Fly Girls! B-Boys Beware
Reviewed by Sadie O., 1/19/09
Groundbreaking female hip hop from back in the day. Some of the raps are better than others, but the beats are doper’n a jackalope. I just made that up… Anyway, a great comp – obviously.
Maybe an FCC on 6. I like 2, 5, 11, 13, 17 best.
1. 4:04 ***upbeat bounce & scratch with cheering section, fun bragging lyrics.
2. 7:13 ****starts with siren, midtempo funk with bongos and bass. Almost non-stop rap.
3. 4:13 ***minimalist, midtempo funk with a bit of James Brown horns – ear candy!
4. 2:00 ***midtempo shuffle with handclaps and shouts – beat poetry about Mama Africa. Really beautiful – too short!
5. 3:01 ****seriously funky midtempo, mostly percussion and bass – and MC Lyte. What’s not to love?
6. 3:41 (FCC – is that “funk you up” or….?) ***midtempo syncopated electronic beat, well put together, very old-school rap. Has a male voice as well as the two b-girls.
7. 3:27 ***solo bass for a few seconds, then rather relaxed but danceworthy wiggle, nice horns and bass.
8. 6:07***bit of party noise, very 80’s style dance bounce, rap in unison with solo bits. I guess the message is that if you have troubles, just shake your booty. It always works for me!
9. 3:59 **fade in of electronics, then minimalistic swingy rhythm, rather nasal vocals, thoughtful rap about romance.
10. 3:05 **electronic whooshes, then bass-heavy funk, aggressive vocals.
11. 5:29 ****SOOO funky, with a jazzy feel and percussion – great bass, rather unusual vocal style.
12. 4:11 **solo soul singing intro, downtempo and relaxed bass-heavy groove, soulful love song. Not what I call hip hop, but sweet.
13. 4:51 ****all sorts of electronic percussion – unusual riddim, fun rap.
14. 5:28 **crowd noise and spoken intro, rather downtempo syncopated beat and raps, lots of scratching, several voices.
15. 4:29 **bass intro, latin percussion, interesting guitar line, beat poetry about Blackness. Sounds like a college course…
16. 9:21 ***commercial sounding, but cool – rubber band groove with cuica, a bit downtempo and relaxed, I guess you could call it jazzy. Vocals are a bit silly, IMO, but the the music is a lot of fun.
17. 4:32 ****LOUD, aggressive intro, big beat straight up beat, rap kicks ass and takes names…