Music to Driveby

Compton's Most Wanted | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 29, 1992)
• Original Release Date: September 29, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000028SB
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,449 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hit the Floor

2. Hood Took Me Under

3. Jack Mode

4. Compton 4 Life

5. 8 Is Enough

6. Duck Sick II

7. Dead Men Tell No Lies

8. N 2 Deep

9. Who's ****ing Who?

10. This Is a Gang

11. Hood Rat

12. Niggaz Strugglin

13. I Gots ta Get Over

14. U's a Bitch

15. Another Victim

16. Def Wish II

17. Music to Driveby

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe the best Gangsta rap album ever..., March 28, 2004

By 

Mike J (Central Coast, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music to Driveby (Audio CD)

Say what you will about the obvious choices of "The Chronic" and "Doggystyle", my choice will always be Music to Driveby. This album exemplifies what not only great Gangsta rap should sound like but what good hip-hop should sound like as well.

First and foremost, Eiht is an emcee, not just a rapper. This performance is the pinacle of his rhyme ability before he became known to the public as "the guy who says geeyah". He battles ("Dead Men Tell No Lies", "Duck Sick II", "Def Wish II", and "Who's ****ing Who?"), he paints big lyrical hood murals ("Hood Took Me Under" & "Jack Mode"), he constantly reps his hood ("Compton 4 Life"), experiments ("N*ggaz Strugglin" & "U's a B*tch"), and destroys with rapid fire delivery ("Hit the Floor"). He may be the only artist to ever hold his own on a track with the great Brad Jordan a.k.a. Scarface ("N 2 Deep").

Production is cutting edge as well and again. After the slightly uninspired Staight Checkn'em album, this album returns to the original formula that made It's a Compton Thang so great - creative use of samples. "Hood Done Took Me Under" is the classic example. Eiht rips the Isaac Hayes sample used by Easy Mo B for Notorious BIG a few years later for "Warning", and a good decade before Ludacris used it again on his "Chicken & Beer" album. To top it all off, the loop was vastly superior to either of these uses or numerous others. Or better yet, check the clever use of scratches and snippets on "Who's ****ing Who?" where Tim Dog's voice is used to scorch himself. The complete bastardization of BDP's classic "South Bronx" was even a bold manuver with, to my surprise, absolutely no response from Krs-ONE. And to wrap it all up, you get the smooth instrumental "Music To Driveby" to round it all out.

Yeah sure, Eiht didn't get the national recognition until We Come Strapped a few years later. But that album, in my opinon, pales in comparison to the overuse of the same production used on Driveby's "Hood Rat" and waaaaaaay to many "Geeyah's". Driveby's way more diverse in both production and lyrics and does not suffer from any overused topics that Eiht would later be forced to employ from the overabundance of other Gangsta rappers and their albums.

If you're even a mild fan of gangsta rap or even hip hop in general, do yourself a favor and pick up this classic.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EHIT FOLLOWS-UP STR8 CHECKIN'EM WITH A W/S GANGSTA CLASSIC, March 7, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (B0$$ $T. (QUEENSBOROGH) $'P0RT L@. (BLXXDZ)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music to Driveby (Audio CD)

i bought this cd late in 1992, and guess what? its still bumps! it came out in the time when tension between Eastcoast and Westcoast supremacy in the hip-hop world could actually be noticed in the artist and their music. if you ever heard track # 10; "WHO'S Xxxxxxx WHO" ; they really TIM DOG up on that one. but the tru prise on this cd is track # 3. " THE HOOD TOOK ME UNDER ". it is simply one of the greatest gangsta cuts ever made, PERIOD! if the source ever had a 100 greatest gangsta cuts list, this song would be # 1 or # 2. DJ MIKE T deserves a grammy for making that song, and it never gets old. other notables on this cd are : tracks # 2 - 17. and track # 18 is also good cause it contains a funky guitar sample which Jermain Dupri sampled for his " DONT HATE ON ME " cut. only a select few knew where he got that from. the bottom line is, if you on this page then you know already, and you know this album was da... so submit that review because this was a W/S & W/C Gangsta Classic.

