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Click here to view all of Benz0's reviews Da BackWudz Album Review: WOOD WORK “Something’s been rattling my perception, as I see more ni$$az in prison I’m learning lessons, as I see more ni$$az getting murdered I’m sending blessings, It’s time for a switch…The road that my life’s leading has no meaning…”, - Da Backwudz., ”Mama Always Told Me”. Decatur, Decatur, where things are greater! Ah nothing like the Dirty South! Specifically Decatur, GA! Decatur is my old stomping grounds in college as 3 of my girls around that time all hailed from Decatur. Decatur alone probably has more fine sistas in that Atlanta suburb alone than a state like Minnesota has in its entirety. But even better than that, Decatur is often the breeding grounds for some of Georgia’s finest acts. Add Da Backwudz to the list of quality hiphop artists coming out of that borough as they drop their debut album called WOOD WORK. Hold up. Rewind. Did this fool just call Decatur a Borough? Yep. Slowly but surely Atlanta has turned into the NEW New York City. We’ll consider Atlanta the New Manhattan and Decatur the new Brooklyn. Ironic how the country boys of the South are now the saviors of hiphop. While NY hiphop artists try hard to saturate the market with “pre-packaged”, big selling R&B hits, the South has led the way to hiphop salvation by keeping the beats grimy and the lyrics thought provoking and relevant to every day living. Of course groups like the original Poison Clan and the original Ghetto Boys paved the way for the South then out of nowhere comes Outkast (The new Tribe Called Quest) to let it be known that the most innovative hiphop now comes from the South. So of course it’s no surprise that Da Backwudz would be heavily influenced by Outkast and related groups like Goodie Mob. Looking at the video of their smash hit “You Gonna Love Me” kind of reminds you of Outkast’s first video “Player’s Ball”. In that video a scared looking Big Boi is driving and rapping in a rimmed out vehicle. Fast forward 12 years later and Da Backwudz members Sho Nuff and Big Marc are doing the same except in these savvy days of hiphop they aren’t looking like they’re scared at all. The crazy thing about Da Backwudz though is that “You Gonna Love Me” was hugely successful yet no album was available until what seems one year later. Worse thing a group can do is come out with a hit and have no album for the fans to buy. But give them credit. Instead of rushing the album they took their time and put together an album featuring more big names than a Pharell album. Here’s the short list of featured star artists: George Clinton, Nas, Slim Thug and Big Gipp to name a few while also enlisting the production of industry greats like Dallas Austin and Organized Noize. Well now that the big wait is over is this album worth the wait? As I mentioned its pretty much career suicide to come out with a smash hit and have the album come out almost a year later but luckily for Da Backwudz they came out with a single that’s just as good as or maybe even better than “You Gonna Love Me”. That single is called “I Don’t Like the Look of It”. Featuring a quirky cartoonish voice for the chorus, a neck-breaking beat mixed in with a Wizard of Oz type melody supplied by The Execs and Milwaukee Black, the song absolutely wrecks shop every second of the song. Even better is that the video isn’t the typical stand on the block with a group of ni$$az and rap in front of a rimmed out RENTED vehicle. My first time seeing the video was (shockingly) while I was on another patented Benz0 trip in Mexico City chilling at my manz Carlos Vasquez’s crib watching MTV Jams. I was shocked that Da Backwudz were the artists responsible for the song because it was so different from the style they showed on “You Gonna Love Me”. But that’s the thing about Da Backwudz. They are all about presenting something new and different to hiphop mixed in with the traditional staples of hiphop sound. “You Gonna Love Me” was something fresh and new with the continuous singing chorus featuring the voice of Jennifer Holiday and the remix offered on this album adds more thump to the original featuring an upgraded supporting cast in the form of Nas and Slim Thug. The creativity continues with a slew of other songs. “Mama Always Told Me” features a dynamite track from Organized Noize and has Sho Nuff and Big Marc preaching about the need for a change from the dead-end lifestyle of drug selling and street hustling. “Lock N Load” features a David Banner type Rock N Roll track and is a plea to the troubled masses to turn their life over to God. That in itself is a rarity for mainstream rap but Da Backwudz aren’t ashamed of their religious upbringings. The song is inspirational as they spew consoling words to those would be suicide candidates who feel hopeless and think death by their own hands is the only answer. “Feelin’ Lonely” tackles issues of molestation, sexual orientation, and AIDS. “Same Song” uses a Sade sample to get their point across on how pathetic most big market radio stations are for playing the same sorry R&B rap hits daily while the more talented underground artists get no radio play. Best point of the song is that back in the day being a radio DJ meant the chance to give a new talented artist their first break but these days radio DJs are all about playing mandated cookie-cutter play lists of R&B BULL&^%$. But of course you know black folks. You can’t be too damn preachy now! So to alleviate that potential issue of alienating the masses as well as to balance out the album Da Backwudz leave something for the more hardened hiphop listeners too. “Getting’ 2 It” is an ode to all the hustlers to keep on hustling on every side of the city. “Making Money Counting Hundreds” I think speaks for itself. “Whatcha Know Bout My Life” serves as a platform for Da Backwudz and Big Gipp to talk about their hardships growing up. George Clinton blesses the group on their ode to weed in the song “Smoke N Ride” that really ends up being a great song. And of course what’s a rap album without a smoothed out pimp song? “Fantastic” is a classic pimp song that takes you back to the Super Fly days. It starts off slow but within seconds you find yourself poppin your collar up and telling your girl “B&^%$ come here!!!”. OK, OK drum roll please….And the verdict is?....Survey says?....This album is a solid contribution to hiphop and is DEFINITELY worth picking up. The only thing that stops this album from being a Must Have is that their two singles are the best songs on the album and while the other songs are either above average or average none really come close to competing with their first two singles. Hence I can’t say that if you simply burn their first two singles that you’re really really missing out. But I repeat this album is VERY solid and definitely worth picking up if you’re looking for something new and something with some artistic integrity and are already tired of hearing T.I.’s latest single for the 50 millionth time on the radio (Not that T.I. isn’t a great artist though!). This album isn’t a classic but you’ll probably find yourself playing this album as much as you would an album considered a classic. Atlanta hiphop is here to stay and New York is still playing catch-up to the new NY these days in terms of funkiness, realness and creativity.
Benz0
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