Album Review: Group Home - "Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal"

With an album name like “Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal”, the infamous name of DJ Premier listed as producer and an album dedicated to one of the greatest, I had to check out this album. My love for the old skool is no secret and with the inspiration of Group Home's dead homey and Gang Starr legend GURU, I thought this one could be a banger. My only regret is that I bought it.

Sure there are some great tracks and there is definitely a grimy yet laid-back feel to the whole album, which is largely held up by its beats, production and rhymes. The delivery and flow of the emcees on most of the tracks however starts to get seriously annoying and made me question if Lil' Dap & Melachi had even heard the beats before they hit the studio. Some tracks for me were a total miss and I've heard better amateur songs on myspace that I wouldn't buy. I couldn't get with “Get out the Car” at all. The chorus is dull and monotone and the first verse is way off beat. “Ghetto Soldiers” would be a killer tune - mad delivery in the lyricism. Even Young Luchiano sounds decent on this track, though he struggles to keep up with intensity, flow and even his jokes. “There's no swagger like Young/ make them fuckers call me monkey off the shit that I've just flung.” Seriously, my 2 year old niece is funnier than that.

This awkwardness of the album continues until the end. “Up against the Wall” is just as bad, the delivery is off beat and sounds awkward at best. “Ear to the Streets” with Young Luchiano is actually kinda nice, as they reminisce on their thuggish upbringing, though the chorus sounds like Busta with brain damage. This monotony of dull deliveries seems to continue throughout the album until the track, “The Legacy" which features GURU on the track before he passed.

Perhaps motivated to sound good on the track with one of the greatest, Group Home deliver my favourite verses on the whole album. So why couldn't they bring this intensity and delivery to the rest of their tracks? I'm guessing they were rushed with their album so that they could be the first to come out with the dedication to GURU. NAS questioned the group's hiatus on “Where are they now” and although an answer none the less, I feel the group have fallen off a long way since their Gang Starr features and the 95' album drop “Livin' Proof”.

Group Home & GURU - The Legacy


Even though I enjoyed the laid back and old skool vibe of Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal, if it wasn't for the production and efficiency of Preemo and Lil' Dap's skillfull lyricism at times, this album would have been garbage.

☢ ☢ 2 Nukes

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