Reviews (page 3 of 7)
Never listened to the whole album before, but since I had an intense love affair with NY boom bap some twenty years ago, I’ve had around half of the tracks on mixtapes, mp3s and burned cds. The album is a great snapshot of the era of New York rap I personally like the most - 90s boom bap.
Every song on this album bumps AND the cover features the World Trade Center on fire. What’s not to love?!?
Great to listen to while working
New York style boop bap rap. Sounds like a blend of Notorious B.I.G. and Nas. Enjoyed it front to back although it did kind of all blend together. I'll definitely have to look into some more of Jeru's other albums because his work doesn't come up much on most 90s rap playlists but it definitely encapsulates that east coast vs west coast golden era.
This was better than the other rap albums than I've gotten, mostly because it's short! Thank god. It's a great length. It doesn't stay too long and gets to the point. Some stuff has aged well (standard disclaimer for a lot of 90s rap) but he had good flow and good beats.
Solid, if slightly indistinct East coast USA rap
This one surprised me. Didn't expect to enjoy it. But I really did.
Jeru is certifiably delivering some of the freshest beats of the 90’s on his debut album. The cover on the other hand probably won’t be that prominently featured in most US record stores today, will it?
Nostalgic
I thought I wouldn't like it, but it wasn't all that bad. actually enjoyable.
Good lyrics/flow/beats. Hip hop isn't even my jam, but this was a solid album.
My main takeaway from this experiment is that I really like 90's music.
Savory jazz beats, samples. This is for me for sure
As soon as I saw the album cover and year I knew I would like it
I love the sound and production. Very light on the bass, focused on the drums. East Coast is generally more my thing, harder beats and lyrics. Favourite tracks: You Can't Stop The Prophet, D. Original, and I even enjoyed the intro. Didn't outstay its welcome.
Not heard of this guy before. Thought this was quite good, but something didn't quite grab me.There is the good old misogyny trope in a few tracks which is boring. That being said, there was some good flow and beats at times Highlights: Mental stamina You can't stop the prophet Jungle music 3.5 but it's getting 4 as I gave Motorhead 3.5 and it's better than that
Some cool tracks on here
Really enjoyed this one.
Important record in the underground east coast rap scene of the mid 90s. The beats on here are great, sampling is on point. Pretty good lyrics too, incorporating some social commentary in here which I appreciate.
A great old school hip hop album from an east coast magician, very Wu-Tang in feel but that's my limited reference speaking, I greatly enjoyed the beats and lyrics. He gets extra points for throwing in Imhotep in there.
Some great noises coming out of NYC back in nineteen ninety three.
Something of an underground classic, Jeru sure has some nice flow, solids beats and Primo production is top tier. Real east coast hip hop, dark and brooding, plenty of lyrics to mull over for weeks. Maybe even five stars with repeat listens.
This is cool. I've never heard of this artist, much less this album. I am conversant with some hip hop... this reminds me of Public Enemy, probably more than anything else. Good beats, interesting melodies, nice timing. Color me impressed.
doooppe nyc tough g rap. good. nice and dark piano. plink plink.
No what I was expecting, a good slice of East coast 90's hip hop
Jeru is something of a proto-MF Doom, with his buttery smooth flow, tongue twisting wordplay and jazz tinged beats. Even if not every track is a winner, this album is still an excellent example of what the mid-90s underground could produce.
Super funky, good flow - really enjoyed this one. Noting that this debut seems to be accepted as his best album.
This was solid, sent me down a rabbit hole of DJ Premier's work, the production here is very cool, often atonal and surprising. The lyrics and flow are definitely pretty good too, less misogynistic than a lot of 90s rap (which isn't to say not misogynistic, but at least it's just one song and not even that bad for the 90s? 🤷). Solid 4 for now.
Honnêtement un des meilleurs albums rap j'ai eu dans ces 1001 à date. La production était super bonne, les beats étaient exceellents. Généralement je suis moins fan du style NY mais cet album est tellement bien monté. La seule chose qui l'empêche d'être un score parfait est le style de rap qui est un peu redondant. 9/10
I thought this was dope.
I liked the beats and use of interesting sounds. Jeru’s lyrics are clever. This is definitely an influential rap album. Enjoyed it overall.
I'm hard pressed to think of a line that aged worse than saying "I blow up spots like the World Trade Center" 7 years before 9/11
I enjoyed this album
4.5
This was a dope ass album. Immediately went to Souls of Mischief
rapzao nask
Ooh. Much better than expected! I could probably have the instrumental tracks of Come Clean on loop - it's so sonically pleasing. Lyrically/vocally, I'm not the biggest fan of rap, but IMO it was pretty decent and some interesting themes here.
4.0
Cool new find. I had never even heard of him! Rad 90's rap with some nice jazz influences. I guess if you're gonna be misogynistic, then you should at least make it enjoyable by rhyming coochie with Gucci.
Had bijzonder genoeg nog nooit van dit album of artiest gehoord, maar wat een relaxt album. Heerlijke beats met dank aan de legendarische DJ Premier. Flow af en toe misschien iets té laidback, maar hoe dan ook heerlijk album.
I've heard of Jeru, but never listened to him before. I really like this album and it's another sign of how good the 90s New York hip hop scene was. 4/5
Quite surprised by this. Started off being fairly generic, but grew on me considerably. Will probably listen again.
