Background Noise Crew: T.Q.D's Corner

Hello and welcome to another edition of T.Q.D’s Corner.  In this edition, we discuss highly debated albums.  There are albums generally considered good or bad, but there are also those that don’t appear to have any consensus opinion one way or another.  This is usually do to an album being just okay when expectations were high or the artist decided to take their music in a totally different direction and some accept it, while others don’t.  I’d like to briefly discuss 4 such records and provide my two cents.

Public Enemy – Muse Sick N Hour Mess Age

I actually think this is a solid album that never really got the credit it deserves.  However, I can totally understand why this album was so divisive.  For starters, times had changed.  Speaking out about politics, racism, and self-empowerment didn’t exactly fit it with the gangsta image that had taken over mainstream Hip Hop at the time.  Secondly, the production style was changed drastically.  At first, un-cleared samples weren’t a big deal in Hip Hop, but once everyone realized the genre could no longer be considered a fad, the lawsuits came pouring in across the board, and Public Enemy was certainly not immune.  As a a result, sampling on this album was kept to a minimum and more live instruments were used.  While not a classic, I feel this was simply a good album that people just were ready for.

Snoop Dogg – Tha Doggfather

Anytime an artist makes a classic (see Doggystyle), expectations go through the roof for the follow up.  Times had changed when this album came out.  Dr. Dre had left Death Row records, leaving Snoop to find new producers.  He ended up having his Daz Dillinger from Tha Dogg Pound and Soopafly handle those duties.  While I’d argue the production was solid, it was just too different than people were accustomed to.  As a result, a number of people liked it because Snoop could do no wrong at that point in time (think of how Kanye West is viewed now) and just as many people felt it was a hefty drop off and believed Snoop needed to reunite with Dre immediately.  I agree that compared to Doggystyle, the was a huge drop off, but I’d argue that’s more of Snoop’s fault than the beats.  Other than the title track, Snoop’s performance, in my view, just doesn’t stick to the ribs.

The Roots – Phrenology

When this album came out, The Roots were following up three straight critically acclaimed albums, so naturally expectations continued to rise.  I didn’t know what to expect when the album came out, but I knew to expect something different then usual after hearing their lead single “Break U Off”.  The Roots pretty much did a 180 on this album compared to their previous work, and have continued to change since then. While the album went gold based on the strength of the 2^nd single “The Seed 2.0” featuring Cody Chesnutt, receptions from fans and critics were absolutely divided.  Many were angry The Roots had abandoned their signature sound, while many others welcome the change.  To this day, I’m not sure what I think about this album.  I don’t believe it’s bad, but I can’t say I listen to it very often either.  I view it as a transition.  While The Roots albums before this were good and in a couple cases great, their style was bound to grow stale, so even though they hadn’t completely found their new selves just yet, I think it’s the only album they could’ve made at the time.   

 Common – Electric Circus

I’ll never forget when this came out.  For those that may not recall, this album was highly anticipated in the Hip Hop world.  Common was following up a well received gold selling album (Like Water For Chocolate).  For those who stuck by him through lackluster sales of previous albums, not only was he good, but finally recognized for it.  Expectations were high.  J-Dilla, and Quest Love handled the production duties, with a couple beats from The Neptunes mixed in.  Everyone was shocked by the album.  It was a huge departure from anything he had ever done.  The fans were pretty evenly divided.  Nothing was overly pop sounding so, there was no charge of selling out, but detractors said (myself included) that while trying something new is always admirable, his experiments straight up didn’t work.  On the other side of the coin, there were just as many people who praised it for taking so many chances.  I’m all for trying things, but I thought this album was overly forgettable, Common has even on a couple of occasions, apologized “for that time in his kife”, when asked about the album.  I also noticed no one ever cites this album when singing the praises of the late J Dilla’s work.  I think the last two sentences say it all.

…and that concludes this edition of T.Q.D’s Corner.  I will have a new post ready to go early in September.  Also, check out the Jason’s Basement (with ToneKrusher Smith & Phingaz) podcast on iTunes.  In addition to it being a good podcast, you can hear me on it once a month doing an a bonus version of this blog.