Lōc'ed After Dark 1989 Album

Tone Lōc

This is a record which seems rather quaint when hearing it back years later, but believe it or not, for the time it was fairly forward-thinking and mainstream all at once. Tone's gregarious personality played a big part in shooting this record to the top of the charts in 1989. But the real power behind the throne was the production team of Dike, Ross, and the Dust Brothers, who also either produced or contributed heavily to a number of other highly successful records around the same time. The chart hits ("Wild Thing", "Funky Cold Medina") are the most cohesive tracks, but there's plenty of good times to go around, if you don't make this out to be a high-brow experience ("Don't Get Close", "Cheeba Cheeba").

Being an '80s hip hop album this sounds a lot like I'd expect it to and that isn't a great thing. The production features fairly minimalist drums with some sampling thrown in as the melody on many of the tracks. Tone is okay, but the rapping including some of the lyrics are a far cry from the best of them. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: On Fire (Remix), Cutting Rhythms, Next Episode, Cheeba Cheeba, Lōc'in on the Shaw