Bello
me encanta escuchar algo de rap por primera vez desde que arrancamos con esto.Un discazo super east coast que no conocia me gusto mucho la eleccion de instrumentales y los samples de las mismas. me recordo a illmatic salido el mismo año pero con un sonido mas oscuro
Hip hop music can mean a lot of different things but at its core its beats and lyrics. This album is just that.
I was not familiar with this one, but this is some solid 90s NYC rap/hip-hop. You Can't Stop the Prophet and Ain't the Devil Happy were my favorite tracks. I don't know that I'd listen to this again, but I feel like it filled in a gap in my 90s hip hop education. Definitely solid stuff. Would probably give it 3.5/5 if that was an option but will round up because it's cool even if it's not daily listening material for me.
81 / 1069 Sick beats, some great delivery. Really enjoyed it.
I really didn't pay attention to hip hop in the early 90s. When I tried to get "caught up" 20 years ago, I followed Dre, Ice Cube and Public Enemy, but not Jeru. It is of a piece with the others, and I like it.
Very cool 90s hip hop. Really enjoyed Da Bichez
New to me. Would listen to it again.
Pretty good. The representation of women and gay folks is a little problematic, but the flow is good and there are definitely some good lines. Nothing super catchy and single-able
rhythms 8/10
First listened 2016. Seminal Hip-Hop album.
Probably not the same target audience as a white 47 year old. But sheeeeat I dig it
One thing I like about 90s east coast hip hop is the albums are so consistent. I may not like individual songs as much as I do their west coast G funk counterparts but whenever I strap in for an album I know what to expect. 7/10
Very cool album, quite a transitional album from early to modern hip-hop.
Drugi dio mi cak bolji al mislim da je cijeli album za 3.5
I love this quintessential 90's rap. Im familiar with Jeru but Wrath of the Math has been my go to album. Sun Rises is definitely still really raw but the complexity and lyricism are still present - this sound is definitely way ahead of its time - you can hear a lot of this in Blackalicious, the Roots, and more modern high brow hip hop Standout Tracks: D. Original, Come clean, Da Bichez
Solid stuff. Super creative, great beats, compelling raps.
Giving a 4 because the beats are excellent and Jeru sounding really entertaining on his first album. Don't really care for the homophobic line but almost every 90s rapper is guilty of this. Can't rate it higher just due to the holier-than-thou attitude that would paint his imagine in later years.
One of the more lesser known but integral albums of the East Coast Rap Renaissance of the 90s, The Sun Rises in the East builds and lives up to its title with its minimal yet impactful instrumentation and potent rhymes from the original Dirty Rotten Scoundrel. Although overshadowed by what came before and afterward, this is an album that's not to be ignored and does more than it's required to hold its own. Favorites: D. Original, Brooklyn Took It, Mental Stamina, Da Bichez, You Can't Stop the Prophet, Ain't the Devil Happy, Mind Spray.
Quite good, but more than a little misogynistic.
Solid east coast classic, unique beats and flows across the whole album. Took me a second to get into it but once I did I started loving it.
Wow, I didn't think I was familiar with Jeru other than recognizing the name, but I actually know some of these tracks from 311 skate videos I used to watch in high school. Pretty good album; has that 90's hip hop sound and that east coast style of using dissonant samples.
I generally don't care for most rap, but I enjoyed this album quite a bit. I would listen to this again for sure.
Beats are fantastic and production tight. Rapping is fine but it really is the instrumentals that are the most enjoyable for me here.
This old east coast sound is such a vibe. Fun beats and fun bars make for a fun album (if dated at times).
Immaculate production with the weirdest early spin on the East Coast sound. Lyrics fell a little bit flat for me on first spin, though Jeru clearly created at least one elite project. Baffles me that I know nothing about this body of work.
Gick hårt bortsett från ett spår.
I previously had only heard of Jeru through him being sampled by DJ Shadow. This is great stuff and with the exception of one dated track really top class Hip Hop.
Debut album from American rapper Jeru the Damaja (lots of the same letters in my name. It confused me at first). Produced by Gang Starr member DJ Premier. The album is credited with helping revive the East Coast hip-hop scene in the 90's along with Wu Tang, Nas, Big L and the Notorius BIG. Kind of ominous with the World Trade Center burning in the background of his album cover (the WTC had been bombed the year before). However, I did not find or interpret this album to be violent or even gansta at all. He seems to be challenging all rappers to his rhyming in a lot the these songs. And, his rhyming is great. I don't have a ton of experience in hip-hop lyrics but this guy sure seems prolific with his sheer number of lyrics per song. His non-stop lyrics are laid perfectly against hypnotic beats and weird and sometimes eerie sampling and sounds. As previously mentioned, Jeru seems to be challenging all comers to a rap-off against him and, in general, East Coast rap as in songs "Brooklyn Took it" and My Mind Spray." He goes anti-gansta in "Ain't that Devil Happy." Although he made some people (evidently The Fugees) angry thinking this to be misogynistic, one my favorite songs on the album is "Da Bichez" where he goes after a specific type of woman; those only after the money. Overall, a very well produced and recorded album. Along with the previously mentioned acts, probably a good place to start and/or experience early- to mid-90's East Coast hip-hop. I'm sure I'll be coming back to this album and scene in the near future.
old school 90s rap 4.5
Straight out of '94 east coast hip-hop. Great stuff, hazy samples and vicious flow. It's a couple of steps behind the classics of that era (Illmatice, 36 Chambers etc.) but it's well worth an inclusion. Best Tracks: D. Original; You Can't Stop the Prophet; Come Clean - E New Y Radio
I have to admit this is probably the first hip hop album I've listened to fully. And this one is pretty good! The lyrics can get silly at times but the beats are great and the flow is always there.
