Customer Reviews

All City

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

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

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.

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.

Northern State's first album, the independent release DYING IN STEREO, was the first hip-hop record I ever really loved -- its old-school beats, clever lyrics, sly humor, and intellectual acumen (along with its refreshing lack of sexism and its focus on fun) struck just the right chord with me. So when I found out they'd been picked up by a major label, I awaited their new disc with great excitement.

Now that ALL CITY is here, I can say that its expanded production palette does some great things for the group. Just the stinging guitar licks in "Girl For All Seasons" or the intoxicating buzz behind "Don't Look Down" surpass any of the music on DYING. The arrangements are more interesting, the choruses are catchier, and there's a lot more variety on display -- all good things. Moreover, Northern State's cleverness is still alive, such as the way they open the album with a jump-rope cadence, neatly and cannily making the case for white-girl rap before the first instruments even appear. Hilarious and/or thrilling rhymes abound ("we work out the brainus / write rhymes out the anus / wine dine and champagne us / you just can't contain us!"), and there are a handful of really excellent tracks. My favorites are "Ignite," which starts off the record with an adrenaline jolt of excitement; "Girl For All Seasons," whose body-image exhortations couldn't be more welcome; "Summer Never Ends," with its playful and idyllic evocation of summertime fun; and "Don't Look Down," a fantastic portrait of the giddy terror brought by sudden fame and success. So for the most part, ALL CITY is a triumph, a really fun album that takes Northern State to the next level.

I did feel a little something missing, though. ALL CITY moves noticeably away from the erudite feminism of DYING IN STEREO, with lyrics that tend to be both less intellectual and less personal than those of its predecessor. That's a shame, because those were two of my favorite things about Northern State's debut. DYING routinely references writers like Dorothy Parker and Wendell Berry, but ALL CITY isn't going to turn you onto any new authors. It seems no accident that the most pointed and political track, "Speaking For Me," is muttered, muffled, and whispered, while tracks about drinking Stoli and smoking "government weed" are shouted proudly. In addition, while the first album certainly has its share of rap braggadocio, it was balanced by some almost confessional lyrics from all three members. That's faded away on this album -- the only one who even stays close is Sprout, whose lyrics still sometimes address fear, pain, and dreams, along with the usual swagger.

Don't get me wrong -- ALL CITY is still a fine disc, and I enjoy it a lot, but it left me wondering how much Northern State is willing to change themselves in their bid for hip-hop cred. Between the guest stars, the emotional distance, and the mild dumbing-down, I fear they're moving toward abandoning what made them great in the first place. To fulfill the tremendous promise of that first album, they must truly live the creed of courage they so frequently proclaim, embracing the expanded musical possibilities found here while not sacrificing an iota of their braininess and soulfulness to appease a thuggish and anti-intellectual hip-hop mainstream.

I wrote in my review of their first album that Northern State had the same energy and enthusiasm as the Beastie Boys did with Licensed to Ill. Unfortunately, while the Beasties took a giant step forward with Paul's Boutique, the girls decided to maintain the status quo by putting out virtually the same album with a better producer. The songs now sound derivative and tiresome while the final track is downright annoying. I look forward to their next album, but I hope they actually decide to do something with their opportunity.

What is wrong with these reviewers? I think EL-P was right when he said you people can't get your style out of 94 and your pointing to someone else like their not Hip-Hop. These (young, I might add) girls are having super fun...remember...it was something hip-hop was into back in the 80's before N.W.A. started posing with rented guns (Check your history!!), and before Slick Rick (a European MC) borrowed a bunch of gold chains from DEF JAM to pose with them in his video. I'm sick of crate digger purists just dieing to give the "R.Kelly pee treatment" to any hip-hop act that doesn't acknowledge the 95 east coast hardcore movement. Please get over it and loosen up for god's sake...sheesh!!! Now, as far as Norther State go:

Yeah, I laughed and almost returned "Dying in Stereo" when I first heard it, but then something happened: I pulled my thumb from my rear, loosened up some, and smiled along. Northern State owe their sound as much to Electro-clash as they do to Hip-Hop (whoo...fusion...whoo...so risque: whatever). Check out Fannypack, Le Tigre, Chicks on Speed, Peaches, Princess Superstar...I mean: WAKE UP PEOPLE. Just because some chicks want to rap about shopping at the mall and being Eurocentric does not mean they are prancing around in "black-face". Can we please lighten up? Forget about emcee battles...I have been a battlecat for like five years now locally. I love Mobb Deep and all that scarey paranoid stuff that EL-P does, but these days even saying the word HIP HOP is so fake and played out...Hip-Hop began as an alternative to gang activity, and it was the crack trade that turned the emcee into merely a rapper (AKA marketing label). Let me just make one more statment that's guaranteed to piss someone off:

