FCCs on tracks #5 and #13
Dysfunshunal Familee “Familee Re-union”
Group members: Crazy DJ Bazarro, DJ Skinny, & emcees Amayss & D-Rock return with a new full-length in 2010. Last time we heard from them was in 1994 with “Ruff Flava.” What we hear in this full-length is mid-late 90’s underground East Coast tracks.
1.Intro-A very brief group history is mentioned over a smooth O’Jays “Family Re-union” sample.
2.Separate Ways (featuring 5FT of Black Moon)-Mid-tempo, staunch patented drums, disjointed baisline, grit without the gutter beat. The female of the group, Amayss stands out with her mid-high female voice, laid-back quietly volatile, yet serious NYC attitude, & nice bars. Her counter-part, D-Rock brings the most mic presence & brings an engagingly passionate & aggressive delivery that is the perfect ’yang’ to Amayss’s ’ying’ & their great chemistry works well throughout the whole LP. The last emcee & cameo on this track comes from 5FT (of Black Moon) who doesn’t disappoint in bringing the same delivery & aggressive lyrics, he’s been doing for 15 plus years.
3.Step Up My Game-Beatminerz produces a dusty banger with the widely recognized & used DJ Premiere 1st scratched “Step Up” from Gangstarr’s ’Step Into The Arena,’ and a lovely soul sample. Overall, this song has more energy than the previous track. This time around Amayss brings potent bravado to the mic & D-Rock, yet again, brings a urgent, passionate delivery to the track.
4. Be A Star-9TH Wonder produces a slower, syncopated 1-2 drums, along with a nice filtered busy baisline. All emcees involved bring an introspective tone that matches the track. D-Rock spits, “come take a journey with me, back to my past/ knew I was a star when the doctor slapped my ass/ but everybody ain’t built for the limelight/ and everybody, it don’t shine, when the time is right/ as I look back in hindsight/ if I only had my money and mind right/ for sure, things would be different, wanna do one thing before I die/ keep living.” Amayss delivers a nice verse as well, while newcomer, Agony delivers, what could labeled competent bars.
5.Fuck All Ya’ll-Relaxed horns with overly-loud awkward stiff drums somewhat throws off the rhythm. D-Rock’s usually consistent delivery & charisma falters & sounds forced, while Amayss fares better.
6.Keep Holding On (featuring O.C.)-Upbeat, repetitive smooth keys & baisline sample. Amayss & D-Rock both deliver nice verses, while O.C.’s ever-confident, smooth and measured delivery, & insightful lyrics, somewhat steals the show.
7.C.H.A.M.P.-Jackson 5’s ‘Dancing Machine’ sample & chopped break from MC Shan’s ‘Juice Crew Law’ & Public Enemy’s ‘Welcome to the Terrordome,’ along with 808 taps. Most upbeat & energetic track so far. The raw, gritty feel of the production alone makes this one a banger.
8.Don’t Leave Me-(D-Rock solo)-70’s feel-good, funky bass guitar-driven track, along with a short below-mediocre R&B singer. This song deviates quite a bit from the rest of the LP in terms of tone. I was honestly expecting more from a D-Rock solo then what is essentially a party track consisting of lite production & lite lyrics.
9.I Can’t Help It (Amayss-female emcee solo)-Pulsating jazzy baisline, clashing cymbals & hi-hats produce an off-kilter, yet effective track. The hook is borrowed from Stevie Wonder’s ‘I can’t help it if I wanted to’ & it is lazily recited & is sorely under-developed. As a solo offering, Amayss rips it lovely.
10.People So Phony (featuring Craig G)-Upbeat piano stabs (sounds similar to Dr. Dre slower piano stabs but sped up). Nice “Get Out My Face, people so phony” Nas scratch for the hook. Craig G. spit’s a consistent, if not predictable, verse. A pretty straight-forward underground track.
11.Start Schemin’ (feat. Jean Grae, Generel Steele of Smif n Wesson)-Brilliant Jungle Brothers hook borrowing lines from “Jimbrowski” and thick baisline, inflective piano with related strings. General Steele comes off lovely with gruff vocals and NY attitude. Jean Grae’s multi-syllable intricate lines delivers the final death blow. This song is a definite banger.
12.I’m Dysfunal (featuring Sadat X)-Chopped rock-guitar loop and a superb Sadat X assisted chorus (with references to fried chicken) makes for an enjoyable listen, with Sadat X upping the ante with the final verse of witty, off-beat Sadat X-isms.. Definitely a banger.
13.Smoke Weed-An uninspired track production-wise, & uncreative lukewarm lyrics on everyone’s favorite past time.
14.Can’t Be Your Lover-Classic rock sample, a catchy-borrowed female rock singer sampled chorus, and accompanying Slick Rick “I can’t be your lover” snippet over a breakbeat, along with heartfelt, personal lyrics from both Amayss & D-Rock make this song a definite banger.
15.Making Movies-Upbeat, lively James Brown sample. A catchy hook & hungry emcees (Amayss is sorely missed though) makes this a good track.
16.Can’t Faze Us-Busy drums, repetitive soul sample, along with male & female soul-singing snippets sporadically thrown in the mix for good measure and a great Ol Dirty Bastard sound snippet of “Enough to make a nigga go crazy!”
17.The Grind the hustle-The track is an amalgamation of early Kanye West production and early Just Blaze elements that never actually reaches the same heights of quality. However as an unrefined, underground track, it serves its purpose. The female sung chorus lacks & the rhymes on this one are competent enough.
Overall this is an enjoyable ‘diamond in the ruff’ late 90’s underground East-Coast feel to this L.P. The female emcee, Amayss & her male counterpart, D-Rock both have chemistry & are above-average emcees, who bring that chemistry along with strong mic presence, & nice barz to most of the tracks. However, the production of group members, Crazy DJ Bazarro & DJ Skinny falters & missteps on some of the songs, while hitting the right balance on others. The production, and the lyrical concepts could have been developed a little more or even expanded (hey, this is 2010 son’), but this is still an L.P. to listen & check for. – DOPESTYLE