3/24/2022 Today's Album: "The Sun Rises In The East" by Jeru The Damaja - This album is really fun to listen to. I have very little experience with this era of rap, but the funky hip hop beats and fairly impressive flows throughout this project are really just a delight to the ear. It feels like the perfect music for just booling around the city and feeling like a badass with friends. The verses on these tracks are really great and seem to feature a lot of fantastic features, unless if this is just a rap group or Jeru putting on multiple voices. Anyways, There's a ton of diversity of this record and I like all of the interludes throughout the album. There's some great jazz accompaniments that boost the smooth feeling of these songs and there is just such a solid flow from track to track, with many dynamic changes in the sound, without ever feeling out of character. Other than that, it's pretty hard to review anything else about this record. I am pretty new to this genre and dont have a good frame of reference for the lyrical talent behind the record, but the grooves are smooth and theres a ton of character and talent behind the rap verses. Check it out if you like classic hip hop. The best I can compare it to is my very little knowledge of Biggie's top tracks. Score: 8/10 Enjoyed it a lot despite my lack of experience in the genre Highlights: D. Original, Da Bichez, Ain't The Devil Happy, Come Clean, Jungle Music, Statik
A lot better than I was expecting.
Way better than expected, like a mix between Public enemy and Ice-T. And compared to modern rap, this is fucking Mozart. 4/5.
Poetry in rap
They don’t make rap like this anymore
i'm digging this 90s rap!
Not sure how ive completely missed this but real solid '90s east coast hip hop.
My one negative takeaway from this song is the borderline nice-guy-ish "Da Bitchez". It's a shame, cos it's a super catchy song, just feel like the message hasn't aged super well. Aside from that, the flows are tight, the lyrics flit between conscious hip-hop and classic, and the beats are great, occasionally showing some dissonance and noisiness. I got Gang Starr earlier in the list, and I still love the beats DJ Premier puts out. Also, massive, massive shoutout to Jeru for making cool little gifs that go along with each song on Spotify. Wasn't expecting that, and it's fun as fuck. Favorite tracks: "Come Clean", "Brooklyn Took It", "Ain't The Devil Happy"
Good beats, thoughtful lyrics. An era I have not explored enough of.
Skemmtilegt old school
A hidden gem that came out in the year of hip hop, yet majorly influenced the East Coast scene. Hits hard but still has its fun, interactive moments. Album is very accessible, with funky samples and flow from track to track that is very easy to listen to. With decent tracks from start to finish, lots of creativity, a significant influence on the genre, and nothing that distracts my experience, there's no reason not to give 4 stars. Favorite tracks: D Original, Brooklyn Took It, Da Bitchez, Aint the Devil Happy, Come Clean
Murzynskie gransko wysokich lotow, jeden z mocniejszych debiutow, pan premier na bitach i danaja na zwrotkach, to mocno bijace slonce ze wschodu, na plejce juz mam wystarczajaco trakow z plyty
Cool, old school hip-hop. Was not familiar at all with this album but it's exactly the kind of thing I would have been into at the time. Kind of amazing what gems got lost in the pre-internet days of music discovery.
You can see how the influenced rap music, very good album
Apparently I like old school hip hop
Rude in places (Da Bichez). Catchy early Eminem type vibes. Liked it.
I was not familiar with the artist or any of the songs. However this was a good album and had good beats.
ægte 90'er
The early 90's was a great time to be a hip-hop fan. You had the incredible debut of Nas with Illmatic in '94, the explosive Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in '93, A Tribe Called Quest's jazz rap classic The Low End Theory in '91, and many more. Among all these, though, is Jeru the Damaja's debut. It's got classic east coast stylings with boom bap beats, but the interesting part is Jeru's willingness to push the boundaries on the samples. All be frank though, this is just great hip-hop. As far as I'm concerned, Jeru can hang with the rest of them. Wicked.
ebic hib hop
No standouts to me but good hip hop
Jeru might be a bit intense in spots, but the album is still good.
I’m a sucker for all this scratching.
I used to score a lot of weed and pussy simply by wearing a t shirt with Jeru on. He was my inspiration, my hero, my lover. He just had to run off with my grandmother, didn't he? He broke my heart. He broke all of our hearts.
Great! Really liked the album.
I can’t tell if I’ve heard of this guy before or not, but the name sounds vaguely familiar. Either way, this is some excellent ‘90s NY hip hop. On first listen of course, I’m paying more attention to production, and I really love this dusty boom nap style. The lyrics I do catch are solid, and the vocal delivery is excellent too. Definitely on the higher end of the hip hop albums we’ve had on the list so far. Favorite tracks: Jungle Music, Come Clean, Perverted Monks in tha House, Statik, D. Original. Album art: Pretty standard art for this era/style of hip hop. But the twin towers burning is a surprising image. This was after a bombing in the ‘90s so it had to have been controversial then, but who could’ve known how controversial it had the potential to become? Maybe Jeru knew, y’know you can’t stop the prophet. 4.5/5
Good stuff
Like Nas but without the hooks
honestly super surprised by this album, 3 or 4 saves and overall a great listen
really enjoyed it
A+ DRS Old School Rap with catchy beats.
The daring tracks in the rap album with a good bit and voice.
