Yet another band I knew by name but never took the time to listen to one of their records. I was expecting something more rock or metal, as they have a pretty good success in these communities, and that was a name coming back regularly in discussions when I was a nu-metal-listenening-teenager. In the end, it is a pretty good and standard rap album from this period of time, with some light hispano influence that makes them stand a bit out from the crowd (on top of the good production and the flow).
I know that this is a critically acclaimed hip-hop album, but something about it was niggling me and it finally struck me on the third track, Hand on the Pump. It opens with a sample of Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler, and I realised that I would much rather be listening to the original.
They’ve just taken a classic intro to a song and chopped it up, without adding anything new or it having any relevance to their track. I have nothing against sampling per se, but it needs to have a reason for being rather than artists acting like a kid in a candy store grabbing everything in site.