When
Rodney O. & Joe Cooley
's first full-length album,
Me & Joe
, came out in 1988, many hip-hoppers were re-evaluating the Los Angeles
rap
scene. In the early to mid-'80s, L.A. wasn't famous for
hardcore rap
; many people associated Southern California with the high-tech, synthesizer-driven
electro-hop
sounds of
the Egyptian Lover
,
the Arabian Prince
Uncle Jam's Army
, and
the World Class Wreckin' Cru
(the group that
Dr. Dre
belonged to before
N.W.A.
). But in 1987 and 1988, the disturbing
gangsta rap
of
Ice-T
and
was giving people a different impression of L.A.
-- and all of a sudden, hip-hoppers were expecting
to come from Southern California. Although
Rodney
Cooley
both had
credentials,
is essentially a
effort. The LP isn't
--
doesn't
in the first person about gang fights or drive-by shootings -- but even so, it sent out a message that South-Central L.A. could provide aggressive
hip-hop
(as opposed to crossover stuff). While some of
's scratching shows an awareness of New York DJs like
Jam Master Jay
Cut Creator
doesn't sound it was recorded in the Big Apple.
flows like a West Coast rapper -- he doesn't sound like he's from Brooklyn, Queens, or the Boogie Down Bronx -- and the production tends to be cleaner than what many New York hip-hoppers were favoring at the time.
isn't a masterpiece; as far as L.A.
goes, it isn't as important or as challenging a record as
's
Power
or
Straight Outta Compton
. But it's a decent and often catchy, if slightly uneven, footnote in the history of
West Coast hip-hop
. ~ Alex Henderson