Love the unpolished gritty sound from early 90s hip hop albums. Plus this is fire and a lot of fun to listen to
Liked it. Old school vibes and good flow.
Thought the fist half was shit but then the second half was the shit.
Primo, ne? Hab ich sofort gehört. Und von allem (Prä-2010er) Hiphop den wir hier bisher hatten find ich den auch am besten. Trocken, reduziert, tight und trotzdem lose, dabei mit schönem Hang ins abstrakte (Top Track: Come Clean). Kommt super nachts auf der A3. Außerdem ist Jeru natürlich einer von den Guten, wichtige Antithese zu der ganzen nihilistischen Gangsterscheisse. Klare 4.
The realness
Solid. Bold. Aggressive. I'd give a 3.5.
underrated honestly
Are those the twin towers burning in the background? Not a bad album. Great production, and lyrics are mostly a refreshing change than the really gangster-y shit at the time (the f** flambé lyric notwithstanding).
I didn't think this was as good as Lauryn Hill's album but still fun to dive into old rap to see the roots of the genre
Hip-Hop classic, the instrumentals are beautifully constructed and they have that marvelous 90's feeling.
Great 90s Rap from an artist I didn't know. Enjoyed the whole album.
Even with the piano or the strange electric sound coming in very harsh in some songs the flow is soo good throughout the album and I love the different instruments they throw in like a trumpet, not what I expected at all. A new artist in a genre I don't listen to a lot (at least albums in this genre from this time) but I really enjoyed it. Not something I see myself searching up often but some songs are already added to playlists to pop up from time to time.
I've wondered who Biggies contemporaries on the East Coast were. I guess Jeru was one! Not my genre but appreciate getting exposed to a little more of it.
Klassisk 90s NY Hip-Hop. Det var okay.
Decent 90s hip hop. Not to the level of Illmatic or 36 Chambers but enjoyable nonetheless
Not quite at the level of the heavy hitters of the time, illmatic and ready to die, but still pretty good in its own right with a good amount of humour too. 3.5/5 Top tracks: mental stamina, da bichez, ain't the devil happy
The content was meh, the flows and beats were great.
I have never listened to this album, or this artist before. It seems to hit the sweep spot for 90s rap. The production is of the time without feeling cheesy. Getting towards the end of this record, I think I appreciate the production more than the lyricism/vocals.
And it sets in the west.
When I think of the sound/style of '90s rap, this fits the bill exactly. I enjoyed this one
Sorry Jeru. This was nice, but utterly forgettable
legendarisch dat Jeru hier gewoon opstaat. Zijn flow was altijd al vaag Preemo is semi aan het cooken en ook echt een paar stinkers. all-in-all wel meer verwacht
While I will listen to some rap artists, it is generally outside of the music that I normally listen to. I had never heard of Jeru the Damaja. It feels like the artist was not into the gangster lifestyle and was pretty mellow by rap standards. Not bad.
Thought this was pretty decent. 2.76/5
He's got a good voice, great flow and the production is solid, standard early 90s stuff. I found it a bit samey after a while and needing some more variety but there are definitely a handful of highlights.
#387/1001. Apparently there are three types of women: queens, sisters and bitches, and the last ones the missing link in NYC hip hop / rap scene wants to sing about. And two types of reviews: ones where you ponder something meaningful about the music, others where you just write some bullshit to get on with the 1001 project.
mmm let's put it a mid/high 3. I like this style of hip-hop but I'd say I didn't fully enjoy a handful of the tracks. The general flow Jeru does it pretty legit though, throughout. Neat.
It was OK hip hop.
Bro kept going on bout the bitches
Eh. Nothing special about this. I can see why he was overshadowed by the other rappers at the time.
I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I expected nothing, but enjoyed the beats and the 90’s style rapping. Good enough to give it a listen and earn a spot on this list.
Nice glows but the beats are thin and basic and the production is lacking. I understand why this never blew up.
I like a bit of Hip Hop, and although it's tricky to listen to and remain woke, I managed! Pretty cool.
Terrible cover art, pretty slick rhymes.
Not bad but not my beat. Definitely has some killer songs though.
There was much better and much worse rap from this era.
Nothing special
It's a very competent, early 90s hip hop album. It's nothing amazing, but it's enjoyable enough. I'm not massively into this genre but it sounds fine to me. Perfectly servicable rap album. Would I have put it on this list? Probably not. It's fine.
Rap still isn't my thing, but it has some alright beats.
I was excited when I read the short description of the artist, but was a bit underwhelmed by the album. It was an enjoyable listen but didn't offer anything that I needed to add to my typical playlist rotation.
Love OG rappers for the raw authenticity they bring to the music, but damn could it use some dynamic range
Cool rap, quite moral for rap released in the midst of gangsta rap time. Okay for me. 3/5
Not my genre but better than expected.
l love early hip hop. Not sure the relevance of this or why it's on the list. Some of the jarring piano playing got old.
Most average rap I've ever listened.
Interesting 90s east coast rap, still prefer west coast
Decent. Probably fire back in the day.
An alright listen. Decent beats.
Better than Coldplay
stærkt album fra the golden age of hiphop i 94. Det er udelukkende produceret af DJ Premiere som har produceret vanvittigt meget kendt hip-hop. Det er boombap eastcoast rap som er de tunge beats osv. Det er vidst skåret helt ind til benet hvad beats angår. Jeg synes det var super godt, men måske ikke så meget min stil overall på hiphop men heller ikke det værste jeg har hørt langt fra.
