After a strong debut on his own label, Rappin’ 4-Tay’s second record only increased the profile of the strongest rapper in the second wave of Bay Area hip-hop. 4-Tay sounded equally smooth and confident on laid-back party jams (the rolling “Playaz Club,” one of his best tracks, and “Dank Season”), but really raised it up a notch with his tougher gangsta material (“I’ll Be Around,” “Keep One in the Chamba”). Franky J’s productions contributed a lot as well, syrupy and flowing like most of the West Coast G-funk tracks, but much more dynamic than the usual. Guest rhymers included JT the Bigga Figga, Fly, and Sef the Gaffla, with beats coming from RBL Posse’s Black C and J-Mack, among others. On his future material, Rappin’ 4-Tay would return to the same types of tracks he did here, but he never did better than “Playaz Club” and “I’ll Be Around.” – John Bush
more »