The Sun Rises In The East

The Sun Rises in the East I’ve not heard of Jeru the Damaja before, and the album artwork is terrible, looking very much like a teenager's hamfisted first go at making something on InDesign that is ‘cool’ and ‘badass’ So I wasn’t necessarily primed for it, so I was pleased to find the whole thing pretty enjoyable with some undoubted highlights, even if overall it felt a little subjacent to Nas or Wu Tang. I like the drum sound on Intro/Life but I thought D. Original was a real highlight. DJ Premier is a great producer, and it’s obviously influenced by RZA, but it’s got great drums, some nice horror film strings and a creepily discordant piano. I also like his voice, it’s got a little bit of 80s-ness to it in its baritone clarity, and I like its forthrightness. Brooklyn Took It continues the strong start, particularly for the nagging hook/sample, and I like the laid back tempo and slightly old fashioned boom-bap of Perverted Monks in the House. Mental Stamina has much more of a West Coast G-funk feel and is a decent groove, but it starts to herald the start of some flattening out, and despite the nice jazzy production, hitting an unedifying low point with Da Bichez. It picks back up with the echoey and swimmy Come Clean, a great, odd track and continues to finish strongly with Jungle Music and the excellent Statik, despite its lyrical obsession with musical spunk. I’m glad this came up as there are a couple of great songs and some great production and I like his voice, but it’s definitely a step or two behind his contemporaries and the Wu Tang multiverse specifically, so I think it rises to a high 3. ➡️➡️➡️ Playlist submission: D. Original

Not bad but a bit boring

Un très bon Wu Tang au rabais

Jeru the Damaja’s The Sun Rises in the East stands as a raw, atmospheric East Coast hip-hop artifact defined by heavy lyrical wordplay, "nerdy" flows, and a dark, jazzy boom-bap aesthetic. Anchored by standout production—from dark hi-hats on "You Can't Stop the Prophet" to banger beats on "Perverted Monks in da House"—the album stays thematically consistent with its focus on competition, street life, and an ode to Brooklyn as a dangerous place. While it delivers sharp diss tracks like "Da Biches" and strong moments like "My Mind Spray" and "Come Clean," it stumbles near the finish line with hollow filler like "Jungle Music" and "Statik." Ultimately, it’s a 4/5 release that succeeds on its killer beats and raw rhymes, even if any deeper messaging falls flat or remains missing.

1994 -- debut studio album (he was 22yo) -- east coast hip hop (Brooklyn) -- well-received -- cover has WTC burning a year after the bombing; "hypnotic and chilling as a blues party on Pluto"; "another step forward for hip hop"; "the music both contrasts and complements his disjointed flow and deep poetical lyricism"; "Skeletal, basic and tough, this rap disc ... is exciting for its directness"; he remained critical of mainstream/commercial hip cop including Death Row and Bad Boy. I prefer the hip hop head nod to the metal head nod. LOVE the intro track, minor, discordant piano sample. "Da Bichez" -- is Em directly sampling this in "Without Me" or just referencing it? I think he uses it in another song too, that my brain can't get to right now. Def a shoutout there. The track of the album is "Ain't the Devil Happy," wow wow wow.

Solid album, but nothing more. Except "Da Bitchez" that song was garbage.

Crap rap

Good beats

Hip hop. Bit more experimental than usual. Chromatic pianos in D Original Mental Stamina is like Public Enemy with more experimental instrumentals. Bitchez is positively jazzy Come Clean is hypnotic. Best track - D. Original, My Mind Spray 3 stars - nearly great, but just not quite there for me

There’s something about 90s rap that I like. I hadn’t heard of these guys but the album was decent.

I knew a guy in school, loved his old jazz and was a true hip hop head, kept calling me Jeru The Damaja as a play on my name. So, of course, I checked this record out at the time... I recognized it as solid but it didn't really grab me. Like at the time it came out I wasn't listening but I'm sure it was a very good record and played a role in the scene it was in, but I think it also benefited from the revival / refocused attention on East Coast rap. The sun rises in the East, but rising tides are due to the moon. I appreciate how Brooklyn-centric the songs are, of course. It's an album you can follow like a map. And yet, perhaps the most interesting thing about this album is how the production, Jeru's lyrics and flow are poised on the precipice between old and new. It's an interesting tension. Some deeply felt boom-bap tracks alongside more experimental-in-production jams like My Mind Spray, Come Clean, and Brooklyn Took It. He's keenly aware of the polarities at play in the world and in his art. From the intro to Da Bichez (cringe, sorry, but also a perfect example of Jeru articulating opposites) to the end he articulates opposites and appears caught in the pull as much as he's balanced by it.