Blind album and artist. Cool instrumentals but not really my typical flow for rap or style. 3.
Favorite Track: D.Original
Never heard of this guy before. Album is okay and not sure it stands up to other early 90’s rap albums
Comparing it to similar albums of the era, it holds up relatively well. It's not too obnoxious, and some tracks have some good grooves and flow to them. Some tracks are inevitably misogynistic, as can sadly be expected. It got better as it went on. 2.5 rounded up.
Rolling Stone magazine's writer Joe Gross said, "Jeru's debut is the platonic ideal of a certain kind of golden age hip-hop album: big beats, righteous lyrics, extremely serious vibe." This was an interesting listen. While I don’t think I’ll be revisiting any of the album, I’m happy for the exposure.
Some other reviewers noted how he said he wasn't misogynistic and then made a bunch of remarks proving him wrong. I noticed it, as well. This is very 90s hip hop. Its not bad, it's just never going to stand out against Nas or Wung Tang Clan.
This was pretty solid rap.
Highlights: Mental Stamina, Da Biches, You Can’t Stop the Prophet, My Mind Spray, Come Clean, Jungle Music
I am not sure why this is on the list. It's a great hip hop album. I dig the wisdom and rhymes are great. Beats are decent. I would say nothing really stands out to me
I think it's fine but also not that notable??
There were a couple solid songs, "Can't Stop the Prophet", "Ain't the Devil Happy", but it was totally offset by everything feeling really slow and just sort of plodding along. Also lines like "ejaculating rhymes like semen" didn't help either.
I have a hard time differentiating older hip hop unless I'm intently listening
very 90s, not in a bad way
I've a soft spot for this kind of early-mid nineties hip hop which means I got some enjoyment out of this album, but only some. It seemed pretty pedestrian to me.
Perfectly fine hip hop album, didn’t leap out of the speakers and grab me by any particular body part.
Another hip hop album that's just OK and doesn't make me think
Half a point taken off for *ahem* questionable lyrics.
Quitando una canción que tenía una base un tanto estridente, me ha molado
ok album, didn't really wanted to go much into the lyrics which I assume should be the strongest point here, so I'm leaving kind of neutral score. The sound itself is good enough to make me leave it in my library.
Great beats, decent rapping and interesting production. Would be four stars without "Da Bichez". I could still name quite a few rap albums that should be on this list instead of The Sun Rises in the East.
Wasn't sure, but it's pretty good
This is verrryyy of its time, although not necessarily in a bad way. More the kind of way where you can tell when it's from so easily just from listening to it, but you still like it because it was a good era of music. Like this album isn't hugely worth remembering, but it's not one that we should be going out of pur way to forget either. It's just there, it exists as a reminder that this era of music existed, and is fun to revisit every now and then, but in the mean time there is other far better music to be listening to.
There are better 90s hip hop out there imo
Ehhh not my fave
Pretty fun, some great beats and production throughout, but doesn't reach the same heights as other East Coast Hip Hop albums of the era. I definitely did not need to hear this before I die
Interesting hip hop album. At times super engaging, and at times it lost me as the lyrics drift into a conversation on who has the biggest nuts. Great beats however.
There’s a strange amount of 90’s / 2000’s east coast hip hop on here no? This was alright, I feel like I have a similar reaction to most of these records. You can’t say you’re not sexist and then make “Da Bitchez” though, that was just laughably contradictory. Some good ones on here were “You Can’t Stop The Prophet” for its proto-MFDOOM concept, and “Ain’t The Devil Happy” for its sinister, cunning instrumental. A very sharp song. 3/5 I’m just so sure Jeru got a knock on his door for the album cover and line about the World Trade Center. What did he know LOL
некоторые тексты и ритмы кажутся знакомыми, возможно все эти реперы одинаковые)
Its an okay rap album that didnt particularly spike my intrest but its good and if someone put it on i wouldnt want it turned off.
Old school hip hop that isn't particularly good even for it's time. The mixing and beats are sometimes kinda whack. For instance on "Brooklyn Took it" the vocals are wayy to soft and the beep on "Mental Stamina" is genuinely irritating but just keeps repeating throughout the entire track. Da Bichez however is pretty good with a nice sax beat, although I don't particularly like the lyrical contents (although it is very mild for its time). The latter half of the record is miles better than the first, which is a baffling choice. If it wasn't for this project I would have dropped the record before getting to the actually good part. It has better flow, better lyrical content such as Ain't the Devil Happy speaking on black empowerment and more interesting beats in general. These tracks are only slightly good enough to make up for the bad start though. Also I find his pose on the album cover hilarious for some reason. Why is he sitting like that with his fists balled hahaha. Also are the twin towers on fire??? 7/10.
This is pretty excellent, even if it's "blink and you'll miss it" short.
It was OK.
good-ish album, just not really up my alley!
Intro (Life) - no rating D. Original - 1/5 (what the actual fuck is this beat??) Brooklyn Took It - 4/5 Perverted Monks in tha House (Skit) - no rating Mental Stamina - 3/5 Da Bichez - 3/5 You Can't Stop the Prophet - 5/5 Perverted Monks in tha House (Theme) - no rating Ain't the Devil Happy - 4/5 My Mind Spray - 4/5 Come Clean - 5/5 Jungle Music - 3/5 Statik - 3/5 Average score: 3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jeru's rapping ability is pretty good for the time, nothing mindblowing but he's definitely a skilled lyricist. the production is just downright awful on the 1st track, but besides that, there's at least a few tracks i'd definitely come back to listen to
not bad but abit boring
In the absence of clever rhymes or a truly memorable beat I find it hard to rate hip hop. Nothing here that memorable but I didn't find it unpleasant. I might not be good judge however.