"Q"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A quintessential, albeit overlooked, album of gangsta rap, July 31, 2009

By 

ctrx ('bout to show you how the EAST COAST rocks...) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Music to Driveby (Audio CD)

1992 was a landmark year in hip hop, especially on the West Coast, where the gangsta rappers from Los Angeles neighborhoods such as Compton and Long Beach were becoming household names. This was the year that Dr. Dre's The Chronic predetermined the direction that West Coast gangsta rap would take for the next decade. And yet, with the g-funk phenomenon moving into full gear, veteran outfit Compton's Most Wanted, some of NWA's earliest disciples, still managed to drop their seminal album that year.

"Music to Driveby," CMW's third outing, featured a lineup consisting of the legendary MC Eiht, DJ Slip, and DJ Mike T. While legions of rappers were starting to jump on the g-funk bandwagon, CMW continued to develop their pioneering gangsta rap sound from 1990's It's a Compton Thang and 1991's Straight Checkn 'Em. I've always felt that CMW and Eiht were an act that was never marketed correctly--for instance, Eiht's best known and arguably best song, 1993's "Streiht Up Menace," never appeared on an album of his own, but rather Menace II Society: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, and while early `90s albums were credited to CMW, the two subsequent efforts were labeled MC Eiht featuring CMW, until he finally became a solo artist. Not only is Eiht a true pioneer, but he's also a survivor of the rap game, with a career now spanning two decades during which he was one of rap's most prolific artists. Be it his early ground-breaking records or latter-day work, his music is always a good indicator of the state of hip hop and life in the West Coast's cities. In any event, Eiht is a vastly underrated rapper in terms of influence, talent, and quality, and a legend who rarely receives due respect.

In '92, West Coast rap was rarely experimental or artistic, but was more often a rugged depiction of ghetto circumstances. "Music to Driveby" finds Eiht doing exactly what made him infamous: providing accurate, unemotional profiles of hood life and people. Eiht was among the first and best to do it, and although he spawned countless imitators, his strictly hardcore style was both shocking and original. But he also established himself as one of L.A.'s premier MCs with his endlessly smooth delivery, signature adlibs and voice, deep and effective storytelling, and brutal battle raps. Perhaps most of all, Eiht portrays the realities of Compton life without glorifying them, lending a particular poignancy to the music.

Still, "Music to Driveby" is hardly a one-man show. DJ Slip and the Unknown DJ engineer the album to musical perfection, employing extensive soul samples to ensure smooth, funky backing for Eiht's rap. The beats are heavy, deep, and rich yet simultaneously gritty, and the music maintains a very cinematic quality due to the frequent use of sound bytes from movies. DJ Mike T contributes his signature scratch and DJ skills as well. It's a heavy, consistent sound that really works and makes the album a lot of fun to listen to.

After a great intro and the short, furious "Hit the Floor" CMW stays serious with one of their most infamous tracks, "Hood Took Me Under," a smooth, slow, and sinister track where Eiht chronicles the development of a gangster and the manner in which dangerous neighborhoods mold young men. Musically this track is also excellent, with great sampling, scratches, and layering. Sound bytes also lend cinematic mood to "Compton 4 Life," a profile of their home. Classic "Duck Sick II" finds a menacing Eiht getting busy over a strong track sampling Audio Two and Billy Cobham. "Dead Men Tell No Lies" is another old school standard, and Scarface guests on the running narrative"N 2 Deep." Slip and Mike T cleverly rip Tim Dog's own voice in the response to his "F Compton," "Who's F'ing Who?"

The album enters its best stretch with "Hoodrat," a tale of the downfall of a woman, which has a rich, orchestrated beat with a phenomenal sax sample that may comprise the best production on the LP. "Nz Strugglin" is structurally similar and equally great, a smooth, soulful winner. A great horn cadence anchors the highlight "I Gots ta Get Over," and Slip's beat on the ruthless diss "U's a B" is phenomenal, a tasteful and silky gem. The nice "Another Victim" precedes one of Eiht's greatest tracks, "Def Wish II," which contains truly terrifying shots toward DJ Quik. The mob movie samples and beat that sounds reminiscent of a horror score make his verses even more terrifying.

"Music to Driveby" is a really enjoyable listen and a hugely influential piece of music. For those who grew up to Eiht's by-the-books solo material, this should really provide a glimpse into the group that was a pioneering force in the foundation of West Coast rap. CMW regrouped periodically in the years that followed, but this is their opus as a group, an extremely overlooked classic, and I highly recommend "Music to Driveby."