That gangster image portrayed by Tupac, N.W.A., etc. is an act...a movie...Dr Dre will tell you: they are great story tellers, but every story they told was not based on the guns your neighbors bought after they heard those songs. People think B-Real is a fake gangster, but that fool had massive rounds of ammo in his trunk while we all sang along with smoke tainted smirks on our face.

I will never understand why no one cares that today's TV rappers are dancing around with bloody diamonds all over their neck: those diamonds are mined in Africa and people are ENSLAVED and die every day there for no reason except to supply these idiots like 50 Cent with a neck full of fake pride.

You think Dead Prez represent black pride right? Then tell me why they are on a white owned label?

In short: Northern State are not ego maniacs who want to be the best battle rappers of all time. They are three hot young ladies who feel good, and love to have fun. They are far more sincere than any of these MADE posers on BET/MTV/VH1...I mean seriously: do you people think that Kanye West or Talib Kweli really have any objectives left except to feed their families with two bit endorsements. I suggest we all lighten up here before this glam Hip-Hop on TV ruins everything (it might even be too late already: thanks alot!).

...and don't call me a hater: I actually like Trina.

on their first e.p., "dying in stereo", the girls of northern state (hesta prynne, spero and dj sprout) showed themselves as a socially conscious, female beastie boys.

that was not only the obvious comparison, it completely dead-on accurate.

with "all state", the girls have brought the album that the world at large needs to hear right NOW. a politically and world-aware female hip-hop trio (or, in their own words, a "trinity")with beats that impress and lyrics that stand out head and shoulders over nearly anything in hip-hop right now.

there's not a single track on here weighed down by the girls' intense minds (read as: this is the record the beasties wish "to the 5 burroughs" had been), but rather uplifted through their obvious desire to create a catalyst of social change.

and the beats. ooooh jesus. produced at times by muggs and ?uestlove, but still mostly manufactured by the girls themselves, the beats on "all city" run harsh and deep, providing the perfect backdrop to their lyrical flow.

the only possible misstep is the album's closing number, a cheesy and sugary track with har mar superstar...but, in retrospect, a little bit of fun is what's needed at the end of this social workout.

once again: this album is EXACTLY what the world needs to hear right now.

I was a fan of the old album. Northern State's vibe is fun with good timing and synergy that comes from playing off each other. They work the "old school" angle well yet bring freshness to a stagnating hip-hop genre with their smart, middle class long island female perspective.

Just last night I saw them headlining a show at the Mercury Lounge in nyc and they really sounded amazing. The presence of energy and enjoyment they have from making their music is indeed contagious. Since the show was at a small venue, the band was in the face of the crowd and kept the energy high to the end, as fans of the band might expect.

The tracks I've heard from this album have seemed to have a much cleaner sound than "Dyin' in Stereo". The sounds are poppier, snappier, and some of the electonica/guitar in songs like "Girl for all Seasons" makes the sound novel. However, when I compare their live performance to the professional quality sound found on the album, the album lacks the realness and energy present in their performance. Some of the production takes out the unique sounds of their voices and nudges their sound toward the realm of overproduced shlock like "Ja Rule" or "Brittany Spears".

Additionally, I wasn't impressed by the level of intelligence of the lyrics on this album when compared to "Dyin'...". However, the choruses didn't seem quite as repetitive and mind numbing as before, which was nice. All in all, it seemed like a step or two forward but several steps back. Still, the girls remain a solid alternative to the same old rap about bling, hoes, and guns.

"All City" isn't the MOST BRILLIANT THING EVER, but it's pretty damn fun. Good beats, good bounce, and lyrics that are occasionally snap-worthy but always spunky. The subject matter mostly zeroes in on suburban girls and parties and the such, but it's self-aware and clever in a way that never takes itself too seriously. And the beats are always on point. Best tracks: "Last Night" and "Time to Rhyme."

This is the female version of the beastie boys and don't judge them there really are good and there could flow.