Grant JonesThere’s a line on The Beatnuts’ wonderfully ignorant song “I Love It”, from 1999’s “A Musical Massacre”, that captures the essence of ignorant, violent rap executed with enough humour in its imagery to justify the name of the track:
“Step to your label, make them dish out all the cash in the place
Before I have to punch somebody’s ass in the face”
It almost sounds silly, yet you know what Psycho Les means. I love that combination – posturing machismo and cartoonish juvenility. If you’re not familiar with Snowgoons by now, they have held down the underground scene for nearly twenty years with some of the most brutal, yet cinematic instrumentation you’ll ever hear. Albums with legendary crews like M.O.P. and Onyx will have certainly increased the crime rate just from pressing play on them, and their own compilation projects paired audio warfare with some of the best emcees happy to give the listener a verbal pounding too. It’s no surprise their latest release is called “Murderers’ Row”. This time, they have recruited former Army of the Pharaohs members Outerspace (Planetary and Crypt the Warchild), King Syze and Reef the Lost Cauze, who are all familiar to Snowgoons fans. While three of the four share Puerto Rican heritage with The Beatnuts, it’s Reef the Lost Cauze who reminds me of that winning combination of wit and war, and he is undeniably the star of the show on this EP.
Maybe it’s been a while since I’ve indulged in Snowgoons, but their efforts here are decidedly lowkey if compared to their epic posse cut material. There are no violins or haunting choral chanting here, despite the nasty theme of death and crime. Songs like “Royal Family” sound largely nondescript outside of that mean bassline, and there’s more than a hint of DJ Muggs about how understated some of the animosity is presented. “The Most Imperial” sounds like the guys haven’t missed a step, although I do think King Syze is a bit more divisive, and probably always has been. His voice sticks out, but for me personally, I find his flow disruptive, and on the song “Yard Rec”, plain scruffy. When paired with tidy emcees, his bars end too soon and rarely switch flow, and it likely explains why his back catalogue was jam-packed with guest verses to make it more digestible.
I understand Outerspace returned a year or two ago, after a prolonged hiatus. This was because Crypt the Warchild was fighting cancer, so it’s great to see him looking healthy in the video for the single “187”:
What’s evident, and probably has been known since all these guys emerged in the early 2000s, is that Reef the Lost Cauze is the star. Did he ever fulfil his potential? Probably not. He was the highlight of Chief Kamachi’s shortlived Juju Mob outfit, a standout on Army of the Pharaohs records, and he’s the best part of “Murderers Row” too. His lines on “187” alone are more interesting than everything else that’s presented:
“I’m a simple man, I let the pistol blam
Shoot you up, then hit the walk like an Egyptian dance
Your big homie, I consider him my little man
He said “pull up”, I pulled up, and then the n**** ran
I’m always the bigger man
I don’t just spit on your grave, I’ll do the Riverdance
I’m lord michael flightly
N****s might be nice, but them buls not like me
You couldn’t walk a block in my Nikes
Y’all be on the ‘Gram gossipin’ and talkin’ spicy
Loser, and I ain’t got time for it
Prayin’ for my brother when he told me that his mama sick
I sent my love and my prayers
Just look into her eyes and know the light is still there
This is real n**** shit, fuck your raps and your bars
We grown men with families, I’ll smack your jaw off”
When written down, it highlights how plain the other verses are, which is why I was a bit disappointed in this reunion. Outerspace have never been the most lyrical of emcees, often complementing the Reef, Vinnie Paz or Esoteric performances, but there is definitely room in the underground for this style to flourish once more. When Army of the Pharoahs, Demigodz, Rhyme Asylum, Triple Darkness and Orphans of Cush were all around, true supergroups packed with lyricists, it was a treat that slowly went away. None of these crews are currently active, so any glimpses of reunions is welcome, if you’re after that hardcore Hip-Hop that’s not just got the tough aesthetic, but dresses it up in an entertaining way too. “Murderers Row” isn’t quite that, but does remind me why I liked these guys in the first place.