All City

Northern State | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 17, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0002MHEPU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #321,384 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

They're preppy, white, university-educated, and from the 'burbs--Mobb Deep, meet your worst nightmare. Desperately trying to stave off the novelty-act accusations from naysayers who might question their cheap Beastie Girls shtick, Hesta Prynn, Spero, and Sprout flow like Valley Girls Gone Wild on the mic--except they're from New York. "Ignite" kicks off the set and is a good harbinger of feminist things to come: "on one track you're dropping hos, like dropping dropping bombs, next track you're writing odes unto your moms." Oh yes, Northern State has spunk. On "Girl for All Seasons" they tackle body-image issues, and on "Don't Look Down," they spit close-to-home lines like "I'm getting out of this city any way I can, I’ll be a soccer mom in a minivan." Boasting production credits from fine knob-twiddlers like the Roots' Questlove, Muggs, and Pete Rock, Northern State is clearly no joke, although their half-baked metaphors and whiny flows don't always do the beats justice. Still, Northern State reminds us that in many ways hip-hop itself has grown up and left the 'hood for the 'burbs. --Dalton Higgins

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No real growth, October 12, 2004

By 

Anthony Rupert "shut up, Shut Up, SHUT UP!!!" (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All City (Audio CD)

Tired of hearing from these reviewers who are looking at face value only and want to read a review from someone who actually listened to the album? Well, here you go.

I listened to Northern State's independent EP, Dying In Stereo, and it's okay. It's not classic material, but it isn't garbage either. I didn't think a lot of people were paying attention to them, but they soon got picked up by Columbia Records, who issued their major label debut (not to mention their first full-length album), All City. I didn't even know this album existed, but I saw it in the store and I picked it up.

The thing is, there really isn't much difference from this album and their last. The ladies started cursing more, but not much else has changed. I know people say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," but things have gotten a little worse on here. Northern State's rhymes have always gone for that "classic" appeal (circa 1986, give or take a year), but here it's obvious that there's a difference between your rhymes sounding classic and your rhymes sounding, well, old.

Well-produced songs like "Style I Bring" and especially "Siren Song" are ruined by sluggish delivery. And the Pete Rock-produced "Time to Rhyme" has a tolerable chorus, but some of the verses are just strange: "I am a rapper, a certified MC/And if you don't believe me, run a test on my pee." There are also some wack similes here and there, like on "Summer Never Ends": "We gotta take it higher than my bangs from eighth grade." Oh, come ON.

Truthfully, the best songs on here are the first three: "Ignite", "Girl For All Seasons" and "Nice With It". "Think Twice" is alright too, but I'm not so sure about that production. Is All City an instant classic? Far from it, but it's not a horrible album either. But if you weren't interested in their first album, then you should just keep on moving. Of course, it's still a problem when your EP is better than your full-length album. Really only buy this if you have their first album.

Anthony Rupert

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth my two cents, August 30, 2004

By 

M. Crimmins (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All City (Audio CD)

I expected to be disappointed by All City after reading other Amazon reviews of the new Northern State Album. Is this album a classic like Illmatic or Funcrusher Plus? No, but I think the trio could be on their way to making an underground classic. Comparing All City with their first album, Dying In Stereo, you can see their rhyme skills improving (which is a lot more than you can say about a lot of the rappers you hear on the radio today) with improved rhyme vocabulary and improved style of delivery. A guest appearance from High And Mighty doesn't hurt either. Also improved is their beats, which sounded a little rough on the first album this album is produced by Cypress Hill's Dj Muggs, ?uestlove from the Roots and old school legend Pete Rock. Like the first album it's still about having fun with mix of old school hip hop and social conscious. Yeah, at times they may sound like Beastie Boys from License To Ill but their second album proves they aren't just a one time thing flash in the pan. And at times their lyrics sound like a stage show that is because they can actually rock a show.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice With It, August 23, 2004

By 

SoulBoyJon "music/literature connoisseur" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All City (Audio CD)

About two and a half years back, I saw bell hooks speak on the importance of bringing feminism to the masses through, among other things, hip-hop music. I think Ms. hooks vision is actualized with artists like Northern State.

That said, you haven't heard Northern State until you've heard All City. The first album showed the women setting out with collegiate rhymes, less complex beats, and literary references aplenty. Now our heroes have seen much more of the world (while promoting the first record), and it's reflected both in lyrical content and the numerous guest producers/musicians they work with on the album. A lot of the playful charm from the first record is still intact, but they've got much more to say this time around and they've greatly improved their lyrical execution and rhyme styles.

There's no way anybody can compare their style to the Beastie Boys on this record. Better comparisons could be found in the vocal interplay of Us Girls (Lisa Lee!) or Salt-N-Pepa, the feminism of Apani B-Fly Emcee, Lady Mecca, or (the greatest MC that ever lived) Bahamadia, and pushing social and musical boundaries like Jane Doe or Mystic.

The record moves hip-hop forward by addressing the social/political importance of women's issues and the hypocrisy of sexism both within and outside the hip-hop community (a community that's mostly on point with racial issues, but severely lacking in a lot of other areas). For that alone, it's a monumental record...but it's so much more fun than just that. This is a great album, and if you aren't feeling it by track three ("Nice With It"), that'll get you started. "Don't Look Down" is my track of the day.