D-Nice – To Tha Rescue LP

Jive (1991)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I have been after a copy of this on vinyl for quite a few years.  It took a while to find one in as good condition as I needed, while not also being prohibitively expensive.  This copy found that sweet spot and as I am pretty doubtful that To Tha Rescue by D-Nice is very high on any label's reissue list, it was time to grab it.

When I was a much younger man than I am today, I was pretty obsessed with the first D-Nice album, Call Me D-Nice.  In particular the title track was (and still is, if I'm being honest) on of my favorite hip hop tracks.  As 1991 hit, I was really starting to get obsessed with hip hop and was either buying or Columbia House/BMG scamming as many CDs and cassingles as I could get my hands on.  I was really excited that D-Nice had a new album out and I'm pretty sure I got my copy from a BMG six CDs for a penny or something like that.

When I got it, I listened to it a few times, but was kind of disappointed in it.  I think hip hop was just moving so fast at that time that it kind of passed D-Nice by.  I moved on to other things and at some point, sold my CD copy during a purge.  However, many years later I went back and revisited.  With hindsight and not being as concerned about the newest, freshest thing, I was able to appreciate this album a lot more than I did when I first got it.

There are a handful of truly great songs on here.  "25 Ta Life" is excellent, "And There U Have it" has a rugged, aggressive feel to it and "Time To Flow," with an appearance from Treach of Naughty By Nature is probably the album's highlight.  Why there is a second version of "Time to Flow" that doesn't have Treach on it is something of a mystery for an album that only has 12 songs on it.

That said, there are some moments that aren't as great.  "Straight From the Bronx" is excellent for most of song, but there is a wacky keyboard-synth-horn-solo thing at the end that isn't really needed.  "Get In Touch With Me" is the worst of that R&B tinged crossover style that ruined the flow of a lot of records of that era.  And "Check Yourself" has Too Short on it and sounds like a Too Short song.  I don't like Too Short, so I'm not super into D-Nice rapping over beats that sound like that.

At the end, there is more good than bad on this record for sure and it's an album that I really didn't give a chance to when it came out in 1991.  While I still prefer D-Nice's debut, I'm glad to have this one on the shelf next to it.

D-Nice – To Tha Rescue:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lwfFA3Gd_PWhY0G_UFACAJ3vpJ2EIbybo

D-Nice - Call Me D-Nice LP

Jive (1990)

As we go through Wednesday Ed Lover Dance Day each week, there will be some things that start create a pattern and explain where my brain was at in the late 80s and super early 90s.  Boogie Down Productions was probably the first hip hop group that I would have considered my favorite when I started to fall into that world in grammar school.  When D-Nice's debut album came out, I remember him being featured pretty regularly on Yo MTV Raps and it being mentioned that he was part of the BDP crew. 

In addition to playing the video a decent amount, I also remember him appearing on the show live to preform.  I won't say that it is for sure the first live act I saw on the show, but it's the earliest one I can remember.  I definitely got the CD as part of one of my BMG music club scams, but have just recently added the vinyl to my collection.

I think this album holds up really well considering that it's creeping up on thirty years old.  The one-two punch of opener "Crumbs On The Table" and lead single "Call Me D-Nice" still hit pretty hard all of these years later.  While the record doesn't really maintain those sorts of highs throughout, I think it's a much better album as a whole than it's probably given credit for.  "A Few Dollars More" combines a slick bass line with forceful lyrics.  "It's All About Me" is built off of a repeating 60s sounding sample, that mixes with bouncing bass and solid scratching in the breaks.  Closing track "And You Don't Stop" loops some 70s funk sounds that provide a base for D-Nice to throw out some 90s shout outs and lay down some quick rhymes on his way out the door.

The whole record is strong.  There was a period of decades where this wasn't an album I really listened to at all, but relistening to it with fresh ears for the last year or so made me realize that not having it on vinyl was a pretty glaring hole in my collection.

D-Nice - "Call me D-Nice":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbWnRyPzce4

D-Nice - "Crumbs On the Table":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP0-e0seNII