Search - DJ Dmd :: Thirty Three: Live From Hiroshima

Port Author's Native Son

Stacey Copeland | ATL | 09/29/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Port Arthur's native daughter, Janis Joplin, would be dancing in her grave if she realized how far the urban music market has grown on the third coast of Texas. With Joplin's death in 1970, it was safe to assume that the music of this small petroleum industry town had been buried along with her. That was until the Underground Kingz (known to the masses as UGK) began to make some noise and position Port Arthur as a forced to be reckoned with. Though Joplin specialized in emotion filled, heart stomping singing ---- UGK and other P.A. residents such as DJ DMD cater to the head-bobbing generation and their hustlin' ways.Thirty-Three: Live from Hiroshima opens with "P.A.T." (Port Arthur, Texas), a futuristic beat skipping ode to DMD's hometown. This cut gives a peep into "the land of the trill", further explaining a lifestyle of wood grain steering wheels, candy paint and "Styrofoam cups/Sippin' codeine/ 9mm fully loaded magazine" so as not to get it confused with any other Southern municipality. "Grindin", though not the Neptunes produced hit by The Clipse, is a gem in it's own right. Both singles speak of "putting in work" but DMD elaborates that he's "Been grindin'/Tryna have the finer thangs/ A mansion and a hand full of diamond rings/ A silver Navigator on some shiny thangs" over an infectious loop fit only for those who own a pinky ring. While The Clipse give props to playground icon Pee Wee Kirkland, DMD eclipses that with the greatest tribute to Houston's underground musical phenomenon, the late DJ Screw. Although Screw has been gone almost two years, his legacy still lives in the "chopped and screwed" style of music he has made legendary (think the end of Outkast's "Stanklove"). Halfway through Grindin", it shifts from an uptempo club banger to a sluggish hypnotic trance that forces you to envision yourself smoking and choking in a Chevy sitting on deuce deuces. On "Let a Playa Come Thru (So Real 2000)", DJ Screw and Mike D of the Screwed Up Click join DMD at the Hiroshima Studios to lay down a few simple rhymes over an old school beat your parents will swear they've heard before.Aliases are a must in this industry and DMD (the DJ and MC) gives one that suggests he stays on the grind like know other. "Mr. 25/8" celebrates the hard working individual who puts in overtime beyond the maximum 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Using an interpolation of Keith Sweat's "Make it Last Forever" makes it destined to get major airplay with the emergence of sample-happy Murder, Inc. on playlists nationwide. President Bush and his cohorts should take a listen and finally come to the conclusion that it's not impossible to raise a respectable black man in the state where he formerly served as overseer. DMD's mom is the shining star on this cut as he praises her valuable life lessons: "Now my mama told me to hustle and never give up/Work hard and have faith/And you'll be livin it up/Count your blessings/Remember who you love in life/Keep it real with yourself/Try hard to do right". It's been said that you can't please everybody but DMD comes correct with a "screwed" version of this song at the end of the CD that will undeniably have you moving in slow motion.Every NBA team has their franchise player and so does Inner Soul Records: Ricky Diamondz. This point guard is posting up all opponents and driving down the lane on "Hard in tha Paint" when he spits "Baby this Ricky D/Keepin it all real/ Pullin up on your corner/ Ridin on three wheels/Visualize the skills/Visualize the aim/Visualize the pimpin/What you think it's a game?" Coming like that is like Allen Iverson skipping practice and showing up for the game cuz he know he got game! Ricky is not alone in this talent heavy line-up. DJ DMD is "penetrating the lane" while rookie point guard QB (with additional verses on "Q to tha B") reiterates the time old saying that "We got dem big body cars/Big body broads/Everything in Texas is large." Somebody call Rudy Tomjanovich!Just when you thought Ricky Diamondz would be injured and side lined after an MVP-like performance on "Snitch Snatchaz"; he makes the playoffs and is fully rehabilitated with "Bang, Ball, Swang, Crawl." A sure trunk thumper like this will test the maximum limit of your speakers and assess the quality of your amp as the bass maintains a harder edge than the other tracks. Hearing him rip lyrics is like reptiles feasting on the crocodile hunter Steve Irwin's butt: if you get to close, he will get in your ish! Enough said.The proverbial playa braggadocio anthem "I'm a Pimp" still talks about the usual I-don't- love-`em and you-don't-run-nothin'-but-yo-mouth theme but with one distinctive characteristic: the lyrics are arranged over Beethoven's "5th Symphony"!! With the successful mixing of a highly unlikely formula of oil (DMD) and water (Beethoven), "I'm a Pimp" will having dj's everywhere contacting their local record pools to order pieces by Van Gogh and Mozart. Imagine classical genius Beethoven's reaction if he heard "My granddaddy was playa/Old man the same/ Even though I tried to deny it/The fact remains/That I'm a pimp/A ni**a playin h*es fa life/Don't believe me, ask my ex-wife!" If she's willing to co-sign that statement, DMD should be nominated for "Pimp of the Year."With more hits than misses, a guest appearance by Pimp C of UGK, a tribute to DJ Screw and fresh talent on his squad, DJ DMD drops more bombs than Funkmaster Flex with Thirty-Three and unquestionably will go from Hiroshima to Pearl Harbor on his upcoming release 44."