Naam Brigade: Early in the Game

NAAM Brigade comes highly recommended. They’ve been lauded by industry heavyweights like Funkmaster Flex and DJ Kay Slay, praised by fellow Philly artists like Eve and Freeway, and logged enough hours hustling that you could argue all the hype is for good reason. In 1998, the group was signed to Elektra Records but was then known as Task Force. NAAM Brigade has since changed its face. When member Q-Don was shot and killed at a Philadelphia nightclub, the group stopped production on its first album. After losing many members to jail sentences, they began recording a mixed tape that sold 20,000 copies on the streets in their hometown.

That kind of history has resulted in a shockingly big pair of shoes for a previously unknown group to fill when suddenly stepping into the national spotlight. Increasing the pressure on the group is the fact that the names in NAAM won’t ring bells, unless you’re a consistent buyer of East Coast mix-tapes that is. Otherwise Rambo, Meek Millz, Sonni Blak and Eyse da SupaStar surely won’t ring any bells.

The title track of the CD, and highlight of the album, is a song with a catchy hook and even catchier rhymes. Jay-Z’s protégé, Freeway, appears as a guest but ends up controlling the track and creating a quality hit, though Meek ends up stealing some of his shine spittin’ lines like:

“Sixteen bars, the minimum; niggaz see me start tremblin
Head shots, I’m sendin ’em; serve niggaz like Wimbeldon
I’m thugged out, you feminine, I talk more shit than Eminem
Blaze baretta bullets, I like beats from Timbaland
Niggaz see me say thats him again, he all about them benjamins
Tried to change my ways, but God know I’m gon’ sin again
Smokin drinkin gin again; bad bitches, got ten of them
Cop two trucks got ten in them; cop coke off Dominicans”

Diddy’s “Bad Boy for Life” is pretty much recycled, or should we say re-interpreted on “Gangsta” and Sharli McQueen makes a less than welcome guest appearance on “Can’t Let It Go”. With a pretty standard sound, it is far from one what I have come to expect from sister. Let’s not mention her undeniably horrible rendition of the Crusaders’ “Street Life” at the end. I mean, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.

If you can look past the generic beats, it would not be out of the question to say these guys have potential, potential they have yet to achieve, though. And apparently a law was passed by the US Senate that makes it illegal to do a song about asses without our favorite, “Back Your Ass Up” rapper Juvenile, who graciously adds his thoughts about backsides on “What You Doin’ Wit Dat”. As such, it can only be said that Early in the Game has the one decent title cut, but the best I can say about it is that it could be played at a party without many complaints.

Now this is where the album breaks down. Even though the rappers of the NAAM Brigade could be said to be relatively clever, comparable to and even perhaps slightly better than their contemporaries, their topic matter is the same ol’, same ol’. But with song titles such as “Fo Sheezy”, “Gangsta” and “Thugs”, we kind of knew what to expect without opening the CD — thugged-out street rap. NAAM Brigade certainly delivers, but this is not always a good thing in today’s music industry. Everyone and their brothers are trying to “make it big in the rap game”, flooding the rap market with far too many mediocre albums.

And to make matters worse, the overall production for the disc is pretty freakin’ generic, if not “Casio pre-set” sounding. Now granted, the majority of fodder mucking up the airwaves these days could lead one to say the same thing, but when your name is anything but (insert your favorite platinum selling artist’s name here) that ain’t gonna cut it. Maybe their budget could have been a little better divided between guest spots and producers, though it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

There is definitely nothing wrong with NAAM Brigade — the MCs flow and rhyme well, and they have a good deal of character and energy, but some very average beats and hooks hold them back from making a memorable album. My advice to NAAM Brigade: get the Neptunes to produce your next album. My advice to you: save your money and download the “Early in the Game” single.