Don’t understand what’s great about this album. In every track, it’s the same beat throughout the track. Barely any variations. Also, it’s always the same instrumental loop during every track. Gets boring quick

Yeah, good hip hop. It's nice. There are some solid 90s scratchy pre-glitchy beats. Some of the delivery is really nice. I didn't notice the lyrics in a huge way except where they were being pretty edgy. It is really decent quality but it absolutely did not jump out to me as my favourite hip hop

When it came up today wasn't looking forward to listen. but was a good solid listen, do prefer the east coast early 90s sound.

Beats ain’t bad- flow feels pretty boring and amateur. Like the east coast boom bap vibe but just boring comparatively to others of its time.

#284/1001 🇺🇸 My first listen of this and i enjoyed it. Heavy beats and words too. Best tracks: Come Clean, D. Original, Jungle Music.

Favorite track: D. Original

Подача неплохая, в принципе как у Ракима. Но с битами тут не очень, а значит, не стоит и внимания.

Brooklyn Stand up!! He had me in the beginning with the productions and the way he introduces himself to the listener at the beginning of the album. He lost me a bit towards the middle and end but overall, I enjoyed the project.

I almost feel like east coast hip hop is like west coast hip hop in reverse. Or vise versa. You can hear it in the flow. All dope all the time.

Very solid east coast 90s boom bap. Jeru is often overlooked when discussing artists from the golden age

Using the smoothest, most laid back trumpet sample on a song called "De Bichez" is pretty awesome. This album is great, but never hit for me personally. Its good early 90s NY hip-hop in the neighborhood of Nas, Wu-Tang, etc. I think if I really sat down and listened to it multiple times, I'd enjoy it more, but for whatever reason the songs never stick to me.

Very good, proper New York Hip Hop.

Solid

I didn't know this at all but I liked it. Like a few reviewers are adding it probably sounded a little dated, a little late 80s, when it came out. But so what? From this distance who cares? A bit of non gangster 90s hiphop is always welcome.

Good rap record

Never heard of him but the write up says he's "been an essential part of Hip Hop culture for over 25 years", whatever. Wow, this sounds so dated and monotonous. Whoever his DJ is, he should be headed back to DJ school, the beats are dreadful. On par with Biz Markie, just basic as can be. Not enjoyable, and certainly not a Must Hear release. Why in the world did this make the T1001?! No hits, no legacy/popularity, godawful beats, forgotten album...2 stars.

Good, but not for me

Gangsta rap

Standard 90s rap. Dated. Wouldn’t listen to this again.

В черном черном гетто жил чёрный чёрный рэпер

Mais um disco insuportável de Rap!

I like this generally, and I like that it's a bit over the gangster rap even before gangster rap got popular.

Not much to say about this other than I enjoyed it more than I expected. 3.25/5

I have not heard of this artist. He is a rapper. That makes me worried. His name is Jeru the Damaja. What kind of name is that? The album is called the Sun rises in the East. Really? Profound. This is a terrible album. A typical rap album: rapping and drum machines. His voice is not very good. The album is monotonous. It has no redeeming value. One of his songs Da Bichez actually has a trumpet on it. Then it goes on a misogynist rant. One of the worst albums I have heard so far. One star.

This list is missing so many deserving rap albums that I am surprised to find it here. But I'd rather knock off a Steely Dan album than take this out, even though it's only decent.

This is fucking corny as shit. The first half of the album is the guy rapping about how good of a rapper he is. And he's not, actually. Erik B and Rakim had four whole albums before this. He should know what a good rapper sounds like. This got buried in the 1994 charts because there were other rappers out there ACTUALLY breaking ground, instead of corny and tired boom-bap. To this album's credit, there are a couple of tracks toward the end that don't necessarily sound like what I just described, but it was too little too late for me to be very impressed. Even then, just a guy talking about how awesome he is. Tired. Lame. Was never cool. I can listen to sub-par performers brag unjustifiably about their capabilities at work. What I can't do at work is skip tracks halfway through so I don't have to endure the contempt I have for the braggart. Feeling generous: ⭐⭐

Some great tunes in here. Other than that, good background noise #4

90s hip hop. Straightforward and repetitive beats, and I didn't find anything particularly interesting about any of the tracks.

aged like fine wine

Das ist nicht meine Musik zu viel Rap

Moja najszczersza reakcja to rząd znaków zapytania, bo nie wiem. co zrobić z tą płytą. Ale dało mi wrażenie ciemnej, pustej nowojorskiej ulicy w latach 90., mam nadzieję, że się nie mylę. Chyba wrócę?