Very much of its time. Straight up didn't know him but he's Gang Starr-adjacent apparently. Does that annoying "acceptable misogyny" thing that later backpacker rappers became known for where he feels the need to specify to the Black queens that he's not referring to them when he's talking about money-hungry bitches. You're not slick. Otherwise this is the type of rap I gravitate to, although the beats are kinda same-y. Not DJ Premier's most impressive work.
Worth a listen, not my type of music, ok though
to cancel out yesterday's violent feminism here comes some unnessecarry hip hop album to sooth me... wait a minute this got a 3.76 on rate your music and this is nice but could actually be nicer 3/5
Pretty cool but all this 90’s rap is starting to blend together. As a Boston guy I appreciated reading about the Gangstar connection.
Ok rap album
I really liked the grooves. Cool that Spotify shows where the samples are from now. I didn’t care for the rapping 2.5
I enjoyed parts of this but some of the rhymes were pretty bad. More like a thesaurus instead of making sense
Starting to take a liking to hip-hop, but I'm still a bit picky.
Good flow, good beats. Feels like a cousin to Wu-tang.
No está mal, pero hay discos mejores del género. Parece musica de GTA
An OK classic hiphop album with decent rhymes and production
Bro cant spell
3.5
Good old school Hip-Hop, but it failed to hook me like so many others can.
Gave us DJ Premier. Fascinating how this dude got market corrected.
I don’t mind DJ Premiere and this album is fun in an early ‘90’s east coast kind of way. Some cringey stuff (Da Bichez). Mostly left me kind of cold but it’s listenable.
A surprise - I felt like I had a pretty decent knowledge of 90s hip hop, but this was completely unfamiliar to me. Sounds like 1994 (for better or worse), with some nice wordplay. Not at the level of Nas' Illmatic, Enter the Wu Tang, or BIG's Ready to Die, but not too far off.
This album was good! I loved the beats DJ premier put out for other artists in addition to his work for NAS. The wordplay by Jeru is also quite phenomenal.
Pretty good, but I liked the previous album a lot more.
94 provided an embarrassment of riches
If i was a thug in the 90's, I would've listen to this non stop
A new one for me, I thought this was fine. I seemed to get a bit more into it about the halfway point (you cant stop the prophet onwards). Listened at the gym, it had good big beats for that
It was alright. I bet he panicked more than most on 9/11
# Album Name: The Sun Rises In The East # Artist: Jeru # Rating: 3/5 # Comments: OK, nothing amazing. Few good tracks. Better "early sound" hip/hop. I enjoyed it more than newer stuff. # Top Tunes: Come clean / Devil happy / The prophet # Would I listen to it again? Only some of it.
The flow and the beat made this surprisingly listenable, a couple of tracks were downright offensive in the lyrics but overall a decent album
Не знаю что я могу сказать насчёт этого альбома, ну прикольно, и всё как бы. Для меня лично ничего примечательного в нём не было. Поэтому 3
Album No. 0165 on my list. I have very limited knowledge about hip hop, so I had never heard of Jeru The Damaja before. The whole thing was completely new to me. And I found that "The Sun Rises In The East" was actually a pretty solid album. I liked the very dynamic rapping style on this. The flow in pretty much all of the songs is really great. With my limited knowledge, I have rarely ever heard a hip hop album with such good flow actually. Most songs are not that spectacular and I'm not the biggest fan of the lyrics (they're fine in general, but the misogyny is certainly there, even though I didn't find it as pronounced as I had expected when I had read some other reviews of this). So all in all: solid, interesting hip hop album! I'll add "D. Original", "You Can't Stop The Prophet", and "Come Clean - E New Y Radio" to my playlist. 3/5 stars.
Decent writing and beats, not a huge fan of the flow. Really forgettable, but wasn't terrible either.
This was so much fun. While there wasn't much sonic variability among the songs, I still found them all pretty enjoyable. I felt like I was in the 90s.
Never heard of this guy before. This was good!
It was fine: 90s rap, good flow.
Not the worst rap album I’ve heard, but nothing too special about it. Just straightforward to me, for better or worse.
There's a lot to like about this one; it's got the type of relaxed flow I like, and the production and beats are fantastic. No real standout tracks for me, apart from Da Bichez which stands out for the wrong reasons. That track alone drops it from a 4 to a 3
Average hip hop
pesma da bichez... oh.. n.. no... "i body slam her but im not a misogynist" BRUHH cela ova pesma likeee, very much a product of its time ali ne zanima me, veoma je lako samo ne mrzeti zene, pardon, da bichez... the random british accent at the end of you cant stop the prophet IM CRYING "Rap brainiacs have cardiacs soon after the attack When it comes to ryhmin I slam harder than Shaq" "Idealist not an opportunist Don't molest no shorty still in all, I'm dangerous Mentally" AHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH "I snatch fake gangster MCs and make 'em faggot flambé" bruhhh sta se desavaaaaa hahahhahah gotovoo, okej je album, hiphop, ne moj omiljeni zanr, ali ako si u tom fazonu, dobar je. ovaj ima dobar flow or whatever, produkcija je malo ista na svakoj pesmi ali nekako mi to ne smeta, zapravo mi je skroz okej to.
