You know those times when groups are greater than the sum of their parts? Here are some examples of rappers and producers who, despite their talents, were less effective on their own.
CL Smooth without Pete Rock
Corey has always been technically strong but without Peter it was hard to care about what he was saying.
GURU without DJ Premier
Keithy EE and Premo had an unbeatable chemistry. The Jazzmatazz albums were a good idea on paper but hardly thrilling to listen to.
Jeru The Damaja without DJ Premier
The Sun Rises In The East was a pretty great album, and the follow-up wasn’t half bad either. Good luck naming a single thing Jeru did once he and Chris Martin stopped hanging out.
Group Home without DJ Premier
To be fair, Melachi The Nutcracker never wanted to be a rapper anyway.
De La Soul without Prince Paul
Serious De La Soul complaining about pop rap is about as fun as filing six years worth of tax returns in one afternoon.
Public Enemy without The Bomb Squad
Apocalypse ’91 had it’s moments but the previous two albums were tough acts to follow. Since then? Too many damn geetars.
Erick Sermon without Parish Smith
PMD clearly kept Erick on the straight and narrow, while the E Double kept Parrish from taking himself too seriously. Once they stopped making dollars together, they both reverted to old habits and became awfully predictable.
MC Shan without Marley Marl
I present the jury with Exhibit A: the Play It Again, Shan LP.
Capone-N-Noreaga without Tragedy
CNN cranked out a few good songs post Khadafi, but nothing that matched the brilliance of The War Report.
The Pharcyde without J-Swift
J-Swift claims that Pete Rock was inspired to mess with the Fender Rhodes after hearing Bizarre Ride… All I can confirm is that J’s beats were the only thing that made that squeaky-voiced quartet bearable.
Grand Puba without Sadat X and Lord Jamar
Not to take anything away from Mr. Maxwell, who did his thing with Masters of Ceremony previously, but once he jumped ship to get down with the Uptown sound the law of diminishing returns set in. Reel To Reel had some bright spots but there would never be another ‘Step To The Rear.’ Ironically, the lack of Puba pushed Sadat and Jamar to up their game with the the brilliant In God We Trust album.
Anyone I’ve missed?
well pointed Rob, but i’d say more Brand Nubian without Grand Puba
Boss Money Gangsters without Lord Tariq
Prodigy, Big Twins without Sid Roams
Def Squad without Keith Murray (been awhile we aint seen nuttin altogether)
The Firm without Cormega (inorically)
Imam Thug without 25 to Life Records
Ruck without Sean Price
Propain Campaign without Future (not the famous one), Mizzo, and a few buch of them who disappearedd
Tito Brigante without Propian Campaign/Agallah
D-flow without Party Arty (Ghetto Dwellas 4LIFE)
DITC without Big L (how could we ever forget)
Gravediggaz without the Rza & Prince Paul (but that’s another story)
213 without Nate Dogg
NWA without Dr Dre, Ice Cube & Eazy E (original posse members, however them all turned dope individually)
… and a whole lotta ov mofockaz
peace Rob
D
jeru the damaga is an awesome mc, too bad preemo walked away from it. those 2 albums are classic imo.
erick sermon with out parrish, it didnt go to bad for E. he put out some good stuff on his own, including the first solo album, and the redman ish.
group home was nice, but they really didnt have that spark for a long lasting group anyways.
grand puba , been a fan since masters of ceremony, and hoped to hear more of them as a creww. yea bran nubian was dope as hell, took the native shit to a whole new level. solo efforts before BN was hot, after BN mehhh.
cnn has always been a crew of rappers that cant get together a full entertaining album. nore got some great singles, khadafi and capone got some bangers too, but to get 12 hot ones on 1 album has been difficult for them. I picked up khadafis first album Tintelligent hoodlumY loving his sound, but he only had 2 bangers.
lets see flavor unit with out mark the 45 and Chill rob g, what happenned?
ATCQ , qtip solo = so so songs.
cool g rap had some lacking albums, some thing in his circle changed
rakim, something in his circle changed
busta breaking free from LOTNS was a good look from him, but i wanted another album from the group.
Main Source, what a refreshing change at the time. I was an instant fan, but with Large P rapping solo, not so much. That album was so clean sounding, so crisp.
The Coup without E-Roc
99.9%
“Good luck naming a single thing Jeru did once he and Chris Martin stopped hanging out.”
99.9% was the decent song from the 3rd album, but the hook to “bitches with dicks” is hard for me to forget. Not in a good way. I believe he also took some liberties in the spelling of the song title.
Larry-O without K Def
Big Boi solo joints minus Andre 3000
But there is still SHOWBIZ & A.G.!!!
99%, War, Friends…
Reel To Reel is classic front to back!!!
@ Caesar, Larry O without Kdef thats a true fact, that rapper aint no mo so unfortunately, the holmes was phat in dem 90s… equally Kdef without a Larry O doesnt sound as great with any other mcs
You had me until the de la soul comment…
Guru without Primo co-sign on that. And don’t me started with the weak shit he did with Solar!
Raekwon without RZA or RZA’s sound.
Cube left NWA.
When Rza left Gravediggaz
Lords Of The Underground without Marley Marl and K-Def.
No Limit without beats by the pound
Naughty by Nature without Kay Gee
The Roots without Malik B
Snoop without Dre and visa versa
Any wu tang member without Rza Production
Ran Reed without Nick Wiz
Thats rubbish about Erick Sermon, he released a great solo album in Double or Nothing and was a large part of Dare Iz A Darkside, Muddy Waters, Most Beautifullest Thing, Enigma, very big albums in the early/mid 90’s
I can see what you mean about all of these except Puba. That’s just wrong Both of the first two solo albums by Puba are solid. Albums I go back and listen to, to this day. Reel To Reel is in my all time top 3 most listened to. The singles off Reel To Reel were even BETTER than Step To The Rear.
