Saturday, December 19, 2009

MJG - No More Glory (CD, 1997)

An album with a cover that shitty has no right being this good.

As much as I usually despise Southern hip hop, I can't deny the extreme flowage that takes place on this disc. MJG has a knack for hooks, and almost every single one here is memorable. Every time I listen to this disc I remind myself that I need to get more into MJG, and then I usually forget. I'm working on that.

Like any good "hard" rapper worth listening to, MJG takes the same ol' stuff that most rappers talk about and finds a new way to make it interesting. Cuts like "Hip Hop Voodoo" and "What is This" ride fairly standard slinky funk beats, but the way MJG weaves the rhythms, you end up studying every move he makes. Dude's got a feel for the way the words work together, and he really knows how to craft a song. He definitely drives the hooks home, but they're usually complicated enough that they don't get tired.

He's also the master of the "slow beat/fast raps" approach, which I always find intriguing. It's tough to pull that off, especially with as many syllables as he crams into his verses. This album sounds a little dated now, but it's still a damn fine time. Pretty sure I scored my copy for two bucks. If you see it slummin', don't let the cover scare you. Pick it up and listen to "Don't Hold Back." You'll be hooked.

"That Girl"

1 comment:

Biff Pocaroba said...

Ah, the dirty dark secret of my rap collection. I straight up love this album. When I first listened to it (I scored the cassette in a dollar bin) I was blown away by how much it didn't suck. Then I was blown away by how much it ruled. Now, truth be told I was somewhat familiar with his work from Eightball & MJG, but this is the album that made me actually really get into them. His rhymes on here are clever, intricate, often funny, and always entertaining. And I agree with you that he somehow manages to craft choruses that don't detract but actually add to the songs. I still listen to this album so much that my wife can sing along with many of the songs. I've also made it no secret that he's in my top 10 rappers of all time. And yeah, "Don't Hold Back" is the song that originally hooked me. That song is straight up nuts.