Nice

pretty good

More like "Jeru the Damaged". Seriously, this is broken. Nearly all of the beat loops are too short, repetitive, and - above all else - obnoxiously dissonant. Straight up, the beeping on 'Mental Stamina' is fucking relentless. This was an absolutely annoying and unnecessary experience. Everything done here has been done better by someone else.

Nope

Not for me

Ehh, not much here to stand out from other 90s rap.

But it's like this—the South got something to say.

Decent 90s rap, but there’s better stuff from the same time and some of the views uhh don’t exactly hold up

It's a decent album but I don't see it as a classic, unlike many other people. There were plenty of albums around the same time that are better examples than this. I also don't think he's a particularly skilled rapper, again, I'm in a minority here. All that being said, I did enjoy hearing the album for the first time (I own a couple of 12's from the album, including remixes, so was already familiar with those tracks).

I can see how this fits into the evolution of east coast hip hop, but I wouldn’t say it unseats any of my favs.

Listen to this quite a bit when I was younger but have listen to it in years.... Still holds up

Enjoyment: 5/10 Replayability: 3/10 Cohesion: 4/10 Flow/Pacing: 5/10 Artistic Merit: 2/10 Weighted Average: 3.9/10 Review: This album showed me that I might prefer the beats and flow of east coast hip-hop over the west coast genre that I've absorbed through osmosis over the years. Unfortunately though, some of those beats had misogynistic lyrics laid over the top. Liked Song(s): You Can't Stop the Prophet, Ain't The Devil Happy, Jungle Music Disliked Song(s): D. Original, Da Bichez Recommend? Maybe Heard Before? No

I'm not a hip hop guy, so I'm not the person to give a meaningful review. This record seems competent and clever to me. I can see how those who enjoy the style would appreciate this effort.

Rate: 9.5/10.

I’m conflicted on this album because one part of me thinks there’s nothing here I haven’t heard before and the other part of me is oddly drawn to this album. His flow is laborious very similar to Dr. Dre’s. However, lyrically he has on a different perspective of urban life i haven’t seen, such as the song You Can’t Stop the Profit, where he’s searching to end the ignorance inside the city. The song Ain’t the Devil Happy was also a really intriguing perspective as both of these show the conflict of good and evil in human life. It’s almost allegorically religious. I think my favorite song though was mental stamina because I like the interplay between Dru and Afu-Ra. Interesting album.

Random thoughts: * This was a hidden gem to me. This was one of the better rap albums that I wasn't already aware of. The production was good and the flow was impeccable. * This album got better at the end when they were trying to do less. The last 3 songs were really good. * He tried to thread the misogynistic needle with Da Bichez. I can understand what he was trying to do here but failed. All the misogyny didn't age well. But the track sounded awesome. * I also really enjoyed Can't Stop the Prophet. * For an East coast album, I really liked this one. I can't pinpoint what made this album better for me than the Wu-Tang and Wu-Tang solo albums. I guess it was the cleaner production and the top notch rhymes and flow. Check this one out!

No standouts

Had some good beats, but this was not for me.

I expected to hate every second of this, but I have to admit that the beat is pretty good. Good flow, good rhymes, good rhythm, good sounds. Even the misogynistic songs, to my dismay, are fun to listen to. I guess the advantage this album has over other hip-hop albums (in my very limited experience with hip-hop) is that if you remove the rap, the music still slaps.

Never heard of him and Ioved it.

That was pretty good. Appreciate early 90s rap I’ve never heard of.

Cold cool

Good old fashioned hip hop.

Buen album de hip hop costa Este. Algunos temas me gustaron más que otros, no me partió la cabeza. Pero estuvo entretenido. 6/10

Funny cover.

This is pretty sick. Could cut the skits but the raps are solid.

Lord knows I’ve heard much worse Hip-Hop. Maybe being from NY this East Coast stuff just seems more familiar to me. But still, only a few tracks reached the level of “good stuff”.

Weird cover to get on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, let me tell you.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ New one on me but very much enjoyed the funky beats and off-kilter hooks.

