Livin' Proof

the take

I need to address the elephant in the room. Online, I've been seeing people saying Melachi the Nutcracker and Lil' Dap (together known as Group Home) are terrible rappers. To be quite fair, though, when you compare them to other rappers from that time and era, it makes sense to believe that. (However, it's safe to say that they're better than the majority of gimmicky rappers today.) I, for one, think that they aren't terrible at all. They're not the best, but they do good enough to help create the musical soundscape that DJ Premier laid down for them. Really, I think it's both their flow and vocal inflections for their verses is what make me tolerate them more than others would because they still pull off a great debut album. Granted, it wouldn't have been possible without DJ Premier. Outside of his work with Guru as Gang Starr, this is the second best album Preemo produced around this time (#1 is Jeru the Damaja's "The Sun Rises in the East" released a year prior). The beats on here are really grimy and dusty that helps the listener understand the environment they were in at the time. Other than "Serious Rap Shit", which is cool but pales in comparison to the rest, the album's sound is really consistent with what DJ Premier was trying to aim for. Honestly, I still enjoy this album a bit more than everyone else. The production definitely carried the duo, but at least Group Home didn't ruin each beat handed to them.