3.5
6/10 - Fresh beats from the 90s, refreshing listen
top 3 - D. Original, You Can’t Stop The Prophet, Mental Stamina Fine listen, nothing crazy. Liked the beats, also liked the first half better.
Splitting the difference between Illmatic and 36 Chambers, this album is pure 90s NY hip hop with classic boom bap beats, lively rhymes, and a hard hitting sound.
Some of the lyrics here seem like they are crowbarred into place, but it's got a really good flow and groove to it.
Spox. 3
Pretty bland hiphop with the usual misogyny, etc
Some old school hip hop I hadn't heard before. Nicely done, may listen again, but as no track particularly rose up, don't think I can give it higher than a three.
Not being a big rap/hip-hop listener, I can’t really compare it to much. I thought it wasn’t bad, some of the songs I liked okay, some really not so much. It was okay, but probably wouldn’t listen to it again. 3/5
Sounds like all the other mid-90s hip hop albums. For better or worse. Ain't the Devil Happy stood out. 3/5
Nao é para mim. Mas tem bons versos.
distinctly early 90s east coast hip hop, both good and bad. it's completely fine. i generally tend to lean more towards west coast hip hop since that's a lot more of what i've heard, but this is solid. the production is clean and i really like his flow. i don't think it's super notable if only because contextually i feel like he is overshadowed by his peers, but almost all of these tracks if i heard a friend play them i'd be tapping my foot saying "oh, classic". the main exception is "da bichez", which i really don't think i need to explain why "no i'm not misogynistic i just [vile misogyny]" is Bad.
Rap from the 90s can sometimes sound a tad archaic to me, but in a way I enjoy. As a genre, it probably has undergone more evolution since inception then basically any other. It's hard to seperate from the era it was made in, and I definitely don't think this is as good as a lot of the east coast rap revival era. At the same time, that's a very hard bar to reach considering it sits alongside some of the best rap albums of the 90s. Taking it on its own, its a pretty good album though- I really like Brooklyn Took It, but at the same time songs like Da Bichez just doesn't feel like they've aged well at all. I'm of two minds what to rate this: On the one hand I think its a pretty solid album with a few occassional hiccups that sounds a little out of date even for the time it came out, and on the other hand there's a reason I think I haven't listened to this album when you look at everything else that was coming out at the same time and how good the scene was doing.
I had Wrath of the Math a long time ago and think it's a better album, but this is pretty dope. Wow the b****s song walks a fine line, but I guess ... didn't really age well, haha.
Wasn’t it all familiar with this, very pleasantly surprised. Nice addition to the roster!
Solid beats and very 90s
I really liked his storytelling. Especially the song about the Prophet.
Good 90’s hip hop.
I hadn't heard this one. Love this era of hip-hop, and there's a lot to like here. Of the rap albums that came out in 94, I don't know if this even enters the top 10, but it's good. 6/10
Da bichez
I don't have many words to say for this album, but I did really enjoy the laid back beats + flows. As a whole this felt a little long, which is weird since it has a sub 40 minute runtime. Really enjoyed Mental Stamina and the flow on Ain't the Devil Happy. Come Clean and Statik were also solid -- the flow on the former reminded me a bit of Del The Funky Homosapien. I think for me this falls in at a really high 3. Interesting and worth the listen, but probably won't get a ton of replay from me.
Pretty solid hip hop. This guys voice and flow sounds so familiar that I was trying to figure out if this was a different alias or if he worked in a group, but it doesn't seem like he is. If I were to put this album into a bowling analogy I would say it is like bowling a 9 after a spare. Can't be mad, but you aren't celebrating this one.
Never heard of this guy but definitely a tough time to come out with a banger album smushed in with Pac, Big, Wu Tang, and Nas. I don't find it as good as those acts, but his flow is really great and production is solid. Not sure we needed this with the other 90's hip hop on here that is better, but not mad about hearing it.
Album was pretty cool, 90s hip hop vibes. Nothing really much to say otherwise, I enjoyed a lot of the songs but none really stuck out to me honestly. I’d listen to the album again though, I think it’s an album you’ll appreciate more after multiple listens
репір ну як всігда посередня
3/5
I liked some songs, but not something I'd listen to.
not amazing, but not terrible. good listen.
I liked this one, maybe not quite 4 stars, but it was good enough that I actually listened to the entire album… sad to say that doesn’t always happen unless I’m listening while working. I’m not necessarily intrigued enough to look into his other albums but I would definitely be okay if someone put this on at a party or something like that.
A little les rhythmic of rap than I like, but cool.
6.0/10 Liked this quite a bit...
Not my style, but it was enjoyable. ★★★
Standardan njorški hip hop, nije ni ovo najsretnije ostarilo
decent rap record, i liked the production and vocals
Started out weak, but there were some tracks that kinda hit
Yeah, this one didn't make an impression one way or another. I liked the beats and samples.
Some good classic east coast boom bap, only really familiar with You Cant Stop the Prophet but I liked a few others too like Jungle Music. Still, its a bit run of the mill, definitely representative of the time period but there's better examples of the style that could be on the list instead
This was nice. Really chill and well produced. I enjoyed it
Pretty good tbh.
Really liked this. It does feel like one of those lost rap albums from the 90s. Would listen again.
