Craig G is a 51-year-old MC from Queens, New York who started out as a member of the Juice Crewcollective. His debut full length The king Produced by Marley Marl & the sophomore effort Now, this is more like it released in the late 80s/early 90s via Atlantic Records and returned over a decade later with This is Now!!! as if it never left. Marley Marl continued to produce Function: Take Back Hip Hopwhich resulted in Craig signing to Soulspazm Records for his last two albums Ramblings of an Angry Old Man and I Rap & Go Home. 8 years later, he returns for his 7th full length LP.
After the introduction of “Few Words from tha Teacha”, the first song “The Okey Doke” combines rap rock and boom bam telling everyone to account for what they fell for, while the sample-based “Dumb Down” with B-speak Real for this era we are entering. “America's Dumbest Criminals” live tells the story of a pair of criminals who are later arrested that night, just before the chipmunk soul title track discusses the current state of the world.
“Fortitude” flips an instrument that represents hard work, and after Chuck D's hiatus, “Gossip Sites” berates everyone who posts on the Internet for attention. “Expand Ya Mind” featuring Chubb Rock begins just that over a boom bap instrumental while “Reconsidered” tells a sad story for 3 minutes. The freeway-driven “Smartest 1 in the Room” takes us back underground to inspire and legitimize the community, while “Wise Words” ends by telling everyone to follow their own path.
Craig has always been a little underrated when it comes to members of the Juice Crew and while I don't think it's one of the best albums he's ever made, I enjoyed the half hour listening experience. The production is mostly based on the traditional east coast sound and Craig observes the downsides of our world today.
Rating: 7/10
