One of
E-40
's best albums -- and along with
Tha Hall of Game
(1996), perhaps his best overall --
In a Major Way
features the Bay Area rapper early in his career, when he was at his most inspired and focused. His previous solo releases (
Federal
, 1993;
The Mail Man
, 1993), as well as his work with
the Click
(
Down and Dirty
, 1994), had been formative and low-budget, released independently by his
Sick Wid' It
label in association with a regional distributor. Sure, some of that prior work was great, particularly
and its breakout hit,
"Captain Save a Hoe,"
but none of it compares to
in terms of scale and consistency. Over the course of 16 tracks,
collaborates with his
stable of producers (
Studio Ton
,
Mike Mosley
Sam Bostic
) and rappers (
B-Legit
Suga T
Celly Cel
), along with outside talent. Newcomer
Funk Daddy
produces three tracks, including the standout
"Sideways,"
while up-and-coming Bay Area rappers
2Pac
Mac Mall
, and
Spice 1
team up for another standout,
"Dusted 'n' Disgusted."
Besides these two standouts, highlights of
include a pair of hit singles (
"1-Luv,"
"Sprinkle Me"
) that broke into the Billboard Hot 100, plus
"Da Bumble."
does have its shortcomings, chief among them the production, which still sounds low-budget, if improved from prior releases.
made the most of what he had to work with at the time, though, and for a mostly in-house album,
is an impressive showcase of the talent at hand.
's raps would improve over the years, as would his production stable and his recording budget, yet few albums in his catalog rival
, which track-for-track is remarkably solid and thoroughly entertaining. ~ Jason Birchmeier