This begins surprisingly well. 'Bad Dreams' is a reflective track about missed opportunities, bad decisions-particularly around drugs-and the harsh realities that follow, all backed by a smooth boom bap beat. The title track, ‘Derranged,’ has a dope, catchy hook that'll get you moving. I’m not sure why it’s spelled with a double “r” though. Maybe part of the derangement is the poor spelling?
‘Money Makes the World’ topically delivers exactly what the title suggests, and pairs a simple but memorable hook with solid production. ‘Throw Em Up’ keeps the boom bap energy high with a hard-hitting hook, though at six minutes, it overstays its welcome.
From there, ‘Puffin’ on a Blunt’ sees a slight dip in quality, though it retains many of the strengths from earlier tracks. ‘Rock Bottom’ brings a darker tone (one of the emcees even sounds a bit like Kool Keith), but the guest features don’t all land. Then comes a more noticeable drop in both song quality and technical aspects like mixing and mastering. Poorly executed keys on the oddly titled, 'Ya Boy and Them Anthem', also give it a more amateurish feel.
‘Me and My Niggaz’ offers a welcome bounce back with some jazz-rap elements. I’m sure it samples something familiar, possibly a track used in some bigger hits, but I can’t quite place it. After that, the album closes with radio edits of the opening tracks and a remix of ‘Derranged’ that strips the beat back to something more minimal. The original hits harder, but this version still works.
Overall, for a rare album by a rapper who, as far as I can tell, never released anything else, this is an unexpectedly strong and mostly consistent project. It stumbles toward the end, but the highs (especially in the first half), make this a forgotten gem worth digging up.
Beats: ★★★☆
Rapping/Bars: ★★★
Hooks: ★★★☆
Best Tracks: Bad Dreams, Derranged, Money Makes the World, Derranged (Mental Remix)
1 Bad Dreams 80
2 Derranged 84
3 Money Makes The World 80
4 Throw Em Up 74
5 Puffin' on a Blunt 70
6 Rock Bottom 66
7 Ya Boy and Them Anthem 54
8 Me and My Niggaz 70
9 Bad Dreams (Radio)
10 Derranged (Radio)
11 Derranged (Mental Remix) 80