@Lpac: It’s just Sermon’s rapping that fell off, not his beats.
@Soul Survivor: Reel To Reel was good but I felt like he went through the motions instead of trying to step up his game once he didn’t have that competitve group environment.
There seems to be a growing train of thought that Brand Nubian came off better out of the split with Puba, but despite liking ‘In God We Trust’ and ‘Everything is Everything’ I don’t really agree. Sure, ‘Reel 2 Reel’ is a bit spotty, but its highs (‘Check Tha Resume’, ‘Honey Don’t Front’) are tremendous showcases for Maxwell’s cheeky chap charisma and caddish, cocksure flow. Also, in the years immediately following the split, Puba was always dynamite on collabos, be it the new Mary J Blige joint or a Lord Finesse / Pete & CL posse cut.
Main Source without Large Pro
I have to disagree on some points here, Robbie:
– The “American Me” LP by CL Smooth sounded really good. Might not have Pete’s golden touch but the beats were still nice.
– Stakes Is High and The Grind Date are classic albums
– Reel To Reel is a great album, almost to the level of One For All
Agreed on much of the rest even though I am not so mad at post-Bomb Squad Public Enemy, especially their latest joints. Ah, and saying that Wrath Of The Math “isn’t half bad” is a crime. I like it better than his first!
Phife without Q-Tip
@ceedub I agree that Wrath of the Math is a more enjoyable listen that Sun Rises in the East.
unpopular rap opinion: Del after Ice Cube & DJ Pooh
Pretty on point the only two I disagree with are CNN and Brand Nubian without Puba. I think Stakes is High is dope but there music def went in a different direction without Paul.
Good list. The first couple are obvious ones. I still think de la have had moments of brilliance without prince Paul, it’s just different. … and stakes is high is a classic.
I’d add third bass to the list (but Robbie may not agree).
De La made dope music with AND without Prince Paul. Paul might have brought the humor but times change and people change and by ’96, De La had some things to get off their chest. E Double fared better on his own than Pee did for two reasons: One, his production and two, Def Squad was always nearby. Puba was the glue that held One For All together but him leaving gave Sadat X and Lord Jamar the chance to step up, especially Sadat, who went on to become an undergroung legend on the strength of his cameos.
Can’t agree with the comment about The Roots without Malik B, The Roots are probably the greatest band going, in any genre, they’re constantly moving foward with their sound and ambition (I know this is a definite minus in the arrested development world of CRC).Yes there is some times things that don’t work on their albums, but that’s the artistic mentality for you, rather that than the safe option. Any band that regularly features Dice Raw is more than OK by me. R.I.P. Richard Nichols.
Smif N Wessun without Beatminerz.
Tim Dog without Ced Gee & TR Love.
Cypress Hill without Muggs.
Grand Puba, De la Soul made some great music w/o Brand Nu and Prince Paul respectively. Puba always has some joints on his solo LP’s and De La Soul’s The Grind date and AOI are dope albums.
The first 3 jazmatazz albums are also great in my opinion.
Snoop without Dr. Dre.
oh, and 3rd Bass without Sam Sever. And the subsequent solo work by Serch and Pete Nice. Although Pete Nice won with superior beats on Dust to Dust.
Jaz-O without Jay Z
Rakim without Eric B (In the 80s I thought Eric B was the weak link, but after 3 solo albums it seems that Rakim can’t get it together without Eric)
Rampage the Last Boyscout without Busta.
MC Ren without NWA
Lil Cease and Lil Kim without Biggie
The Outlaws without Tupac
D-12 without Eminem
Big Juss and Mr. Len without El-P
Can Ox without El-P
Arsonists without Q Unique and DStroy
Gortex and Sabac without I’ll Bill
M.I.C, Grimm, Kurious without Doom
MC Eiht without CMW posse
Jeru’s first two lps were dope but everything since forgettable or plain without Primo.
To a certain extent and although good on occasions Kool Keith without Ultra and with rubbish producers ruined a lot of his recent stuff.
Special Ed and Chubb Rock without Howie Tee .
Kurious …. Really? his solo album was a classic at the time To me.
Also Surprised at people writing off solo large professor. .. to me he seemed to be the driving talent in the group. Solo stuff was strong (shame about album delays etc). I thought his semi-recent Main Source album was tight (but a weird choice in album title)
….to me Grand puba solo and the regrouped brand nubian still both held their own.
pharcyde without all four members (lab cabin is still a good album to me).
Atcq with consequence in the mix (messed up the good chemistry)
What did doom have to do with kurious? (besides K appearing on 1 track from operation doomsday)
Who produced CM? I always thought it was the beatnuts (tho happy to be proven wrong) so wouldn’t it make more sense to say kurious without the nuts, not doom?
Also I thought kurious’ verse on ‘?’ Wasn’t nearly as good as tracks like ‘uptown shit’ or ‘mansion & a yacht’. I’d rather hear kurious over beatnuts tracks than doom beats.
Also… Gotta agree with those saying rakim ain’t the same since Eric b bounced but (and I can’t see this earning me any new friends here) what about G rap minus polo?
Have a good one
I’m talking post CM. CM is in my top 10 albums of all times.
Whatever the fuck album Kurious dropped a few years ago digitally was dog shit. I’m a huge Kurious fan, and after hearing him lace anything he did with Doom the direction he took on his second LP was fuckin horrible