Debut album. Hip Hop. The beats and flow were pretty chilled to listen to after getting back from the beach. Sure, some of the themes haven't aged well, however overall I liked it.
3 Stars (8/15)
Good grooves but with lyrics I can’t blast with my car windows down.
Didn’t know this. Not bad at all, but very reminiscent of better artists I think.
This was kinda cool but doesn't live up to Gang-Starr I gotta be honest.
Some decent 90s hip hop. Some very strong tracks and good beats all round.
Some cool beats here and there, but overall not too crazy about it. 6/10 Favourite track: Brooklyn Took It
Pretty solid old school hip hop. Not the most creative bars, but the beats are good. I'm into this type of old school but there's better out there and this feels like it was included on the list just to meet some sort of quota
I quite enjoyed this - wasn't expecting to, though does feel quiet dated
Well this is distinctly 90s East coast hip hop. I can't help but compare it to Wu Tang Clan, who did the street kung fu style thing before this and did it better. It does not feel as modern as contemporaries like Wu Tang or Nas, i.e. Jeru's flow feels more 80s than 90s, but a lot of this is really great. I think the singles "D. Original" and "Come Clean" are indeed the strongest and most memorable songs, but I also liked the laid back jazz feel in "Da Bichez" and the dark strings in "Ain't the Devil Happy". However there are so many instances were the hook is just plain annoying and too short to be laid on so repetitively, like in "Brooklyn Took It" or "Mental Stamina". A lot of sounds are cool, then you hear them about 50 times and it feels like Chinese water torture. Overall there are a lot of good ideas here, but not always executed the best.
Not entirely my thing but I didn’t hate it. It gets an extra star for the random reference to Mr Myxlplyx in My Mind Spray.
Nice hip hop flow and musically interesting. Not as revolutionary as some other hip hop albums on the list, but there’s some musical variation here that sets it apart. Lyrically kind of meh. Notable tracks include D. Original, You Can’t Stop the Prophet, Ain’t the Devil Happy, Come Clean.
I'm always going to have a soft spot for 90s NYC hip hop. I still roll my eyes at the misogyny (that's not really misogyny, apparently?), but overall, a fab listen.
Yesterday I got the Beastie Boys. This is nowhere near as good. Too monotonous, but at least he's not yelling at me all the time.
This felt like a run of the mill 90s rap album. Didn't hate, didn't love. Won't listen again but I didn't find myself wanting to turn it off, either.
I appreciated his flow and the general vibe, but I should get more into the lyrics for his social criticism
If I had a low rider car I would have been using it to go up and down on the beat of these songs. There are some questionable lyrics though
I got laughed at by a coworker for not knowing how to pronounce the name of this artist... "Jay-ru the damager" is the colloquial version.
Good beats, like his vlixw
Decent 90s hip hop.
Deserves another listen.
For a 90’s hip hop album I had never heard of, I quite enjoyed this. It didn’t feel like anything groundbreaking and is definitely a product of the times, but that’s not a bad thing. Great listen
Very good hip hop album with beats that are ahead of its time. Jeru references Wu Tang and Illmatic on this album and it very nearly reaches the level of those albums. Jeru's lyrics are smart and generally positive - he can border on preachy but that's really hard not to do in conscious hip hop. Tracks like "Mental Stamina" show off his vocabulary and "Ain't the Devil Happy" hits hard. That said, the majority of his topics aren't that unique and his flow isn't as smooth as the best rappers of his era; t's unfair to hold him to that standard but when you're referencing Illmatic the listener's going to notice. The beats here are also a bit too minimal for my tastes. The piano and horns hit hard but I wish there was a bit more going on. An album that doesn't quite match up to its contemporaries but which still shouldn't be forgotten.
Rap de la costa este.. pero claro es que ese año Nas publicó su debut y Wu-Tang Clan ya habían desembarcado. Aquí tenenos sonido DJ Premier (Gang Starr) lo que es sinónimo de calidad. No soy experto en hip-hop, en ese estilo mis gustos van a Digable Planets (más Brooklyn) o A tibred called quest, pero sonar suena muy bien especialmente en Jungle Music.
It was alright, got some chuckles out of the references in the lyrics, though I sighed at the "I'm not misogynist BUT" song
Ok. Come clean sounds cool. A good hip hop album. Beats and hooks are mediocre tbh.
If this hadcome out a year or two earlier I think more people would have heard of it. The style is dated for when it came out, mostly because some absolute behemoths of rap music would release some incredible albums basically at the same time. I liked this, modern lyrical sensibilities aside, and the beats are some of premiers best. The cacophonous instrumental sampling actually works well with Jeru’s style. That said, the flow is a bit primitive and while Jeru is a good rapper he sometime seems to bite off rhyming techniques (finishing sentences on the on beat, splitting words at the end of a line) that he can’t quite land. Again, a year or two earlier and I think this would’ve been remembered in a better light. Strangely I never wanted to skip a track; the whole thing was good enough to listen to all the way and I even replayed a few songs (You Can’t Stop the Prophet, Come Clean). It’s better than average but not quite that 4 level for me.
I don't know, it's a mixed bag... Some tracks have really cool lyrics, others less so... The beats are less interesting, so overall, it's ok.
good stuff here by a legend of hip hop 3.5/5
There's nothing wrong with this, but it hasn't had the staying power of other albums at the time.
Buen álbum en general, buenos beats
I think there has definitely been better hiphop on here so far, but still it was a pretty fun album. Might return to it again sometime.
6/10