Search - Lords of the Underground :: Here Come the Lords

What happened to Good rap like this?

Jonathan Clark | Laurel, MS USA | 03/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Everything that comes out now is WACK. No more Tribe, no more Lords...this album would blow ANYTHING on the radio now out of the water. The lyrics are tight, the beats are BANGIN. This is 100% Grade-A HEAD BOBBIN MUSIC people, if you are a recovering ...-hop listener and would like to begin to educate yourself in the school of TRUE, TIME-TESTED hiphop, buy this cd. You will NOT be sorry."

Blasting and funky Hip Hop classic

moche | BROOKLYN, NEW YORK United States | 12/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This record is full of energy and passion. The flows of Doitall and Mr. Funky are fluid and tight, inspired by some ragamuffin influences (a little bit like Das Efx, but with much less gimmicks). The production by Marley Marl is a real treat. The horns and the beats are sequenced in a very rhythmic and inspired way. It sounds as funky and blasting now as it did in 1993. Some of the tracks here like Funky Child, Madd Skillz, Chief Rocka or Sleep for dinner are instant head nodders and you probably have already heard them somewhere before. The whole album however deserves listening and quality control is maintained on most of the tracks. You can feel the love and passion these guys have for Hip Hop throughout the record and it is in my view an essential purchase."

4.5-Pure Charged Bass-Heavy Old-School Funk

Jesse Smith | 10/17/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In the past year or so I've been on an early 90s kick and somewhere in my searches I came across Lords of the Underground. I put on some sound clips. What hit me immediately was that it sounded so...pure. It was taking it's hyper pounding funk sound as far as it could go, pulling no punches. I put the album in my cart and got exactly what I paid for.



Lords of the Underground are a group from Jersey consisting of Mr. Funke, DoItAll, and DJ Lord Jazz, with production from Marley Marl and K-Def. This came out in '93, but the vibe is very old-school. DoItAll and Mr. Funke come from a school of rhyme that predates other '93 releases, when MCs weren't so lyrical and didn't take themselves very seriously. The rapping has a humorous tone throughout, but the Lords don't focus on content. What's important is their charged delivery, loud and fast, with yelled chants instead of hooks. It's enough to get any crowd hype.



But the truth is, Marley Marl and K-Def added at least as much as the Lords to this disc. They provide banger after banger, steady coming with the heavy-hitting bass and blaring horns. I've never heard so much crazy energy fused into tracks as on this album. They have an old-school sound but with a kind of chaotic quality, as opposed to the overly-simplistic beats from the 80s. Song after song will get your head banging right from and start and keep it going till the fade-out.



There's no wack tracks on here, but some are better than others. The more conceptual songs, which are missed from a lot of other rappers' albums, are actually the weakest ones on here because they're not what the Lords do best. The beats bang a little less and lyrics come to the forefront, but Funke and DoItAll aren't really accomplished lyricists so these slow down the album. "Lords Prayer" and "Sleep For Dinner" serve to show off the Lords' sense of humor, but "Grave Digga" and "Psycho" are less impressive.



But for the most part, this album is very solid and could be considered classic. That is, if you like to nod your head. The truth is, Lords of the Underground sometimes feel like a one-trick pony, but the trick is so damn good you won't even care. Plus the old-school vibe gives it a feel of 100% pure hip-hop, removed from the politics, watering down of sounds, beefing, etc. that were starting the plague the growing rap industry at the time. Definitely a worthy part of any Golden Age hip-hop collection."