Meh. It's ok I guess.

2.5

At least the album is short.

Soome nice golden era boom-bap; not the best I've heard but I miss that era :D

It had moments. The “BITCH” sample got me

This was solid. I think the production is stronger than the lyricism though. Feeling a bit disappointed by all the old white boomers who give this one star because it's rap. God forbid anybody who doesn't look like you be successful. A solid album with flaws, but worthy of a genuine listen if you're on this journey.

Superb

Never heard this one but it takes a book out of the Wu tang and adds his own flavors. I can dig it

7/10

I had not heard of Jeru the Damaja, but was a Gang Starr fan - love a bit of late old school hip hop.

Really enjoyed this, look forward to exploring more from them.

Another otherwise great album undone by gross lyrics.

Incredibly solid 90's hip hop. Shame (or blessing?) that era is dominated by so much other gold, that this album didn't get recognised as much. Fave track: Come Clean - E New Y Radio

It's unfair to compare to for obvious reasons, but this album came out the same year as Illmatic (as well as many other heavy hitters). The production from DJ Premier is really good and Jeru holds his own. And I'm all for a 90s hip-hop/rap album that I haven't listened to yet. 3.5/5

"Control the mic like Fidel Castro locked Cuba" I enjoy hip hop, and east coast 90s hip hop especially so, with some top artists of mine including Nas, Wu Tang, Mos Def, Big L, and other similar legends from that time and place. So needless to say I was excited to discover another legendary 90s east coast hip hop group. I was left quite a bit disappointed, however. Although the album does largely hit the same vibes and flows as the other artists do, there was just a lack of any standout tracks, with each one largely flowing into the next without much uniqueness in their melodic flow or their samples. One potential exception to this was the track "My Mind Spray," which really hits a nice vocal sample akin to Nas, with a flow similar to GZA from Wu Tang. Otherwise, an uneventful album that will dissolve into the sea of all the other 90's hip hop artists, ☀️☀️☀️

I wasn't looking forward to this... Also because I had to wait to listen to it. But it wasn't bad actually. I dig it.

Wat een vet atmosferisch album. Wel echt oldschool rap muziek maar wel heel vet

Pretty good.

I enjoyed this! Really nice energy and flow, it was fun to listen to.

Had never heard of Jeru, but I liked it. Great flow throughout, it was a fun listen. Could do without some of the gross misogyny though.

Some points for the novelty and keeping it short.

Favourite Songs: My Mind Spray Come Clean

How have I never heard this album before it’s beautiful

Meh

Eh.

Fuck yeah ! I love Jeru, I'm stoked to see him on the list. The Sun Rises in the East is not my favourite Jeru album (I think Wrath of the Math is vastly superior), but I guess it was an obvious choice for the author. "The prophetic album" has not only achieved cult status among NY hip-hop fans, but also given rise to a number of conspiracy theories after 9/11, and clearly remains a classic to this day. If you're looking for bombastic, in-your-face boom-bap or gangsta rap bragging about money, you won't find it here. Low-profile and discrete technical skills is the name of Jeru's game. His flow might seem lackluster at first, but it's a masterclass in precision and clarity. His solid rhymes are perfectly carried by DJ Premier's stellar production, with minimalist and almost experimental beats, and the gritty atmosphere makes this album a dark little gem straight from the streets of Brooklyn. It's not a party album - you have to sit back, relax, and enjoy the lyrical feast. I'm also clearly partial to Jeru because of his endearing attitude. He never sought fame or glory ; he seems content to simply perfect his craft and please his fans, keeping his distance from the industry and putting out an album only when he feels like it. I saw him perform in a small venue some 15 years ago, and he was an incredibly generous artist - despite the small crowd, he gave 100 %, constantly interacting and joking with the public in a very humble and grounded way. Certainly one of the artists I respect most in the rap game. You can't stop the Prophet ! 9/10

Never listened to this rapper before. I really like the overall atmosphere, that old-school East Coast feel with some proper heavy beats and bass. But it’s no Wu-Tang or Nas, his contemporaries he often seems to be compared to. His flow starts to wear me down after at the end of the listening experience. Still, some tracks like Mental Stamina are really cool. Overall, I enjoyed it and I’ll definitely come back to it, this time paying more attention to the lyrics.

Good album, flows very well and easy to listen to.

probs need to give another listen, but fits in the nostalgia rap that I can get down with. Classic 90's beats that stand the test of time. Maybe best era of hip-hop.