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You Can't Stop The Prophet

Jeru is an emcee's emcee. Impeccable breath control, commanding vocal tone, extensive vocab matched by few, not to mention he drops more knowledge than a MENSA convention. His disjointed flow perfectly complements Primo's minimalist production. It came to no surprise that hip hop heads were buzzing when they heard Dirty Rotten was hooking up with Primo, after a jaw dropping verse over a riot inducing Charles Mingus bassline, on Gangstarr's, "I'm The Man." Fans who dismissed Jeru as a braggart got a rude awakening with "The Sun Rises In The East."

When "Come Clean," dropped in 1993, it literally washed away the fraudulence in rap. It was a badge of honor for hip hop purists to recite every rhyme. AND what about that beat. Water dripping into jugs, hammers banging on pipes, and an Onyx sample were the sole instruments. It was the most bizarre yet greatest sonic perfection I have ever heard. "Come Clean," single-handedly set off a long list of collaborations for Primo's resume. Another incredible track is "D. Original" as Primo strikes an off-key piano chord that unbelievably turned out to be pure musical joy.

The whole album is all killer and no filler. "You Can't Stop The Prophet" is a metaphorical dream where the prophet battles hatred, jealousy, and envy - lead by mr. ignorance in a superhero-esque story. "Da Bitchez," might be mistooken as mysoginyst by new jacks when it is a cautionary song separating gold diggers from the rest of the flock, over an extremely dope horn loop. "Mental Stamina," with Afu-Ra flexes lyrical kung-fu over a wonderful battle-esque atmosphere. "Ain't The Devil Happy," talks about the struggles of the inner-city youth and "Jungle Music," talks about how black heritage scares people through hip hops influence on white America.

"The Sun Rises In The East," is so good that it also turns out to be sad. Now I can take groups like Main Source, Pete and C.L., and EPMD breaking up. But when Jeru split from Primo, due to creative differences, it was a shot to the heart. The prophet took a big step back musically after the split. In a day and age when real lyrics don't seem to matter anymore, you can tell that New York completely lost it's sound and no one held the realness down harder in 94' than ru and primo. The duo released another good record in "Wrath of the Math," but it lacked the sheer brilliance of their debut. It's a shame hip hop of this caliber is too far and too few between. Cop this...you won't regret it!