Search - Lords of the Underground :: House of Lords

Oh my Lords...

ctrx | 'bout to show you how the EAST COAST rocks... | 08/21/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I've always held Lords of the Underground very near and dear for their 1993 debut Here Come the Lords, one of my favorite and most criminally underrated hip hop albums of the 90s that I still give regular rotation after all these years. "House of Lords" is the Newark trio's fourth album and first in over eight years. There's so much wrong with this album, I'm not quite sure where to begin. For one thing, LOTUG sounds like straight garbage on the mic. If someone gave me this CD blindly and told me it was LOTUG, I probably wouldn't believe them. I know that time changes a lot of artists, but they don't even sound like the same people. Doitall, Mr. Funke, and Lord Jazz have abandoned their unique quick flows in favor of a lumpy, slow flow that often doesn't even fall in rhythm with the beat. And if their generic vocals aren't bad enough, the lyrics are terrible. Play a few tracks into the album and you'll see they don't rap about anything! 90% of the verses can be summed up with a statement like "We're LOTUG, we're legends, and we love hip hop." The other 10% would fall into the category of "We're rich, we have lots of cars, clothes, and women." Throughout "House of Lords," the trio's performance is uninspired and lame, desperately trying to cater to a mainstream audience despite a total lack of promo.



And if that's not bad enough, the production is consistently mediocre. LOTUG's classic 90s albums were always driven by incredible production, the fruits of their friendship with Marley Marl, K-Def, and George Clinton, who each produced on their first two albums. On "House of Lords," a team of no-name producers creates boring and unimaginative beats. Most of these sound like they were quickly thrown together on somebody's laptop. I would say that a legendary crew like LOTUG ought to deserve better than this, but their raps don't warrant it. The one song that is head-and-shoulders above the rest is the sole Marley Marl production, and that makes me wonder whether the album might have turned out better if they had enlisted some better beatsmiths.



After the intro, the album opens with "I Love Hip Hop." Lyrically this song's pretty average, but the beat is pretty interesting, it's got a sort of dark and uneasy feel, and even though the hook is pretty weak overall the song is solid. "Fab 3" is horn-heavy and upbeat, the Lords' performances are okay and this song is decent. The first huge misstep comes on "English Mami," which is horrendous. Over an annoying and repetitive beat, the trio trades off weak raps about a woman in between a painful chorus. This track tries too hard to cater to a different audience and fails miserably. "Yes We're Fresh" is another uninspired clunker with worthless verses. After the forgettable "Belly of the Beast" comes "Hum It Out." This song has a good musical concept, but the lyrics don't go anywhere. Two of the worst songs follow. Jannyse's awful guest appearance takes over the already mediocre "Slick Talk." "Say My Name" stinks, with the worst verses on the album and DJ Lord Jazz's wannabe-crunk beat. "No Pass" is all-around weak and although the beat to "To Love Me" is okay, the verses (beginning with, "Yeah you see me, right / Pushin' the Beemer, right...") fall completely flat, rapping about a lavish lifestyle that doesn't fit with their character. "The Clinic" and the poorly produced, overly materialistic "Certified" both come off as uninspired and forgettable. Finally, a good track arrives in the Marley Marl production "What Y'all Wanna Know." Marley's beat is great here and carries the song, making it the obvious highlight of "House of Lords" despite a lack of any substantial verses. The album closes with one of the better songs, "What Is a MC" and one of the worst, "Remember Me." The first four bars provides a taste of this song with the opening verse: "You can find me, screamin' on my celly / Black Range Rover, scorpion Pavellis / Big booty stripper, headin' to the telly / She won't shut up, askin' me if I like Nelly..."



As much as I'd like to recommend "House of Lords," this LP is an overall weak and uninspired effort. A lot of the time you'll get the feeling that they've sold out with their wack verses, and the production is bad too. The lack of promotion for this album makes it destined to be quickly forgotten, which sadly is probably for the better. Stick to the classic LOTUG material and avoid this one like the plague."

2-1/2 stars -- Foreclosure

Anthony Rupert | Milwaukee, WI | 05/26/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not sure if Lords of the Underground really had a strong following (especially because the video for "Chief Rocka" looked like a Das EFX video), but my brother applauded their second album Keepers of the Funk because they were one of the few groups that could do clean hardcore hip-hop well. Well, whether they were really hardcore is debatable, but let me ask this: how many people know (or care) that House of Lords is their fourth album?



This is the trio's first album in eight years, and while I realize it's too easy to say the guys are past their prime, there really isn't anything to say EXCEPT that. I initially thought the album was going to be good after hearing the first verse to "I Love Hip Hop", but then came the generic chorus. But there ARE some songs that are entirely good, like "Certified", "No Pass" and possibly "Fab 3". The metaphoric "The Clinic" would also be great if it weren't for medical jargon and the hook: "This is how you make hip hop". You make things in a kitchen; you TREAT things in a clinic.



Anyway, those good moments are few and far in between. Skippable tracks include "What Yall Wanna Know" and "Yes We're Fresh"; and "What is a MC" tells me that they clearly aren't. Then there's a four-in-a-row of songs that are just plain wack: "Belly of the Beast", "Hum It Out" (which kind of reminds me of the LOX's equally uninteresting "Scream L.O.X."), "Slick Talk" and "Say My Name". The closing track "Remember Me" also fails to impress; moreover, why wouldn't a song with that title be the OPENING track?



Lords of the Underground didn't try to cater to the younger crowd with this release, but I'm almost starting to wonder if doing that might have helped. Instead of a stellar comeback, House of Lords will make you wonder why the Lords were unearthed.



Anthony Rupert"