Search - Cru :: Da Dirty 30

The best Hip Hop album you've never heard

Brett Wagner | nyc | 10/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By now you've probably read tons of reviews scouring the net for that undiscovered Hip Hop gem. You've been digging in the crates, asking friends for recommendations, trying to find that one album that reminds you of why you fell in love with Hip Hop to begin with. For those of you fortunate enough to be reading this review - congratulations - this is the album you've been searching for. Every now and again you come across an album that hits you track after track - Nas's Illmatic, Biggie's Ready to Die, The Beatnuts self-titled debut come to mind among a handful of others. Somehow this album never hit it big and fell off the radar before word of mouth had a chance to bring it to mass audiences. 7 years later this album is still inexplicably obscure. But true NY Hip Hop heads consider this masterpiece one of the most slept on albums of all time. The production is top-notch (some chill trax mixed with straight-up party bangers) and flows seamlessly with tight story-telling rhymes. Unfortunately, similar to most Hip Hop albums from '97, there are a number of annoying interludes making this unplayable front to back without reaching for the skip button. However a total of 20 trax says you won't care once you realize that 18 of them are pure Hip Hop bliss. It doesn't get much better than this. Believe me, all your friends who are into Hip Hop will be burning copies and asking you how you ever found out about this one. It's that good. Cru may never get the recognition they deserve but you and your boys will bond over this album forever. And that's what makes a classic a true classic."

'just another case' of a slept on group

T. Walsh | New Jeru | 04/04/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those of you that are scratching your head wondering who CRU is here's my 4-1-1. Personally i think they sound somewhere between the Lost Boyz and A Tribe Called Quest. They came out in 1997 and their reppin' the Bronx. They came out with a bang with their tracks "Pronto", "Just Another Case", and "Bubblin'". Hot 97 (NYC hiphop station) promoted this group in 'Battle of the Beats' CRU sang the opening theme for it... Dirty 30 came out and this group dissapeared unnoticed and that is very very SAD.Other than this album the ONLY other CRU appearances were on "Relax & Party remix" by Ivory. Violator Volume 1 had "Ohh Wee" by CRU, which was a fun jumpy party track. I peeped a couple MP3 sites for CRU songs and came across "What Cru is number one" and "Odd Couple".. but other than the mentioned songs I've yet to hear from these guys... and its sad to see a good hiphop group vanish because dormant hiphop heads... The rhythm blunt CRU had potential.anyway about Dirty 30, I think there's enough tracks in this CD to have your neighbors complaining about the noise. Practically every track has a nice beat to bump and Yogi and Chadeeo sound nice together over the mic. The 3 members had a great chemistry together and there's alot of shiners throughout the whole CD.....only downside to this whole CD is that some rhymes are very simplistic...but it doesn't really hurt the CD at all...On a side note though... even though they had a lot of playful songs, "Armageddon" seems a bit foreshadowing. The approach in that particular song is also playful, but it's talking about the 'DESTRUCTION OF HIPHOP'. I dunno what they were up to at the time, but check out all that garbage contaminating the radio waves now.... it kinda got me wondering...anyways just peep this CD if you listen to CRU or not. You'll probably be satisfied either way...I'm Out... Mind Power!"

Da dirtyest

b-ballnr9 | Schijndel, The Netherlands | 09/11/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a hot album period.
The only down side to it that it has to many tracks on it i never get past 16 or so.
I would have rather seen them to cut the album in half and release the two halfs as albums on their own.
Then Cru listeners would have had something to look forward to.
But my greatest question is where is CRU? What are they doing?
The only thing i know is that Jogy joined puff daddy's production team. I hope that one day he will rap and produce a solo joint of his own. Or even beter a new CRU album. Peace"