bigd99999's Full Review: Legal Drug Money by Lost Boyz
I am of the opinion that Southside Jamaica Queens’s hip hop foursome the Lost Boyz, despite being one of the most successful rap acts of the 90s, are far too often slept on by even the most open-minded rap journalists. Seriously, look throughout some of your favorite rap review sites, big or small, and you’d be hard-pressed to find any true coverage of the Lost Boyz.
The Lost Boyz were composed of DJ Spigg Nice, Pretty Lou, Freaky Tah, and lead emcee Mr. Cheeks. They released three albums during their tenure in the rap game from 1996 to 1999. The group was put to an abrupt and sad end when Freaky Tah was shot and killed at the Sheraton Hotel in Queens, New York in 1999. The group disbanded and Mr. Cheeks went on to have a mildly successful solo career. Other than 2005’s Greatest Hits compilation, Lost Boyz Forever, the foursome released Love, Peace, and Nappiness, LB IV Life, and the group’s most successful album, their debut LP Legal Drug Money, from 1996.
A lot of rap fans who think that 2Pac, Biggie, Nas, Wu-Tang, Fugees and Jay-Z were all that mattered in 1996 forget just how huge Legal Drug Money was in hip hop. Legal Drug Money featured FIVE Hot 100 Hit Singles and the album itself went Gold in 1997 and peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 200. Lost Boyz was anything but under the radar rap.
It’s really a combination of factors that make Legal Drug Money such a critically acclaimed LP. Two of my favorite producers of all time share board time on the record as Easy Mo Bee and Pete Rock join the likes of Mr. Sexxx, Tim Dawg, and others. In addition, Mr. Cheeks leadership as the group’s charismatic frontman helped carry a lot of the tracks into above-average territory. But what really makes it comes together is the fact that Legal Drug Money is a record that manages to blend bouncy party tracks, which is without question the foundation of hip hop music to begin with, with confident emceeing and real-life storytelling while maintaining positivity throughout. Everything came together nice.
In terms of financial success, It’s the strength of the FIVE singles (Michael Jackson numbers here) that really made the record sell. The two that usually get mentioned by most Lost Boys fans are the Easy Mo Bee-laced ”Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz” and ”Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless”. You would have to be a pretentious loser to deny that these two singles are essentially 1996 commercial rap, but it’s still pretty fascinating that commercial rap from 1996 is so much better than commercial rap from 2006. Maybe it’s just me. Most folks will recognize the bouncier remix with Tha Dogg Pound and Canibus of ”Music Makes Me High”, but the original is almost as good. ”Get Up” was another banger that hit the #6 spot on the Hot Rap Singles chart. My favorite of the singles and actually my favorite song on the album is ”Renee”, which actually gained more fame for being on the soundtrack to the Wayans Brothers’ Don’t Be A Menace in South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood Original Movie Soundtrack. On the surface, ”Renee” is a bouncy xylophone-driven street-hop track, but is lyrically a tragic story about losing shorty wop to gun violence. I’ve always has referred to this song as a ghetto love tragedy, and it is!
Besides the whopping cadre of singles, there are other highlights on the album too. What I love about Legal Drug Money as a whole besides the overall bouncy vibe is that almost every song tells some kind of ghetto story. Imagine every song borrowing bits and pieces from songs like ”Memory Lane (Sittin In Da Park)”, ”Everyday Struggle”, or "Everything is Fair"? Well there is a horde of visualistic, retrospective “notebook street-poetry” found in songs like ”Channel Zero”, "Da Game", "1, 2, 3", and my second favorite song "Keep It Real", which I consider an unquestionably piquant rap number. Then there's ”All Right”, which features some of the most potent Mr. Cheeks storytelling and showcases his ability to be a poetic lyricist.
”Ain't nothing pretty in my city that's shitty My man's was running round up on the Isle, he caught a buck fitty To the grill, things are getting ill… At times it makes me wanna holla, when I'm down to my last dollar bill”
There is much more to this album than a compilation of street stories. Cheeks talks about so many different topics it’s almost like he used Legal Drug Money as a way to justify his own existence and vent his own frustrations. Cheeks does everything on the album, from pondering whether or not the enviroment where you grew up in shapes the kind of person you are (”Straight From Da Ghetto”), to talk about women who can be more nuisances than anything (”Is This The Part”), to having a good time with women, weed, and the world on "Get Up". "Get Up" features one of the most pleasant summertime vibes a rap record can contain. There's no shame in the Lost Boyz game.
Legal Drug Money is an enduring listen with tons of variety, so you may be asking why did it not get the big 5 Star Rating. Well my issue is, while there is a handful of songs that I consider excellent pieces, there are also songs that I just like and can't get attached to. Add that to the fact that it's a beastly seventeen tracks and you can clearly see the album fade the deeper you get. Either way, this is about as close as you can get to getting a 5 and just barely missing it by a hair.
The Lost Boyz Legal Drug Money was a successful attempt at bringing the fun back into the rap game in the mid-90s when most successful acts went the mafioso route, while still maintaining a sense of street poetry and combining all of the factors, both new and old, that makes something unquestionably hip hop. So bump this record now regardless if you own a Benz, Lex, Jeep, Bimah, or hell... even a Hatchback...
Track List & Rating
1. Intro 2. Yearn (****) 3. Music Makes Me High (****) 4. Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz (*****) 5. Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless (*****) 6. Renee (******) 7. All Right (*****) 8. Legal Drug Money (****) 9. Get Up (*****) 10. Is This Da Part (*****) 11. Straight From Da Ghetto (****) 12. Keep It Real (******) 13. Channel Zero (*****) 14. Da Game (****) 15. 1,2,3 (*****) 16. Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless Remix (*****) 17. Renee Remix (****)
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