Customer Reviews

Disrupt

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is superior. Beats are fresh and original sounding. I really haven't heard an album that has this same sound. It breaks new ground. Oh No also rips the album to shreds on the mic. Easily one of the top best hip hop albums I have bought this year.

This one caught me by surprise! I heard it was Madlib's brother, and since I pretty much worship Madlib, I went out and picked this one up.
First of all, Oh No's lyrics are nothing special. He's better than Madlib on the mic, but let's face it.... everyone and his mother is better than Madlib. He's not bad; he's just average. But he's very charismatic.
That being said, this album is, of course, all about the beats. Madlib comes on strong as always, with that disjointed feel that makes me such a big fan of his. Listen to Right Now. The scratching is crazy. Oh No is a fine producer as well; his beats just don't have the "weed smoking" feeling that Madlib's do.

Rhymes: 3.5/5
Beats: 5/5
Overall: 8.5/10
An album worthy of your collection. Go out and buy it. Long live Hip Hop!

Lyricly Oh No is more street than anybody else on Stones Throw, I'm not going to go into a lot of details on this album, the other reviewers pretty much said what needs to be said, but I will say this album has fantastic beats, #14 (I forgot the name of the track) is so ill it makes it worth picking this up alone, it still baffles me how Kankick is still such an overlooked producer in the scheme of things. Also Medaphoar's album is REAL dope, I'd recommend picking both albums up, if you like quality hip hop that you'll still enjoy years from now check this sh-t, otherwise keep buying Paul Wall, and Lil Jon CD's that you'll laugh at in a few years.

Madlib's little brother was trained well. "The Disrupt" sounds like a cleaned up Lootpack album. Where Madlib's beats sound really old and scratchy, Oh No's beats don't have that old "blunted" feeling. He can rhyme as well. He opens it with a great song Right Now, which also contains some nice cuts on the 1's & 2's. The guests are nice but they don't outshine Oh No. On The Ride we get to here Med and he sounds as good as ever, a good set up for his solo album soon to come. Even though I said that Oh No does do production his brother laced him with some tight beats as well that are a little atypical for Madlib but still sick. For a debut this is a very solid album, typical west coast Stones Throw hip-hop at its best. Look for Oh No to join his brother in the ranks of classic artists in the future.

Oh No first came to my attention with his collaboration with Wildchild on his album, Secondary Protocol. Brother of Otis Jackson Jr. (Madlib) and son of a soul singer father and songwriter mother, Oh No (Michael Jackson) proves that the diverse and eclectic background that runs in his family with such a wonderful debut album. Oh No comes out with some serious upbeat songs while enlisting in assistance from fellow Stones Throw artists (Wildchild, Medaphoar and Dudley Perkins) on several songs.

The jazz-infused beats and flows are a clear testament to the music and soul that runs through his family. Oh No is not just a producer but an awesome DJ and MC. While his lyrics are not a bizarre as his brother Madlib (aka Quasimoto), they are still just as positive and meaningful while still retaining a playful and sometimes funny feel. One example is the dialogue prior to "The Ride" where Oh No discusses old 8-bit videogames, the graphics and how people used to have to blow in old NES cartridges to make them work sometimes. That dialogue right there just made me laugh. And just like his brother Madlib, Oh No experiments with a wide variety of samples from videogame sound effects to the standard jazz cuts without losing a beat or the interest of the listener. In another song, Oh No even utilizes classical music (Mussorgskii's Night on Bald Mountain) in his song "Seventeen" about youth and gun violence without sounding out of place.

The tracks featuring Wildchild and Medaphoar are clearly the strongest ones ("Stomp That V. 2", "WTF", "The Ride") but others like "I Can't Help Myself" featuring Stacy Epps prove that Oh No can mix things up a bit , slow things down while still being strong and sultry all at once. And of course, Oh No can take some time to steer away from business and just be plain silly with songs like "Take Another (Blunted Conversation)" or lyrics like "Pop like Justin, Justin/ Janet just popped out again." Awesome!

There are several tracks where Madlib offers some production but it is mostly Oh No here and he shines without losing a beat or stopping to catch a breath. All this goes to show that Oh No is just as talented as his brother Madlib and proving he is just as eclectic and spontaneous with consistent songs, fast rhymes and strong positive messages. By the end of the album, you are left feeling content and ready to play the album again. All you can wonder now is what this producer/DJ/MC will work on next.

