Search - Yg'z :: Street Nigga

Short and (mostly) sweet

ctrx | 'bout to show you how the EAST COAST rocks... | 02/05/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Before buying this EP I knew of the YGz as the group who Pete often shouted out on the end of "Mecca and the Soul Brother" tracks, and I had heard them once before on the "Menace II Society" track with Pete and C.L. Smooth called "Death Becomes You." Being as I love 1993-era hip hop and adore all Pete Rock productions, I decided it would be well worth my penny to check this out. I'm glad I did. The YGz are a duo of grimy Mount Vernon rappers, and as MCs they're pretty average for a 90s duo. Their raps are full of threats, boasts, and stories of neighborhood violence and prowess in the bedsheets. But doubtless the real reason you'd consider buying an obscure item like this would be the Pete Rock production, which is excellent as always. Honestly I'd be lying if I said the production shows the best of the greatest producer of all time, but his unique talent is quite evident on his four tracks, thick with funky horn lines and heavy bass. All of his productions are solid and entertaining 93-era rap songs. However, the two songs by outside producers are notably worse, bringing cliched beats to accompany the more-so-than-usual cliched lyrics. YGz were only going to go as far as Pete would take them.



The first song is the title track, which has sleighbells and a nice bassline, the YGz bring lyrics that speak of their hardened lifestyle, which are decent. "Ghetto Celeb" is the best song on the album, the beat is jazzy and soulful with Pete's voice on the chorus, the sax vibes well and the beats are nice, not to mention the lyrics are by far the best on the EP. "Sumthin' 4 da Head" sounds similar to the last track, it's pretty nice. The true lowlight on the album is "Wonders in the Bed," one of the two Pete didn't produce. The beat comes from a sample you'll swear you've heard a million times before, and the whole reggae-accent thing really doesn't work, nor do the lyrics. Pete didn't produce "Itchy Trigger Finger" either, but whoever did obviously listened to a lot of Pete Rock, because it sounds just like him. This is a very strong song, good instrumentals in the beats. The closing remix to the title track is actually pretty similar to it.



I definitely recommend this album for the early-90s hip hop fan or the Pete Rock listener, this is Pete at his early prime and producing some music you've probably never heard before. Worth your $0.01? You'd better believe it."

What!?!? How did I miss this one?

Anuro3 | New York | 03/19/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"1993 I was heavily into Hip Hop and copped most all tapes that came out. This one I dont remember even hearing about. I picked this up used last month and its definately one of those hidden gems. Only a handful of tracks but most are produced by Pete Rock and all have that raw 1993 New York street edge to it. I wonder if they are still active? If not, wasted talent..."