32 thoughts on “The curse of nineties gimmick rap”

  1. Pretty spot-on, though I do have a soft-spot for Fu-Schnickens. The first album isn’t half bad, and the second one has some great beats (they even got Diamond D to throw a few their way) although the gimmicky-schtick gets pretty insufferable at numerous points. “La Schmoove” is still a classic anyway.

    And there’s some serious poetic justice in that Flatlinerz atrocity going wood. After blackballing Prince Paul, Russel decided to not-so-coincidentally unleash his own “horrorcore” crew at the height of Gravediggaz’s shine, only to see his pet project, which nepotistically included his nephew, crash and burn. The Gravediggaz conceptually and artistically were so miles above the Flatlinerz, you almost feel bad for the latter. Still a shame the ‘Diggaz got tagged with that “horrorcore” nonsense, because they were so much more clever and deep than that. The only people I ever see defend Flatlinerz to this day are Juggalos and suburban white kids who need some sorta over-the-top violence and dumb horror cliches to enjoy any kind of rap records.

  2. Actually, the absolute worst group to manifest during the slew of Onyx/Das shout-rap rip-offs were The Cutthroats, who released this turd on the Menace II Society soundtrack and even roped in Guru to drop a verse somehow. It unintentionally comes across as a Spinal-Tap-level parody of bad mid-90’s hip-hop cliches, complete with a cringe-inducing Tweety-Bird reference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CUGFBrWzcI

  3. @Paul H: You’ve got the Gravediggaz/Flatlinerz scenario the wrong way round. Gravediggaz was Prince Paul’s revenge for Def jam spiking Dew Doo Man Records/Resident Alien. Also I gather the link between Russell and Flatlinerz wasn’t all buddy-buddy/family like between him and Run. Not saying Flatlinerz were great or even slept on but that Gravediggaz was the sabotage/spite project in this case.

  4. @Robbie: As I tweeted, I feel it’s rather harsh and unfair to lump Fu Schnickens (Chip, Moc and Poc Fu) in with those no-hit-wonder gimmic acts. The latter two rappers were nothing to write home about but Chip Fu was amazing. I feel Fu Schnickens were let down by utterly generic and forgettable beats; especially on the second album. Also, the whole Buggs Bunny sample clearance thing didn’t help. I characterise Fu Schnickens more as a Novelty than Gimmick group.

  5. @Dino – I’m very aware that Gravediggaz was Paul’s revenge for all the industry nonsense, I thought that’s what I said (which is why I mentioned Russell blackballing Paul). One of the dude’s in the Flatlinerz was Russ’s nephew though, so there was definitely some nepotism going on.

  6. @Dino – I also didn’t mean to imply that Russ was trying to sabotage the Gravediggaz with Flatlinerz, merely that him unleashing his own “horrorcore” group at the height of Gravediggaz hype was more than a little suspect. Paul even mentions this in the Check The Technique chapter on the album.

  8. Hoodratz “Sneeke Muthafukaz” was a real poor man Oxyx.

  9. It’s funny how people complain about rappers all sounding the same now but in reality thats always existed to some extent. The Onyx and Das EFX wannabes was basically the equivalent to all the Future copy cats today.

  10. @Paul H: Agreed. The only good part of that story is that they were never allowed into a recording studio ever again.

    @Dino: I’m still sore that I spent money on money on their album, so at this point it’s more of a persobsl vendetta than an unbiased view of things.

    @Andy Kimber: The ‘Murdered Ova Nuttin’ remix had a great beat, at least.

  11. The daughters oh h.w.a. have reformed the group same slurry look same shifty raps

  12. @King Timeo: Are the still called HWA? Is Baby Girl’s daughter named Baby Baby Girl? So many questions.

  13. @Robbie: Chip-Fu is still in the studio making music, u can catch his updates on Instagram, his title says he’s 1/3 of the platinum plus group. I remember Nas brought him back to life on the “Where Are They Now?” 90’s remix

  14. Mad Flava was another one of those gimmicky white groups riding off the House of Pain bandwagon. The 90s was a very “gimmick” sensitive era. I remember Mad Flava’s ad in the source acknowledging this with the slogan “The gimmick is, there is no gimmick”. The album wasn’t bad.

  15. Lords of Brooklyn’s albums were not great but they could rap before they changed their style to a Beastie Boys/Dropkick Murphy’s hybrid look for their video ‘Bomb The System’. And Fu Shnickens were great Chip Fu still has it.

  16. A couple more pro-Fu comments and the fellas will be ready to start a Kickstarter campaign…

  18. @Robbie: (re Fu Shnicks doing a kickstarter comeback) Chip FU’s been threatening a solo album (“M.A.T.H.”) for years, if not decades. Can’t help but feel that if he really had it in him, he would have done so a decade or so ago. Bit like NY Oil/Kool Kim. The Flatlinerz were supposedly making a comeback but the stuff I ordered off their bandcamp never turned up so I call “swindle.”

  19. @Dino: What possessed you to order something from The Flatlinerz Bandcamp page, if you don’t mind me asking?

  20. @Robbie: I like “it’s so bad it’s funny” gimmicky rap and it gets no more gimmicky than Flatlinerz (well I guess Fannypack are the most gimmicky rap group ever but still…). It was supposed to be a remastered “Under Satan’s Authority” with bonus tracks. Got a refund off paypal so no harm done (unlike Bob Perry/Ghostface who still owe me for “12 reasons to die” preordered via bandcamp).

  21. Listening back to old radio shows and mixtapes the Fuschnickens got a LOT of play in the mid 90s. I think with them it’s more a case of their stuff but having aged well. Alot of artists had a gimmick of some sort back then whereas now 90% of rappers wouldn’t dare do anything to stand out from the crowd.

  23. More than one track of Chip-Fu in a row is basically like having tinnitus.
    Unless I’m mistaken, I think the Lordz of Brooklyn had an office upstairs from the Ego Trip office in NY. I’m sure Mao mentioned they were up there. I’m not sure where this anecdote is going.

  24. There was that DJ Shadow diss towards Lordz Of Brooklyn too on the original full-length “Entropy” (part D, I believe) where he mocks an early interview they gave. I think it was before they had actually released anything too.

  25. Lordz Of Brooklyn had the one joint featuring The Ramm Ell Zee that was dope. Really, he was the highlight.

  27. @Oneam: Not so much a “best of,” more a case of “the first half dozen vids that came up on the #tube:”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWDcLZ8rxsc
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWDcLZ8rxsc
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWDcLZ8rxsc
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFinilzQm5Y
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFinilzQm5Y
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBip4ZU0zPA
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCKUjKiMC4Q
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBip4ZU0zPA

    Chip Fu/Schnickens haven’t really put out enough material to qualify for a Best of/greatest hits (although a Greatest Hits CD was released).

  32. Okay, terrible article. I would STILL rather listen to all of those groups (yes even Quo!) than the bullshit garbage mumble rap coming out today. So that renders this completely invalid.

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