#14 — Ultramagnetic MC’s — Critical Beatdown (1988)
New York, NY — Next Plateau Entertainment
Back to New York once again, we are now greeted by the Ultramagnetic MC’s, a group I must admit I had never heard of before. The only somewhat familiar face in there is Kool Keith (the bloke in red, to the right), which I haved jammed on occasion here and there, but still in no way to a point where I would say I’m proper acquainted with. Apart from him the group is also composed of Moe Love, TR Love, both of whom I’ve never heard of, and Ced-Gee, who I don’t know as well but seems to have contributed quite significantly to the production on Boogie Down Productions’ Criminal Minded, which means this is actually the second time we cross paths with him. Wikipedia says he was one of the most important producers of the time when it came to trendsetting and innovation, and that this album, produced mostly with the famous E-mu SP-1200 sampler, presents some pretty mind-bending sample work in the line of the already mentioned Bomb Squad.
Whenever one is done gaping at the colossal levels of drip presented in the cover photo, the “play” button may be pressed and one will be greeted by the fast, high-energy beat of Watch Me Now, of a lineage that is at this point more than familiar to us. The sampling, I gotta say, is what I’d define as tasteful — not borderline excessive or extravagant and not too empty, with just the right amount and frequency of little chops and riffs (mostly sampled out of James Brown songs — there’s still a ways to go before ol’ Jimbo is no longer sampled in like 9 ouf of each 10 rap songs released) that all go really well together. Drum beat is nothing too impressive pattern-wise, but the tones are all very nice and impactful — seems like this Ced-Gee fella does know his way around a studio!
That, however, is not the only thing he’s good at. Now might be the time for me to go into a little tangent about my review method: after researching the basics of what I’m about to review, I first do a cursory listen to the album while doing something else, just to get a general feel, then I move on to a more careful jam following along to the lyrics, during which I note down whatever catches my attention and eventual insights I might think of; finally, I work my notes into the body of text. In this case, my first and second times jamming this gave me notably distinct impressions. The first time around I was moderately impressed with the production alright, but the MCs’ performances did come off a bit lackluster to me (I can’t really get the lyrics properly if I’m not following along so I usually don’t bother). Following along with the lyrics and paying closer attention, however, revealed a much more sophisticate experience.
See, one thing Kool Keith would become famous for is his ability with the wordplay, to mess around with homophones and rhymes of the most distinct qualities without losing track of the complementary layer of differently signifiers and meaning (or the other way around, depending on who you ask). Both his and Ced’s rhyme schemes are complex but subtle, laid-back almost, not as in-your-face, which I believe is at the same time hidden and brought to evidence by the hyped-up delivery and choppy, almost staccato-like flow — which at first seemed to me stiff and dull, but upon closer inspection revealed an intricate exploration of the more subtle rhythmic possibilities. For an example, we can take a look at some excerpts from K’s first verse in the opener: “On the mic, innovating this pat-ter-en/ You fell off, your brain is on Sa-tur-en/ Take steps, and climb my ladder-and […] Pace the rhythm, and clock the time/ That I leave, come back on beat […] Different, telling and selling/ Like a Skyjet, plane propelling/ But dwelling, deep in your skull/ My rhyme shines, and yours is dull/ Like dirt, it hurt to be wacker/ But instead, I’ll grab a big stack of/ Wack MC’s, lay em down like tile/ Scrap and garbage, germs I’ll pile/ To keep clean, I’m in a movie scene/ Ears turn, and needles lean”.
It’s not too thematically different from most stuff we’ve seen so far, sure — remember, bragging about your prowess is pretty much the most common and constant theme in all of rap — but the way that he does it is what’s different. You don’t need to be a poetry scholar to notice the considerable increase in the usage of tropes like metaphors, metonyms, similes and such — one of contemporary hip-hop’s main elements and one of its latent characteristics since the very beginning, which nevertheless saw such an increase in frequency only at later times. That’s what wordplay in hip-hop essencially consists of: toying with both the sound, the semantics and the signifying processes on their specific niche of language, and both Keith and Ced-Gee display some relatively impressive handling over it, with their writing taking almost surrealistic turns of language and narrative here and there.
And speaking of surrealism, another thing that stands out a bit is how their lyrics seem to assume a quasi stream of consciousness-like flux every now and then, linking a slew of ideas and punchlines together in a loose manner and allowing his metaphors to develop into further images almost by their own will — and, more often than not, they are frankly strange and nonsensical: “But mines dangle, where’s your Kangol?/ It seems weird, your head is triangle/ Like a mango, somethin’ I snack on/ A soft duck, somethin’ I smack on”. Most tracks on this record are rapped by both of them in tandem, in that classic one-verse-each manner, with the other members performing casual interjections here and there.
The beats in general are refined but not excessively complex, creating a nice space where the rhymes can comfortably nestle themselves in, and they also have this sort of old-schooly feel to them — I don’t know, I just can’t help but think of early-80s acts such as Grandmaster Flash when I hear them — as well as this slightly jungle/breakbeat (as in the electronic music genres) flavoring to the manner with which the producer approaches some sections here and there. As already exhaustively established, writing and rhyming stand out for their slight wackiness but also their technical intricacy and subtleness, almost foreshadowing some later records from different artists that we’re eventually gonna see, that expanded upon these concepts manyfold. All in all a very nice album that I’m sure glad I got to discover.
Favourite tracks:
Ego Trippin’ (MC’s Ultra Remix)— Cool beat, somewhat simpler and more down to earth, but what shines the most here are Keith’s not so subtle jabs at Run-D.M.C’s “nursery rhymes” style, and Ced-Gee’s impressively abstract and evocative writing: “Usin’ frequencies and data, I am approximate/ Leaving revolutions turning, emerging chemistry/ With the precise implications, achieved, adversely/ Explorating, demonstrating, ruling, dominating/ Igniting causing friction with nuclear alarms/ Separates competing biters from me, the scientist/ As I execute lyricists known as predators/ When by strippin’ high potents and makin’ penicillins/ I will surely sort out, and stomp, every pest/ Of the rampaging paramedic, potent is my title/ To inform other worlds of such, a hellacaust”.
Kool Keith Housing Things — Hahaha kick drum goes BRRRRRR! Crazy beat, and K’s writing on this one takes an especially stream-of-consciousness-like form, like he’s almost rambling to himself at times, as well as especially disrespectful, throwing little jabs at the likes of Rakim and Slick Rick.
Ain’t It Good To You — This is the album’s designated flex track: the tempo is set noticeably faster, and Keith and Ced take the opportunity to simply lay down a series of frantic, intricate, sometimes almost unnecessarily speedy flows and cadences, as well as some more intriguing lyrics with references to pseudo-scientific and mystic concepts.
Ced-Gee (Delta Force One) —Spacey, mind-bending, strangely peaceful, almost haunting beat on C’s solo track and album closer immediately make it stand out and greatly enrich the just as fascinating sci-fi-esque gloaty bars.
Least favourite track:
Funky (Remix) — Cool beat and nothing too wrong with the lyrics, but both Ced and Keith sound like they’re hungover, and the flows come off pretty lackluster and uninspired.
