Rating:
Genre:
Rap
Release Date: 05/04/1999
Curtis "Mantronik" Khaleel was often quoted as saying that his mission was to "take
rap a step beyond the streets," and the innovative producer/mixmaster accomplished that goal on
Mantronix's debut album,
Mantronix: The Album. This excellent 1985 LP was way ahead of its time; while the rapping of
Mantronix's partner
MC Tee is pure mid-'80s New York
hip-hop, the production is anything but conventional. On gems like
"Needle to the Groove," "Bassline," and the hit
"Fresh Is the Word," you can hear the parallels between
Tee's rhyming and the East Coast b-boy rhymes that
Run-D.M.C.,
LL Cool J, and
the Fat Boys were providing in 1985. But the album's high-tech, futuristic production sets it apart from other New York
hip-hop of the mid-'80s, and even though one of the LP's tracks is titled
"Hardcore Hip-Hop," Mantronix had a hard time appealing to
hip-hop's hardcore.
Mantronix: The Album actually fared better in
dance music,
electro-funk, and
club circles than it did among hardcore b-boys. But this is definitely a
hip-hop record, and it is also
Mantronix's most essential release.
~Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
Cart 0 items
Listen
