First of all, before I get to the
review, the Dungeon Family consists of: OutKast (Andre 3000 & Big Boi); Goodie MOb
(Cee-Lo, T-Mo, Khujo & Big Gipp); Backbone; Freddie Calhoun (aka Cool Breeze); Slimm
Cutta-Calhoun; Killer Mike; C-Bone; Society of Soul (Sleepy Brown, Big Rube, and a couple
of other people); Witchdoctor; Nathaniel; and a couple of lesser known background singers
and emcees.
"Presenting Dungeon Family" (Backbone, Killer Mike) - Starts off annoyingly with
someone banging on a door telling the Dungeon Family that they have 6 minutes (a recurring
theme of this album) till its showtime. Then it goes into a verse from Backbone which is
pretty tight. He pretty much gives the album, as well as the group, a nice introduction.
"Crooked Booty" (Cee-Lo, Andre 3000, Sleepy Brown, Khujo) – First full
track and its blazing. Cee-Lo starts off this track with a little acapella-ish verse over
a shallow piano beat. Then the real beat breaks in and the rest is amazing. The
“Crooked Booty” is basically a dance that they invented for the poor and Andre,
Sleepy, and Big Boi displayed it on BET’s 106 & Park. It’s a really funny
dance consisting of just swaying around side-to-side with your chest, as explained in the
song. Khujo comes pretty tight on this track and nice vocals from Sleepy Brown. Next
single?
"Follow The Light" (Sleepy Brown, Cee-Lo, Big Gipp, Big Boi, Shuga Luv) –
Tight beat and nice, short verses from Cee-Lo, Gipp, and Big Boi. All three emcess flow
amazingly on this track with the double-time style. One of my favorite tracks on the
album.
"Trans DF Express" (Cee-Lo, Andre 3000, Big Boi, Big Gipp, Backbone, Sleepy
Brown, Joi) – Everyone should have heard this by now. It’s their first single
off this album. It’s pretty much inviting everyone to join in the DF Express.
Everyone comes nice on this except Backbone, whose flow and voice is very unattractive to
me. Otherwise a great track.
"On & On & On" (Big Gipp, Big Boi, T-Mo, Witchdoctor, Khujo, Nivea)
– This beat is sick. It’s an ill up-tempo beat for the emcees to flow the hell
out of it. Witchdoctor seems out of place on this track with every other emcees flowing
double-time and just verbally killing it. Amazing track nonetheless. Another one of my
favorites.
"Emergency" (Big Gipp, Mello, Backbone, Ricciano, G-Rocka, Blvd. International)
– Big Gipp starts it off really nicely. He can flow it so many different ways. This
song’s pretty good. Oh, by the way, Mello is the guy from Parental Advisory.
"Forever Pimpin" (Never Slippin’) (Freddie Calhoun, Ricciano, Kirsten
Shelton) – A short one verse track from Freddie Calhoun. Nothing much here to talk
about here.
"6 Minutes" (Dungeon Family It’s On) (Big Boi, Witchdoctor, Big Gipp,
Backbone, Khujo, T-Mo, Cee-Lo, Freddie Calhoun, Big Rube, Debra Killings, Sleepy Brown)
– Wow, just look at the lineup on this track. Big Boi starts it off with an ill
verse. And Cee-Lo ends it with an ill verse. The beats great and the hooks catchy, what
more can you ask for? A verse from Andre maybe? Seems like a possible single.
"White Gutz" (Big Boi, Big Gipp, Bubba Sparxxx, Cee-Lo, Khujo, Ricciano, Sweet
Melodi) – Yes, Timbaland’s new artist Bubba Sparxxx makes an appearance on this
album. And he’s not bad either. This is the only the second time I really heard him
and I’m glad to see that he doesn’t flow like he did in “Ugly” all the
time. He’s got some versatility. Anyways, about the track, it’s tight. I
especially enjoy Big Gipp’s verse and how he ends every line with “..that’s
what they love..”. Nice track.
"Rollin" featuring Society of Soul (Sleepy Brown, Andre 3000, Cee-Lo, Big Rube)
– This is one of those slow, mellow tracks that OutKast are really good at making.
Andre starts it off nicely and Society of Soul keeps the vibe going. But its Big Rube that
takes the cake on this track. And Cee-Lo sings it out at the end.
"They Comin"… (T-Mo, Khujo) – First off, nice hard-hitting beat.
I’m feeling the bass on this. T-Mo and Khujo spit their verses nicely and the
song’s nice.
"Excalibur" (Big Gipp, Big Rube, Khujo, Cee-Lo, the DF Corral) – Now this
is the banger. Everyone comes tight. Gipp has a great verse. Rube rhymes tight again, and
Cee-Lo has another amazing verse. The chorus is the tight and the beat’s great. I
love how they let the beat ride out for like the last minute. Reminds me of
“Liberation”. Great song overall. Best track on the album.
"What Iz Rap?" (Witchdoctor, Big Rube, Ray, Preecha, Ramon) – I’m not
a big fan of Witchdoctor. But Big Rube’s on this and he holds his own again. Not bad.
"Curtains" (DF 2nd Generation) (Chamdon, Blvd. International, Slimm Calhoun,
Killer Mike, C-Bone, Nathaniel, Brother James, Lil’ Will) – This is the track
that basically introduces the lesser-known members of the family, with exception of Slimm
Calhoun. Nice beat but there isn’t really exceptional emcee here.
Nothing much is needed to be said about a crew whose lineup includes OutKast and Goodie
MOb. Quality and creativity is pretty much a given. And I’m not disappointed at all.
I just expected a lot more appearances from one of their best emcees, Andre 3000, who only
appears on three 3 tracks. That’s just blasphemous. And he only raps on one verse,
choosing to sing the other verses. The members of Goodie MOb and Big Boi all come tight on
this album. And Big Rube surprised me on this album. He actually raps his rhymes a couple
of times and does so quite well. But some of the lesser-known cats need to stay that way.
More tracks from the main players would’ve certainly given this album a 5 mic rating.
It’s also nice to see that they stayed away from guest artists (having only one, a
fellow dirty south emcee Bubba Sparxxx). They already have enough members to have made a
30 track album. And with OutKast as their stars, selling records should be no problem. On
the production tip, the beats were great. As we all know, Organized Noise always provide
great beats for these dirty south players and Andre and Big Boi (Earthtone III) are
becoming really good producers, as seen on this album and their previous two albums. In
the end, this was a great album and I hope they make this an annual thing like what Bone
Thugs did with their Mo Thugs Family project. |
