Poverty's Paradise 1995 Album

Naughty By Nature

This is another great project from Naughty By Nature as far as I'm concerned. Not that it means a lot these days but this one won them the first Grammy for best rap album. They were the masters at making rap anthems that maintained a street sound while also appealing to the pop audience, and although not done a lot, they could also make songs with a message. 'Clap Yo Hands'-which uses a sample that they already used on 'Rhyme'll Shine On' on their Naughty debut-, 'Craziest' and 'Feel Me Flow' are some of Naughty's best anthems, being strong chorus based tracks. 'Sunshine' is a good sexual themed tune which follows the pattern of 'Written on a Kitten' from their previous album and works well. All of the rappers flow like a river over the 'Hang Out and Hustle' beat. Minnesota did an excellent job at making 'City of Ci-Lo' feel like you're on a gritty city street corner. 'Connections' is the one real aggressive banger on the album, like Wild Muthaf---as is on 'Icons', however 'Klickow-Klickow' isn't far behind and also goes hard. There is a lot of heat here with many sounds present as well, even though it's handled largely by one producer, Kay Gee, who remains incredibly underrated. The only tracks I lack to feel much on this disc are towards the end of the album. 'Slang Bang', has a weak hook, however Treach and Vinnie trade bars well over the verses, and 'Shout Out', has lyrics that are often just left to the liner notes of an album. While it features decent enough production, we probably didn't need a seven-minute shoutout track. For me, they hit it out of the park with their first three Naughty albums. I probably revisit this one the most though. Beats: ★★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★★☆ Best Tracks: Clap Yo Hands, It's Workin', Feel Me Flow, Craziest