of makin’ it. “Messy Hens” marks the first of 2 solo cuts Flavor Flav lays down refusing to worry about suckas since his legacy’s far from phony, but then “Fools Fools Fools” gets Tré Cool of Green Day on live drums for Chuck to call out the frauds lying behind their likes on social media.

“Public Enemy Comin Throoooo” finds Flav rightfully rubbing the group’s legacy in everyone’s faces & Mistachuck being the mad thinker to the “swinger” mentality of his hype man & “Ageism” commendably expands on the very topic that was addressed on Radio Armageddon last month with a funky sample backing him. “The Hits Just Keep on Comin’” brings the pair together 1 last time to plead for our country to wake up in the midst of the undying revolution & “March Madness” closes with 1 more Flavor Flav solo track attacking gun violence & crooked politicians.

Turns out What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? was originally intended to be a reissue of Nothing’s Quick in the Desert hence why some of the songs on that polarizing effort were mixed with newly recording material on their Def Jam comeback nearly 5 years ago this fall & Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025 feels like a broader extension of what PE’s frontman did 5 weeks ago in the absolute best way imaginable. It’s refreshing to hear both of their core MCs over production reminiscent of their early years & the message of their existence needs to felt now more than ever.

Score: 4/5

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Chuck D – “Radio Armageddon” review

Chuck D is a 64 year old MC, songwriter & producer from Hempstead, New York notable for being the frontman of the seminal political hip hop outfit Public Enemy. In addition to that & his brief time as a co-frontman of the Prophets of Rage, he also has 5 solo efforts under his belt with my favorite being his 1996 debut Autobiography of Mistachuck under Mercury Records. Nearly 3 decades later, he’s signing to Def Jam Recordings for his 6th studio LP under his own name with very high potential considering the buildup towards it.

After the titular intro, the first song “What Rock Is” breaks the door down with a boom bap opener produced by C-Doc talking about making the needle in the ghetto stacks bleed from the left to the right whereas “Black Don’t Dead” talks about the fact black doesn’t crack even though they can surely die. “New Gens” featuring Daddy-O finally addresses hip hop’s generational gap that has been a giant elephant in the room for the past decade or so that is until we get tested to a quick “Station Break”.

“Rogue Runnin’” featuring Phill Most Chill moves forward with a chaotic 2-parter talking about ridin’ dirty for over 3 decades already just before “Is God She?” featuring 1/2 Pint & Miranda Writes ponders around the idea of our Lord & Savior being a woman mixing funk music with boom bap. After the “Station Identification” interlude, “Here We Are Heard” by The Impossebulls makes the relatable call to Make Racists Afraid Again while “Superbagg” featuring Blak Madeen talks about being stuck in their ways.

UltraMag7 joins the rhyme animal himself on “Carry On” for a hardcore rap rock banger cursing in your metaverse out of spite for anyone dumbass listening to this thinking he’s woke while “What Are We to You?” mixes politically conscious bars with some aggressive drums & more guitars thrown in the fold. “Slight Story Style Sound” featuring Donald D finds the 2 showing everyone how all 4 elements of hip hop get down & “Signing Off” featuring gangsta rap pioneer Schoolly D feels more like an outro.

Marking the return of the voice that never left, Chuck D unites both hip hop’s pioneers & newer acts who represent the current generation of the culture alike in a fearless soundtrack for the times delivering a seismic broadcast of truth, rhythm & resistance. C-Doc’s production here surpasses The Rhyme Animal’s last couple solo efforts Celebration of Ignorance & We Wreck Stadiums, bridging the gap that has been a blatantly obvious stain for quite some time to make the revolution on wax.

Score: 3.5/5

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Stetsasonic – “Here We Go Again” review

Stetsasonic is the first ever hip hop band from Brooklyn, New York consisting of Daddy-O, MC Delite, Wise & Bobby Simmons. They would only put out 3 full-length albums together during the late 80s/early 90s, but remained inactive as a unit although what they did would eventually pave the way for The Roots. But after teasing a comeback by releasing singles over the past 3 years, the band is getting back together for their 4th LP executive produced by Public Enemy frontman Chuck D.