"The Disrupt" from Oh No is not a bad album. It's just not a great album. I bought the CD knowing the Madlib association and I hate to say I'm a little disappointed. Oh No's vocal delivery is pretty tight, but he doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the table as far as lyrical content or flow. His delivery is well above average, but there's nothing that really "grabs" the listener.
I was also expecting much more "experimental" beats, for lack of a better word, more along the lines of the Madlib/Stones Throw vibe. The beats here, and again I'm sad to say it, are typically generic without much variety. Many seem to be stuck on an endless loop with a few sound clips/voices/general "rap gangster" stuff thrown in for good measure. Highlights include "WTF," "Take Another," and if you're into the rapper-meets-r&b chick check out, "I Can't Help Myself."
Overall it's not that I regret buying this album. There is enough on it to whet the palette of the average hip-hop fanatic, but not enough to keep 'em coming back for more. Being accustomed to listening to the likes Quas, MF Doom, Peanut Butter Wolf, etc, this one falls a little short. If you're on the fence, do yourself a favor and make sure you really want this before you click on that little "add to cart" button over there on your right.

Oh No drops a gem on us with this album. This is one of the best produced albums of all time in my opinion. Every single beat is a banger, and Oh No has flow too! Every track is tight, I cannot stress that enough, you can just push play and let it run. If you're a fan of Madlib or J Dilla you will probably really appreciate this. If you're tired of the same old stuff you hear on the radio day after day you need pick this up!

The good people at Stones Throw have brought us yet another solid hip hop album that will undoubtedly fly under the mainstream radar. Oh No's "The Disrupt" is the type of album that you love to have in your earphones, with simple but respectable rhymes and an allstar lineup of beats hot enough to make your eardrums drool.

For starters, you're going to love the production. Oh No appears to be following in his older brother Madlib's obscure-yet-delightfully-funky direction, choosing beats that make your head bob and your brain swell in confusion at the same time. For example, his use of the orginal Shinobi theme song from Sega on "The Ride" may come of as irritating at first but once you warm up to it you'll come to appreciate the genius. There is no denying that Madlib's kid brother can hold his own on the mixing board; with tracks like the sexy "I Can't Help Myself" and the loped-out funky groove on "Perceptions", you will concede that hot production runs in the family.

That being said, I'm a bigger fan of the contribution from Madlib and J Dilla, which says a lot because I'm really feeling Oh No's beats. Both cats are still in my good books from their dumbfoundingly brilliant album "Champion Sound", which despite being a year old is still heavy in my CD rotation. JD only brings one track to the table, but man is it good - using a sample straight out of the tombs of Transylvania and a high-hat drum line that breaks your neck the beat might be the best on there (oh and have you heard Verbal Claps off of De La? Ooowee). Madlib holds his own with a fistful of beats, shining on tracks like "Right Now" and "Stomp That". One of his tunes, "My Aggin", is a little too obscure for my liking, as it starts off sounding like that screeching sound you get after 15 seconds of a song downloaded off Kazaa, but other than that Madlib is still one of my heros (and after peeping "Shopping Bags" off of the new De La I'm not mad at him anymore).

Oh No's skills on the mic are pretty basic. As an MC he's infinitely better than Madlib but pretty much anybody is better than Madlib. Let's just say that like the Jaylib album, his rhymes aren't anything to write home about, but once you focus on the beats all your woes about the rhyming go away in a neck-breaking cold sweat. Think of it inversely to an early Mobb Deep album: while the Queensbridge beats are redundant and boring, the rhyming is so hot that you don't even have a problem with it... in fact the rhyming is so good that sub-average beats seem almost appropriate.

As a devoted fan to independent MCs and labels I strongly urge you to go out and cop this. Perhaps he's no Common Sense but that's not to say that his rhymes are completely unlistenable. When you have a lineup of beats like you have on this album, Regis and Kelly could be spitting on the mic and you'd still think it was hot to death.

OhNo the disruptor is the 8th album by OHNO (me thinks its MF DOOM in disguise - the music is so spicy and herbed) and to date it is at least his finest, most thought provocative masterpiece to date! He has gathered his big brother Midlab and some friends called Med, JayDill and the c3pee crew, and smoked some trees in a lab somewhere to produce this cocophany of urban hymns using only the finest beats that the madvillainous crew can concoct with there metal masks on. I will give this one 9 thumbs up because one of the songs is about smoking weed!