Tame One "When Rappers Attack"

Posted on 03.25.2003

Tame One
Album: When Rappers Attack
Release Date: March 25, 2003
Label: High Times Records

Customer Review:

Tame One is mostly a battle rapper, not much to explain there. He has nice metaphors and a good mic presence. I think Redman is his cousin, so it’s not surprising that he sounds goofy and slightly psychotic. All the battle tracks are good, but "Concerto" stuck out the most to me because of it’s rhymes about super powers and Pokemon. "Leak Smoke," with Cage, is about drugs, except EC rappers aren’t content with weed. They use anything that will get them high, with bonus points if it makes you hallucinate. "Dreamz" is OK, but he didn’t do it right. He had a good first verse about his dream about success, and there’s a nice hook, but the rest is just battle rhymes. The beat demands more. "Moment I Feared" is a funny story-telling track. Basically, he gets laid and kills this chick’s boyfriend and gets rich, but then he gets caught and goes to prison. He overpronounces the song, kind of like an old school rapper, which makes it more entertaining. I think it’s a Biz Markie remake or something. "Iz It Me" is a diss to mainstream rappers. It’s alright, although I don’t know why so many underground rappers make these. "Homage 2 da Bomberz" is about graffiti art. Tame’s rhymes are hard all the way through.

The beats are just as hard, produced by the illest cats in the game: Mighty Mi, Camu Tao, RjD2, J. Dangerous, Reef, DJ Porno, and above all, J-Zone. Rj is better for more serious lyrics, but as far as battle beats nobody is touching J-Zone. He contributes 3 tracks. The guitar samples of "Heat," the pounding drums and blasting horns of "Tame Az it Ever Was," and the bass and thin Asian strings of "Slick Talkin’" are all flawless. Camu and Mighty Mi both make hard, somewhat psycho beats (maybe from working with Cage). "Leak Smoke," especially, sounds like a house of horrors. RjD2’s track "Up 2 No Good Again" has his usual soulful, electronic sound, quality as usual. The two J. Dangerous tracks were fairly diverse. "Concerto" had mellow piano, while "Iz It Me" had a more serious sound. DJ Porno’s offering was staccato and noisy and what I would have to call "click-clacky." The Reef track, "Dreamz," was quality. It had a hopeful, thoughtful sound, and it was wasted on Tame. He just couldn’t match the beat. He fools you because the first verse and the hook were both nice, but the second half was just battle rhymes that didn’t match at all. What a shame.

But aside from this minor flaw, this is a great album. I usually like CDs to be more like 70 min., but I don’t always have a big block of time for CDs. Sometimes I don’t want to sit there and concentrate. I just want to listen to crazy rhymes and sick beats for half an hour. This album provides just that, with no time for mistakes. Tame doesn’t stand out like some EC rappers do, but don’t sleep on this album. It’s a worthy purchase.

Track Listing:
1. Intro (feat Cage)
2. When Rappers Attack
3. Concerto
4. Up To No Good Again
5. Tame As It Ever Was
6. Heat
7. Moment I Feared
8. Leak Smoke (feat. Cage)
9. Slick Talkin’
10. Is It Me
11. Act Right
12. Dreamz
13. Homage To The Bombers
14. Here We Go Again
15. Outro (feat. Cage)