Lords of the Underground - Here Come the Lords

This Newark, N.J. trio recalls the busy style of Das EFX, especially on "Check It" and "Funky Child." Master producer Marley Marl tempers underground rawness with rich beats, hot horn breaks, and chocking bass lines. --Jeff Bateman Amazon.com

4.5-Pure Charged Bass-Heavy Old-School Funk

In the past year or so I've been on an early 90s kick and somewhere in my searches I came across Lords of the Underground. I put on some sound clips. What hit me immediately was that it sounded so...pure. It was taking it's hyper pounding funk sound as far as it could go, pulling no punches. I put the album in my cart and got exactly what I paid for.

Lords of the Underground are a group from Jersey consisting of Mr. Funke, DoItAll, and DJ Lord Jazz, with production from Marley Marl and K-Def. This came out in '93, but the vibe is very old-school. DoItAll and Mr. Funke come from a school of rhyme that predates other '93 releases, when MCs weren't so lyrical and didn't take themselves very seriously. The rapping has a humorous tone throughout, but the Lords don't focus on content. What's important is their charged delivery, loud and fast, with yelled chants instead of hooks. It's enough to get any crowd hype.

But the truth is, Marley Marl and K-Def added at least as much as the Lords to this disc. They provide banger after banger, steady coming with the heavy-hitting bass and blaring horns. I've never heard so much crazy energy fused into tracks as on this album. They have an old-school sound but with a kind of chaotic quality, as opposed to the overly-simplistic beats from the 80s. Song after song will get your head banging right from and start and keep it going till the fade-out.

There's no wack tracks on here, but some are better than others. The more conceptual songs, which are missed from a lot of other rappers' albums, are actually the weakest ones on here because they're not what the Lords do best. The beats bang a little less and lyrics come to the forefront, but Funke and DoItAll aren't really accomplished lyricists so these slow down the album. "Lords Prayer" and "Sleep For Dinner" serve to show off the Lords' sense of humor, but "Grave Digga" and "Psycho" are less impressive.

But for the most part, this album is very solid and could be considered classic. That is, if you like to nod your head. The truth is, Lords of the Underground sometimes feel like a one-trick pony, but the trick is so damn good you won't even care. Plus the old-school vibe gives it a feel of 100% pure hip-hop, removed from the politics, watering down of sounds, beefing, etc. that were starting the plague the growing rap industry at the time. Definitely a worthy part of any Golden Age hip-hop collection. October 17, 2007

Ready or not....HERE COMES THE LORDS!!!

Back in '92 alittle known Jersey group released the songs "Funky Child" and "Psycho" and immediately got the industry buzzing with their high octane delivery and flows. The almost apocalyptic samples and beats, particularly on "Psycho" made them stand out from the other groups at the time like ONYX or DAS EFX. When a legend like Marley Marl and his protege K-Def decide to produce your album it gets people talking and paying attention. So when the album followed the next year it had been hyped up and alot of fans were dying to hear it, myself included. Ive no idea what took me so long to review this but it probably has something to do with the fact hiphop sounds very stale at the moment to me so Im digging out alot of my older cd's to listen to. Anyway even now nearly 14years on it sounds tight as a facelift. With tracks like "Here comes the lords", "From da bricks", "Funky child", "Madd skillz", "Psycho" (amazing), "Chief rocka" (still unbelieveably good), "L.o.t.u.g.", "Lord jazz hit me one time" and the finale "What's goin' on?" its a classic without a doubt. There's afew speedbumps that take away from it but heh its from a long time ago so you gotta excuse that. Hiphop could do with groups like LOTUG right about now. February 6, 2007

WONDERFUL ALBUM TO REMEMBER THE GOOD OLE DAYS OF HIP HOP BY

i cannot say anything bad about the lords of the underground's first album, man. it's raw, it's hardcore, and it's good hip hop with enough head noddahs on it to satisfy the cravings. it's dated, yes, but it's enjoyable to listen to if you are an '88 cat like me........or if you are a young cat who wants to dig deepah. boom shack-ah-lacka indeed. February 2, 2007

L.O.T.U.G. Livin' With The Funk (Rating: 9 out of 10- -4.5 stars)

For some odd reason, I've been bumping a lot of stuff that came from the Jersey area this week.

