HeRBaN LyRiX: Da BRaT`s "FuNKDaFieD"...

Friday, July 26, 2013

Da BRaT`s "FuNKDaFieD"...

Re~uPP`d, originally posted on 02.11.2012...

What`s goin` on y`all? Hope that your Friday`s gon` be good to you! Today I`m going to share with y`all an album that I`ve been listening to all morning since I decided to pull it out of my CD collection & take it back to 1994. The album is titled "Funkdafied" which is Da Brat`s debut album (she`s also the first solo female emcee to go platinum). I still remember bein` a young buck buyin` the cassette from the Music World store at the Billings Bridge mall back when it first dropped. Let`s just say that it got plenty of play in my Sony Walkman...

Now for whatever reason if you don`t happen to know who Da Brat is I will drop a lil` run~down so you get a lil` more familiar. Although you`d think she was reppin` Cali` Da Brat, born Shawntae Harris is actually from Chicago, Illinois. Story goes that she linked up with Jermaine Dupri & his So So Def record label back in 1992 after she had won a local Rap contest that was sponsored by Yo! MTV Raps. The prize was a chance to meet Kris Kross (who at the time were blowin` up with their hit single "Jump"), they in turn introduced her to J.D. who was so impressed by her talent that he signed her to his label. During an interview for the newspaper the Atlanta Journal - Constitution she told the reporter she received her rappin` moniker "Da Brat" because she`s, "a spoiled only child"...

Seein` how Snoop Dogg was blowin` up at the time in the West Coast, J.D. decided to mold Da Brat`s image as 'the female Snoop'. So when he cooked up the beats for her debut it`s no surprise that they are all heavily G-Funk influenced. Don`t get it twisted though, Da Brat is not a Snoop Dogg clone rappin` over some wannabe~Dre beats. Da B-R-A-T comes original & can flow like the winds in the city of Chi, while Jermaine Dupri provides her with some great Funky backdrops to drop her lyrical tornadoes. Production~wise if J.D. has ever cooked up anything DoPeR than these 9 tracks here, I just simply haven`t heard it yet!!!

"Da Shit Ya Can`t Fuc Wit`" has Da Brat flexin` her murderous lyrical skillz. "Fa All Y`all" features Kandi of Xscape fame & it reminds me of somethin` you`d hear at a block party with it`s bouncin` beat gettin` folks up dancin`. "Fire It Up" is a nice smokey~vibed ode to blazin` up some Buddah (it works trust me, smoke a joint to this one). "Funkdafied", which was a #1 Rap Single, is just well that, funkdafied....LoL, what`s not to like about this? "May Da Funk Be Wit` Cha" continues the funky vibe with some DoPe Cali~esque synthesizer work & features Xscape`s LaTocha Scott...

"Ain`t No Thang" features Y-Tee of Da Bush Babees, here Da Brat shows the doubters that she can`t spit with the best of `em. "Come & Get Some" has Da Brat teamin` up with Mac Daddy of Kriss Kross. "Mind Blowin`" has a good & funky beat packed with some G`d up synths (there`s even some organ in there). Da Brat closes things off nicely with the J.D. collabo` "Give It 2 You". It`s got probably one of the best beats on the entire album. So there ya have it, although it`s a tad bit short in length Da Brat`s debut is a banger so go on & check it out for ya`self & fire it up...