Once upon a time, Pete Rock featured a group of four emcees on his Petestrumentals album in 2001. What was chiefly an instrumental album, it did have a group of four emcees on two tracks. The group went on to record an album in 2004 and then disappear into the realms of online Hip-Hop nerd conversations. That group was the UN and that album was UN Or U Out. You can attribute the fact that you’ve probably never heard of them to lack of promotion, no live tour, or the indolence of fans to look up who they were. But nothing should stop you from appreciating the work from Dino Brave, Mike Raw, Laku, and Roc Marciano today.
The four Strong Island emcees put down some of the rawest rhymes on record with their debut album. They’re not afraid to spray up your car door and leave you in a ditch so that you’re only friend is a pile of dirt. Actually, they may prefer that than hear your B.S. I’m pretty sure that if a lot of the internet rappers heard this album, they would stop rapping out of respect or proceed to bite their spoken imagery. When they rap about doing a drive by on a bicycle (“For The Luv”), I take it not so much as an excuse that they can’t afford a car but because they’re brash enough to trust their aim.
Roc Marciano isn’t the smooth talking gangster that most have come to know him as, on this album. Instead, he stays in line with the other three when it comes to bashing in skulls and living the street life. The four emcees are distinguishable by their voices and energy level when they rap, but the subject matter remains the same across the board. Their flows are on point and run the gamut from slow riding the beat to double time, providing something to hold my attention for 16 tracks. But I start to see a possible advantage for the group to break up-fostering solo careers due to their styles overlapping and blending.
Production duties are handled by Roc Marciano, Mahogany, Pete Rock, Large Professor, and Mic Raw. It’s a solid mix that includes minimal, sobering piano melodies, more textured guitar driven slow burners, and classic boom bap heavy hitters that you come to expect from a group like the UN. They prove that they can be as vicious as the next group over any type of beat you throw their way. They’ll just throw it back as a lyrical grenade.
As a whole, the project would do well as a mixtape in today’s Hip-Hop landscape. Even on the party jam, “Get Yo _____,” the group beats the idea of handing out beat downs to a pulp. I’ll never be mad at another 90′s sound NYC track that allows an emcee to flex his muscles but I don’t see it doing well stacked up against the current growth of concept albums that touch all facets of life. The rhymes touch on the luxuries of a rapper’s life and getting a party live, but the sentiment of slaughtering the weak isn’t far behind.
For those wanting a piece of obscure history, you can buy your copy online HERE.
Bryan Hahn (@notupstate)