Lords of the Underground (L.O.T.U.G., DJ Lord Jazz, Doitall, and Mr. Funkee Man) are probably one of the missed groups that came out from Newark, N.J. area. This was their debut album, "Here Come The Lords" that dropped back in '93. This album was entirely produced my Marley Marl and K-Def. This album alone has some of the most excellent production I've heard from the East Coast in a minute. Most of the production is unique and garunteed to make your head bob. When I first heard "Funky Child", I couldn't stop bobbing my head to the loud horns that K-Def and Marley Marl hooked up for this group. Other awesomly produced songs were the hit song "Chief Rocka" (I believe that's their well known song). "Keep It Underground" is also another song with great production.

As for the trio themselves, they bring many lyrics to the mic on this album, and it seems like they were having a lot of fun doing it. "Mad Skillz" shows exactly what the group has. One humorous track would be "Sleep For Dinner". The song will make you laugh but at the same time they were being serious. "Grave Digga" and "Psycho" are also standouts. DJ Lord Jazz even gets some love on the song "Lord Jazz Hit Me One Time (Make It Funky)".

As for anything bad. There isn't much at all if you ask me. One thing I found a little aggravating was the fact they kept shouting out their name throughout most of the album. Other than that, this is one excellent album from the Brick City. This album is full of East Coast flavor that has some great production. Given this, I will make an effort to check out their sophomore album "Keepers Of The Funk". This is one that I highly recommend that you listen to, because you will love it.

Lyrics: A
Production: A+
Guest Appearances: N/A
Musical Vibes: A
Overall: A

Favorite Tracks: Here Come The Lords, From Da Bricks, Funky Child, Keep It Underground, Check It (Remix), Grave Digga, Flow On, Mad Skillz, Psycho, Chief Rocka, Sleep For Dinner, Lords Of The Underground, Lord Jazz Hit Me One Time (Make It Funky)

Peace Everyone. February 1, 2007

Funky and amazingly consistent classic

In 1993, Newark's own Lords of the Underground dropped their slept-on classic debut, "Here Come the Lords." This album is one of my favorites from a great year of hip hop, and it's terribly underrated. Recently I've been reviewing some of my favorite slept-on albums and this one immediately came to mind. This album has so much going for it. Besides the obvious talent and ability of the MCs Doitall, Mr. Funke, and DJ Lord Jazz, this album was produced in its entirety by the legendary Marley Marl and his gifted young protege K-Def. The beats on this album are absolutely insane. Every song has a soaring horn line and full instrumentation, usually heavy saxes or trumpets. The beats are always hard and the bass is thumping, giving it a rugged yet polished underground type of feel. It's not the grimy type of east coast underground rap that would later emerge, if I were to compare it to someone I would compare it to Das EFX with better production. Lyrically the rappers are crazy, as one reviewer noted they have similar voices and flows to Dre and Skoob of Das EFX but lyrically they are quite different. They display an often wild style, representing their hometown to the fullest but often tackling very interesting issues like the state of hip hop and growing up poor. This album has huge entertainment album, and its consistency is amazing, no track is really much worse than the previous one musically or lyrically. "Here Come the Lords" is an awesome, underrated album that I highly recommend to 90s hip hop fans.

The album starts with the title track, which has a pretty subdued beat for this album and a yelled chorus, it's a nice introduction. "From da Bricks" is hard and bass-heavy, and Doitall and Funke speak strictly of their hometown of Newark. "Funky Child" might be the standout, an absolute standout with an awesome trumpet line. I love the beginning ("the year is 1971...") and the whole track is just crazy. "Keep It Underground" gives props to "real" MCs and disses fake ones, it has a great sax line in the hook. A cool organ beat and angry lyrics are to be found on "Check It (Remix)," and "Grave Digga" boasts a wild synth. "Lords Prayer" has a cool intro that gives to another nice track, and "Flow On" is a product of great sampling and verses. "Mad Skillz" and "Psycho" are two especially funky tracks, full of boasts and bragadagio. "Chief Rocka" has my favorite beat, with a tuba on it and another nice hook. "Sleep for Dinner" is lyrically the best song, recalling a childhood of poverty where they often went to bed without being fed ("Everyone today prob'ly knows me as Mr. Funke / but back in the day you could've called me Mr. Hungry"). "L.O.T.U.G." is another jazzy cut, and DJ Lord Jazz rips his number "Lord Jazz Hit Me One Time." The closer, "What's Goin' On," is another expertly produced track slamming the "pop" rapper.

"Here Come the Lords" is the rare album where truly great rapping meets impeccable production. A totally slept-on classic. I highly recommend it to fans of Das EFX, Black Moon, and DITC, and other similarly minded east coast rappers from the 90s. This album has never received its due attention, but it's just entertaining and totally enjoyable the whole way through. December 4, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...