Innercity Griots

Innercity Griots is the second studio album by American hip hop group Freestyle Fellowship. It was released on April 28, 1993 on 4th & B'way Records and distributed through Island Records.

Innercity Griots
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 28, 1993 (1993-04-28)[1]
GenreHip hop
Length65:25
Label4th & B'way, Island, PolyGram
ProducerFreestyle Fellowship, The Earthquake Brothers, Bambawar, Daddy-O, Edman, JMD, Kevin O'Neal
Freestyle Fellowship chronology
To Whom It May Concern...
(1991)
Innercity Griots
(1993)
Temptations
(2001)
Singles from Innercity Griots
  1. "Bullies of the Block"
    Released: 1992
  2. "Hot Potato"
    Released: 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[3]
Pitchfork9.0/10[4]
Q[5]
Robert Christgau[6]
The Source[7]

Critical reception

Nathan Bush of AllMusic gave the album 5 stars out of 5, praising the group's creativity and range as well as the album's production, which he felt showed an improvement from their previous effort.[2] Jihad Hassan Muhammad of The Dallas Weekly commented that "they gave an unlikely musical offering at the time when everything was gangs and sets thrown as far as hip-hop was concerned in Los Angeles."[8]

In 2012, it was listed by The Daily Californian as one of the "10 Albums for the Hip-Hop Layman".[9] In 2013, Spin named it one of the 50 best rap albums of 1993.[10] In 2015, NME placed it at number 51 on its list of the "100 Lost Albums You Need to Know".[11]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bullies of the Block"Freestyle Fellowship, Bambawar4:55
2."Everything's Everything"Freestyle Fellowship, The Earthquake Brothers, L. McCann3:47
3."Shammy's"Freestyle Fellowship, The Earthquake Brothers, Daddy-O4:16
4."Six Tray"M. Davis, The Earthquake Brothers4:39
5."Danger"Freestyle Fellowship, The Earthquake Brothers3:58
6."Inner City Boundaries" (featuring Daddy-O)Freestyle Fellowship, Daddy-O, R. Willis4:39
7."Cornbread"E. Hayes, Jr.4:21
8."Way Cool"Freestyle Fellowship, G. Redd, R. Bell, R. Mickens, D. Thomas, R. Westfield, G. Brown, C. Smith4:22
9."Hot Potato"Freestyle Fellowship, Edman, M. Rice, J. Gillespie4:30
10."Mary"E. Hayes, Jr., M. Troy, O. Glenn, H. Mancini3:45
11."Park Bench People"M. Troy, The Earthquake Brothers4:59
12."Heavyweights" (featuring Cockney "O" Dire, Archie, Volume 10, Spoon, and Ganja K Chronic)Freestyle Fellowship, The Heavyweights, The Earthquake Brothers6:11
13."Respect Due"Freestyle Fellowship, The Earthquake Brothers3:53
14."Pure Thought" (CD bonus track)Freestyle Fellowship, W. Cobham3:04

Personnel

Information taken from the liner notes.[12]

  • Freestyle Fellowship – vocals, production, mixing
  • The Earthquake Brothers – production, mixing
  • Bambawar – production, mixing
  • Daddy-O – vocals, production, engineering
  • Edman – production
  • JMD – bass guitar, timpani, drums, percussion, production
  • Kevin O'Neal – upright bass, production
  • Kim Buie – executive production
  • Kedar Massenburg – executive production, mixing
  • Matt Hyde – engineering, mixing
  • Rich Herrera – engineering, mixing
  • Dawud – engineering
  • Aceyalone – mixing
  • Ed Lawson – mixing
  • Robert Harris – bass guitar
  • Don Littleton – percussion
  • Marvin McDaniel – acoustic guitar
  • Rodney Millon – guitar
  • Onaje Murray – vibraphone
  • Tom Ralls – trombone
  • Christy Smith – bass guitar, upright bass
  • Alfred Threats – bass guitar
  • Jon Williams – trumpet
  • Randall Willis – tenor saxophone, saxophone, flute
  • DJ Kiilu – turntables
  • Mathmattiks – turntables
  • Spoon – vocals
  • Cockney "O" Dire – vocals
  • Archie – vocals
  • Volume 10 – vocals
  • Ganja K Chronic – vocals

Notes

  1. Madden, Sidney (April 28, 2015). "Today in Hip-Hop: Freestyle Fellowship Drop 'Innercity Griots' Album". XXL. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  2. Bush, Nathan. "Inner City Griots - Freestyle Fellowship". AllMusic. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  3. Fox, Marisa (July 23, 1993). "Innercity Griots (1993)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  4. Pemberton, Rollie (11 October 2020). "Freestyle Fellowship: Innercity Griots Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  5. "Q review". Q: 88. July 1993.
  6. Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: Freestyle Fellowship". Robert Christgau. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  7. "The Source review". The Source: 79. March 1993.
  8. Muhammad, Jihad Hassan (February 14, 2013). "Hip-Hop's Black History Album List Part 2". The Dallas Weekly. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  9. Bell, James (September 19, 2012). "Goin' Off: 10 Albums for the hip-hop layman". The Daily Californian. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  10. "Freestyle Fellowship, Innercity Griots (4th & B'way/Island/Polygram)". Spin. November 21, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  11. "100 Lost Albums You Need To Know". NME. March 6, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  12. Freestyle Fellowship (1993). Innercity Griots.
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