American Hunger

MF Grimm | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 27, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Day By Day
• ASIN: B000GB7182
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,382 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such a giant pill to swallow, yet so healthy for your soul.., December 7, 2006

By 

Pablo - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Hunger (Audio CD)

If you aren't skeptical going into this album, then you maybe a little too optimistic. I'll state why as easily as I possibly can; would you even expect your favorite emcee to be able to pull off an album with three discs, which each consist of twenty tracks, and run about an hour long per album? I know that I couldn't even trust my all-time favorite emcees to deliver on such an ambitious effort, and would expect a large amount of filler among the dope tracks. Although I'm a large fan of Grimm, I can't say that he's my favorite emcee of all time, or even today, and I was more than suspecting a disc worth of filler. I KNOW Grimm is one of the illest in the business, past and present, but three discs? Most emcees can't even release two discs without including a number of lackluster cuts. It's remarkable that Grimm can blaze through sixty tracks, and continue captivating along the ride.

With that being said, this release is phenomenally crafted, and legendary for its concept alone; if double-discs album littered with filler like All Eyez on Me and Life After Death are classic albums, what does that make a virtually flawless triple-disc album like MF Grimm's American Hunger? While Grimm may not have the commercial backing of another emcee who was shot nearly a dozen times, or the cult-like support that his former partner-in-rhyme possesses, he is one of the dopest emcees you're going to find in any part of the hip-hop game, and his work-ethic even puts the most prolific emcees' quantity of material to shame. However, despite this album consisting of sixty tracks, quantity isn't the essential idea behind it; quality is.

Giving a thorough review of a work of art this massive would be nearly impossible to do, especially with the word-limit Amazon has set, and I doubt anyone has the time, or even the patience to do a run-down on each of these tracks; and believe me, every track found within this album deserves the same amount of attention as the next. While there may not be any track you immediately jump to on any of the three discs(with the exception of the infamous album closer, "The Book of Daniel"), it WILL keep you along, and entertained, for the entire ride. With sophisticated production, tight lyrics, and a range of emotion displayed by few other emcees, MF Grimm creates an album that is almost like a 'thank you' to his loyal supporters. In fact, scratch that, not almost - this IS a thank you note to his fans, and fans will be ever the more gratious based on this release.

Whether Grimm is spitting street-tales, introspective, and heartwrenching tales, or just dropping general knowledge, American Hunger succeeds in all fields, and then some. It may've received little publicity, even within the blogger realm, but if any release of the last decade deserves undisputed critical acclaim, it's this release. Hip-hop heads will find great solace in Grimm's rhymes and flows, and the fresh beats laced throughout the album. Those who aren't familiar with Grimm, this is recommended to introdce you to the man; it's his best, and most personal work to date, and yes, that includes all three discs. Fans of DOOM, like myself, don't worry about the beef; it's a shame, definitely, but as long as these two ill emcees continue releasing the music we've come to adore, no internal conflicts can change your view. Buy this album, and not only support hip-hop and Grimm, but also the ambition, and unbelievable amount of sweat and tears that went into this release; no matter how many dope releases have come out in this fine year for hip-hop, MF Grimm's stands out as the most ambitious, and complete work.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Original MF is Hot to Death (Def), August 6, 2006

By 

Mark Congrin (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Hunger (Audio CD)

Three CDs, 60 songs, and no filler. Amazingly, MF Grimm's gigantic triple album (the first in hip hop history) is full of solid material. I'm a fan of Grimm, but to be honest, I was skeptical when I heard about this album. Hip hop records these days generally feature two or three stand out tracks and the rest is junk. But American Hunger did not fall victim to this horrible trend. My hat is off to MF Grimm and his Day By Day fam.

Like always, Grimm's lyrics are on point and tackle just about every topic under the sun and are delivered with a lot of emotion and a variety of flows, or as the name indicates, with Many Flows (MF). Another review mentioned the two songs featuring Nate Denver. For those who don't know, Nate Denver is journalist. I've seen his stuff in Vibe, Mass Appeal (Ghostface and MF Doom piece) and Scratch. The two songs he's on are decidedly different, but they're hot. They remind me of Gnarls Barkley and N.E.R.D. Variety is what helps hip hop grow, so hats off again to Grimm for pushing limits.

This album is a definite must buy. Never fear the Reaper's here.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Has it's ups and downs, but remains solid throughout, January 21, 2009

By 

T. Neves (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Hunger (Audio CD)

American Hunger is a good quality album with a lot of really good tracks if not any one classic. Obviously with three discs there are some songs that are better than others, and although I didn't find myself skipping over the same tracks time after time there are a few songs with repetitive choruses that made me wonder whether MF was really trying emphasize something or if he was trying to fill up some space on this massive project. Content wise I would say there is a lot to be taken away from this album with some thought provoking material as well as a great diversity. From comical to political and even a clever and rather complete synopsis of the Godfather from the perspective of Michael Corleone to 'Fredo, Grimm lives up to his moniker, "Many Flows". The production has bright spots but is below average on many tracks. I don't fault MF too much for that because if you are going to buy this album it will likely be for the lyrics, which as stated were solid. The only other fault I can see in this album is that the delivery of MF is very deliberate and simple, which he even comments on in some of the songs on the album. Apparently he has done this purposely to make all of his thoughts accessible to the listener, which I don't mind, but some hip-hop heads will probably find it a little awkward sounding. Having bought this album without hearing a single track and only having heard a few things from Grimm before this I was impressed enough to go back and purchase more of his material. Despite the fact that there may be a bit of filler on here, you are still getting more than two albums worth of quality tracks and I still think it is a good value. As a fan of KRS-one and many other "conscious" rappers I appreciate MF coming with a message, even if I don't always agree with it. If you are considering this purchase I recommend you pick it up. I doubt that you will be disappointed.