Album of the Week:Mc Gruff- Destined to Be

First of all let me say, I LOVE HARLEM. I've never been and I only know two people from there but I LOVE HARLEM. Many may be asking why? Well, the right answer would be that it's historic, come to think of it...the only black renaissance known to man took place in Harlem. However, my real answer is that other than Brooklyn the best N.Y. rappers come from Harlem (let's not argue about this, its just my opinion). This mecca of black creativity brings us to the album of the week, Mc Gruff- Destined to Be.

As well all know in and around 1997,98 Harlem was poppin'. Big L was killing the streets, Ma$e was killing the clubs, and Cam'ron was emerging commercially as a viable candidate for King of N.Y. In the midst of all this we still have the lovable cast of characters from D.I.T.C. and let's not forget the other member of C.O.C. (Children of th Corn) McGruff. R.I.P. Bloodshed. 1998 McGruff hits the streets with "Destined to Be".

At the time, the title couldn't have been better put. Lets be honest, Big L, Cam'ron, Ma$e, and McGruff all sound alike as far as flow and most of the time subject matter too. From a fans perspective McGruff wasn't the best but he was the best mixture of all the Harlem MC's of that time. He was gutta but wasn't as abstract as Cam'ron. He was braggadocios like Ma$e but obviously harder. And one can argue that McGruffs flow is just as controlled and fluid as Big L's.

Now... to the album. The beats on this one are so old school. Where a lot of the mre commercial cats were experimenting with crazy sounds (Jay Z), McGruff kept it simple. A lot of samples of breaks from older rap records, plain drums, can't really go wrong with that. I'm not gonna front though McGruff falls victim to that trend twice on this album, but they're not that bad. But there are alot of hood classics on this joint and I felt it should be recognized. Enjoy.

1. Gruff Express
2. Harlem Kidz Get Biz
3. This Is How We Do
4. Many Know
5. Exquisite/ The Spot (Interlude)
6. What Part Of The Game (Featuring Panama Pi)
7. Who Holds His Own
8. What Cha Doin' To Me
9. Destined To Be
10. Freestyle
11. Dangerzone (Featuring Big L & Mase)
12. What You Want
13. Before We Start
14. Reppin' Uptown/ The Signing (Interlude) (Featuring Lox)
15. Stop It
16. Before We Start [Remix Version]