I actually wrote this for a worldwide magazine which then didn't publish it, my boy asked me to speak on some really dope underground album so I picked out what I consider to be one of my favourite slept on classics... but they wasn't really looking for rap music. :ermm:
Fendi Boyz - Money Movement
The passing of legendary Bay Area rapper Mac Dre went on to create an interesting dynamic between his Thizz Entertainment label and fans of the music. While long-time supporters became disillusioned with the quantity and quality of dubiously related albums suddenly being turned out by the Thizz label under Dre's supposed posthumous seal of approval, new younger and more mainstream fans of Dre's psychedelic final offerings snapped up this fresh output with little regard for the music itself.
Thus Thizz had a business plan which seemed to involve debuting new, increasingly limited and often novelty acts, associated only by a Dre cover reference or the odd sampled line for a chorus. With a few exceptions the music was largely forgettable and few albums actually appeared to merit release, typically being filler material around just a single properly thought-out track or gimmick.
But the release in 2006 -at the height of Thizz Entertainment's immature appeal- of the Fendi Boyz debut album 'Money Movement', stands out as an odd exception to this increasingly depressing business model. It didn't have the hopelessly played out Dre seal of approval on the cover. It didn't have Dre on any of the tracks. And yet it turned out to be head and shoulders above any other Thizz release since Mac Dre's passing and the only legitimate long-player the label has ever produced.
Rappers Geezy, Kata and Peanut were drawn from three of the Bay Area's major local center's of music -San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond- and yet with the opportunity to appeal to several loyal bases in Northern California, this release didn't get the widespread support or critical acclaim it deserved. People often describe albums as 'slept-on classics' and in the context of Bay music, this fits that billing.
It had diverse production credits including One Drop Scott and Swampkat, positive guest contributions from talents such as Jacka, Keak Da Sneak, Mistah F.A.B., and executive producers Rydah J Klyde and Johnny Cash (RIP) -no coincidence that Dre's most credible successors on Thizz were directly involved- and most of all it had variety in three very different styles: star quality of Peanut's youthful energetic bursts of higher pitched rap, Kata's more conventional upbeat word play, with each track framed by Geezy's signature flow, a low, growling, menacing, almost Southern drawl.
Largely over sparser driving beats, the formula excels. But the album does anything but stick to a script, instead covering a range of styles from the dark, sprawling gangsterous cuts like Resurrection, Tough Sh*t and We Run Dis, via party-flavoured anthems such as Thizzle Wiggle and Vanilla Von Dutch, through catchy tracks like On Bladez and Getcha Chips Up, over 70's samples like Cream of Tha Crop and the Jay-Z sampled Realest 2 Run It, to dependable hyphy of Good 2 Go, Breathe and Come Wit Me.
But in an already solid collection of work, the album stand outs are still to come. Twelve tracks in, the cruelly under-exposed Jacka arrives to tell us "We're going to do this for Mac Dre" before leading off the bouncy, animated, party sounds of (With A) Look On My Face, a fun club anthem with each emcee going verse to verse seemingly to get people on their feet, nodding heads and mouthing the addictive chorus.
And the CD is finished off with the downright infectious stand-out track One Drop, produced by the highly regarded beat master of the same name, an eclectic dub-Hyphy fusion of light samples including a catchy human whistle and a staccato burst of a rattling organ chord punctuated by darker growling Hyphy synths, in particular when the languid Geezy almost threatens "This will make your head knock".
It certainly does - from start to finish. Comfortably the most accomplished Thizz Entertainment album of the post-Mac Dre era and arguably one of the best Bay Area -if not West Coast- debut albums of recent years, particularly given how laden it is with quality tracks, an increasing rarity in rap CD's. Sleep on it and miss out.
Fendi Boyz - Money Movement
The passing of legendary Bay Area rapper Mac Dre went on to create an interesting dynamic between his Thizz Entertainment label and fans of the music. While long-time supporters became disillusioned with the quantity and quality of dubiously related albums suddenly being turned out by the Thizz label under Dre's supposed posthumous seal of approval, new younger and more mainstream fans of Dre's psychedelic final offerings snapped up this fresh output with little regard for the music itself.
Thus Thizz had a business plan which seemed to involve debuting new, increasingly limited and often novelty acts, associated only by a Dre cover reference or the odd sampled line for a chorus. With a few exceptions the music was largely forgettable and few albums actually appeared to merit release, typically being filler material around just a single properly thought-out track or gimmick.
But the release in 2006 -at the height of Thizz Entertainment's immature appeal- of the Fendi Boyz debut album 'Money Movement', stands out as an odd exception to this increasingly depressing business model. It didn't have the hopelessly played out Dre seal of approval on the cover. It didn't have Dre on any of the tracks. And yet it turned out to be head and shoulders above any other Thizz release since Mac Dre's passing and the only legitimate long-player the label has ever produced.
Rappers Geezy, Kata and Peanut were drawn from three of the Bay Area's major local center's of music -San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond- and yet with the opportunity to appeal to several loyal bases in Northern California, this release didn't get the widespread support or critical acclaim it deserved. People often describe albums as 'slept-on classics' and in the context of Bay music, this fits that billing.
It had diverse production credits including One Drop Scott and Swampkat, positive guest contributions from talents such as Jacka, Keak Da Sneak, Mistah F.A.B., and executive producers Rydah J Klyde and Johnny Cash (RIP) -no coincidence that Dre's most credible successors on Thizz were directly involved- and most of all it had variety in three very different styles: star quality of Peanut's youthful energetic bursts of higher pitched rap, Kata's more conventional upbeat word play, with each track framed by Geezy's signature flow, a low, growling, menacing, almost Southern drawl.
Largely over sparser driving beats, the formula excels. But the album does anything but stick to a script, instead covering a range of styles from the dark, sprawling gangsterous cuts like Resurrection, Tough Sh*t and We Run Dis, via party-flavoured anthems such as Thizzle Wiggle and Vanilla Von Dutch, through catchy tracks like On Bladez and Getcha Chips Up, over 70's samples like Cream of Tha Crop and the Jay-Z sampled Realest 2 Run It, to dependable hyphy of Good 2 Go, Breathe and Come Wit Me.
But in an already solid collection of work, the album stand outs are still to come. Twelve tracks in, the cruelly under-exposed Jacka arrives to tell us "We're going to do this for Mac Dre" before leading off the bouncy, animated, party sounds of (With A) Look On My Face, a fun club anthem with each emcee going verse to verse seemingly to get people on their feet, nodding heads and mouthing the addictive chorus.
And the CD is finished off with the downright infectious stand-out track One Drop, produced by the highly regarded beat master of the same name, an eclectic dub-Hyphy fusion of light samples including a catchy human whistle and a staccato burst of a rattling organ chord punctuated by darker growling Hyphy synths, in particular when the languid Geezy almost threatens "This will make your head knock".
It certainly does - from start to finish. Comfortably the most accomplished Thizz Entertainment album of the post-Mac Dre era and arguably one of the best Bay Area -if not West Coast- debut albums of recent years, particularly given how laden it is with quality tracks, an increasing rarity in rap CD's. Sleep on it and miss out.