“Message in Our Music” is an old school-inspired opener produced with C-Doc talking about the message in their music has always been clear asking if you have what it takes to escape & change your fate whereas “(Now Y’all Giving Up) Love” works in these triumphant horns to boasting their return after over 3 long decades. Mala Reignz & Smoothe da Hustler both join Stet on the first part of a “Cypher” with Smoothe having my personal favorite of the 2 features, but then “Lolita” gets into their storytelling bag a bit over heavy sampling talking about the titular character.

Moving on from there, “Handled” brings the horns back into the fold reminding y’all they’re known for handling styles that others simply can’t leading into what is probably & with all respect here the weakest track on the album “Stet Dreams Come True” featuring Calvin III being this awkward reggae/pop rap fusion about being the Biggie to her Lil’ Kim. The soulful title track makes their case as being old school like Melle Mel without the disgruntled bitterness he’s shown in recent years while “Notes of Impression” featuring Ruste Juxx hooks up a crooning loop with hi-hats bringing you non fiction.

“Stetsa Anniversary” switches from trap to full-blown g-funk continuing to delve more into their comeback while the song “People in Your Neighborhood” goes for a humorous approach beatboxing & talking about drugs. The penultimate track “Hanging on a String” sonically pays homage to Zapp for a charming club banger rap & “Fallen Soldiers” concludes Here We Go Again by paying tribute to all of those who can’t be with us today.

I was hoping Prince Paul was gonna have at least some involvement behind the boards with this album, but I’m still very happy with what we got on Here We Go Again because it’s similar in a way to one of my personal favorite groups A Tribe Called Quest releasing We Got It From Here…Thank You Your Service nearly 2 decades after The Love Movement. It’s still very much a return to form for the band from the production to everyone sounding genuinely happy to be back doing what they do.

Score: 3.5/5

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Public Enemy – “What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?” review

Public Enemy is an iconic political hip hop outfit from Long Island, New York lead by Chuck D. Their first 5 albums are hip hop essentials as what Chuck & company were saying on all of them are still very much relevant today. They ended up leaving Def Jam Recordings in ‘98 after releasing the He Got Game soundtrack, but have put out a total of 10 albums independently. But with everything that’s happened in 2020, the group has seen fit to return to Def Jam for their 16th full-length album.

After the George Clinton intro, the first song “Grid” featuring Cypress Hill finds the 2 groups talking about the current digital age over a funky instrumental from my homie C-Doc while the track “State of the Union (STFU)” takes a jab at Donald Trump over a hypnotic boom bap beat from DJ Premier. After the “Merica Mirror” interlude, the song “Public Enemy Number Won” with the Beastie Boys & Run-D.M.C. is a modern version of “Public Enemy #1” off their 1987 debut Yo! Bum Rush the Show down to the Fred Wesley & The J.B.’s sample while the track “Toxic” continues to take aim at Trump over an doomsday-sounding beat.

The song “Yesterday Man” with Daddy-O ponders what happened to hip hop over a rap-rock instrumental & after the “Crossroads Burning” interlude, the following track is a star-studded sequel to one of PE’s most iconic joints: “Fight the Power”. The song “Beat ‘Em All” talks about being ready to fight over a dusty instrumental while the track “Smash the Crowd” with Ice-T & PMD discusses how great they are over a dynamic beat.

The track “If You Can’t Beat ‘Em Join ‘Em” is a noisy & repetitive interlude while the song “Go at Me” with Jahi talks about revolution over a beat with some more rock influences to it. The track “Rest In Beats” with The Impossebulls pays tribute to all the hip hop legends we’ve lost over a forlorn beat co-produced by Easy Mo Bee. Then before finishing with the “I’m Black” outro, the closer R.I.P. Blackat” is a Flavor Flav solo cut paying tribute to Clyde Bazile Jr. with a melancholic instrumental.

If anyone asks me, this is Public Enemy’s best effort in a while. The lyrical content is as stronger & thought-provoking than ever before, but what makes this stand out more than a handful of their output in the past 21 years is that it’s a lot more well-produced. However, I don’t get why 6 songs on here from the group’s previous album Nothing’s Quick in the Desert reappear on here. Nonetheless, definitely worth checking out for the current times.

Score: 3.5/5