Kronic - Flip It | Текст песни

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Da 4 Foot Attack EP [`94]
FORMAT: Cassette
YEAR: 1994
LABEL: Kaper Records

Remember when Masta Ace dissed The High & Mighty - Mr. Eon and DJ Mighty Mi - on “Acknowledge”, a track featured on his dope “Disposable Arts” LP? Among other things he said “And I heard your album, this must be something you’re new at / Cause I rather hear a Lil’ Wayne / Lil’ Zane duet”. Fans of commercial rap (or pop rap, or whatever you call it) will probably recognize both names, or at least the first one (because Wayne’s ugly mug is on the tv non-stop these days!). Lil’ Zane’s career is probably not as impressive as Wayne’s, but he also has a couple of hit singles and -albums under his belt. And not only that, he also had roles in box office (hit) movies like The Fighting Temptations (with Beyoncé and Cuba Gooding Jr.), Finding Forrester (with Sean Connery) and Dr. Dolittle 2 (with Eddie Murphy). Now I’m probably not the only person in the world who doesn’t give one bit about the man’s (pop) rap or acting career, but I was somewhat curious when I found out that Lil’ Zane was one of the members of the kiddy rap group named Kronic.

Back in ’93 Kronic (which was Zane, his brother Mike and their cousin Eric) debuted with a single titled “It Bee’z Like That” on Kaper Records, a small R&B and rap orientated label under the roof of RCA/BMG. Now the most interesting thing about this single (to me at least) was the production team that was behind this single. I mean, these kids were 10 or 11 years old at the time, but already they had Erick Sermon, Dallas Austin and Spearhead X (just named X on the record) working with them. As you probably know the Green Eyed Bandit moved to Atlanta after the EPMD break-up in ’92 and the majority of the tracks off his solo debut album “No Pressure” were recorded at Dallas Austin’s D.A.R.P. Studios in Atlanta. And if you know that Erick, Dallas and Spearhead X (together with fellow D.A.R.P. producer Colin Wolfe) were responsible for 75% of the beats on Illegal’s “The Untold Truth” LP it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there at least was some interest for this kiddy rap group.

Now the “It Bee’z Like That” single was okay but nothing more than that and it was fairly obvious that these kids were not on the same level as Illegal or fellow kid rappers like Da Youngsta’s, Shyheim or Chi-Ali. In 1994 they returned with their second single “Summertime” - with beats from Spearhead X again - but again they failed to make much of an impression. On the “Summertime” single as well as in various magazines an EP titled “Da 4 Foot Attack” was announced, but due to disappointing sales of the two singles and because of issues between Kaper Records and RCA the EP was shelved. But… some promo cassettes were mailed out and I managed to grab one off eBay for ten bucks a month or two ago.

With the two singles in mind I wasn’t really expecting a lot from this EP, but after hearing it I’ve got to say that I was quite surprised how dope it actually is. If you can look past the immature voices and the fact that these kids say a lot of stuff that doesn’t fit their age (I guess you either like kiddy rap or you don’t), you’re in for a little treat. With a less impressive team of producers behind them (Kay Gee from Naughty By Nature and Tony Dalvin were also ‘on board’) these kids probably wouldn’t have been noticed in the first place, but that doesn’t matter in the end right? I mean, if it wasn’t for DJ Premier’s top notch productions Group Home’s first album wouldn’t have been the same, but who cares? “Da 4 Foot Attack” contains seven tracks and without question it’s the final track “Flip It” that I like most. The beats definitely ‘carry’ this EP, but in all fairness that’s something Zane and co. shouldn’t feel bad about. Just listen to all tracks below and let me know what you think.

Lil’ Zane (he no longer uses the Lil’ part of his name) obviously went on to make a name for himself and became a superstar. Whether you like his music or not, you have got to give him credit for that I

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