This is Michael Mixerr. Today I will review the classic MOSS - MOSS Erb-N-Reality.
This album was released on Imperial BlewBack Entertainment from Flint, Michigan in 1995 on CD and cassette. This album was different from the ghetto tech sound and gangsta rap coming from Flint rap at that time. It was more like East Coast and G-Funk blended and mixed together. It's not only as sample crazy as a lot of rap was in the 90s. They freestyle over the sampled instrumentals too. Compare the likes of Method Man, Shyheim, U-God, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Kevin Brown, Nikki D, Main Source, Heather B., Monie Luv, Native Nuttz, Skillz, and FOE from Black Market Records all mixed together.The groups accents are lot different from the average Flint rapper and any rapper in Michigan.
This album was really different from all the rap albums in Flint at that time. The album cover for Erb-N-Reality stood out because there are 2 men laying in a pool of blood yet MOSS is NOT a gangsta rap group rather an intellectual lyrical group. (Possibly looking at a shooting victim here.) The origins of the photo are unknown because the members of MOSS refuses to reveal the origins. MOSS should have released a 2nd album as a follow up album to their debut. That would have been the shit!
(MOSS means Ministaz Of a Sinista Society. Members are Big G, Cognac, Scurvy, Googiemac, and G Storm. MOSS is from Merrill Hood which is a neighborhood located in Northside Flint.)
The track Erb-N-Reality shows us morbid sad reality of daily life inside urban reality. Erb-N-Reality shows us how life in Flint can be hell. How people can become fiends and how people can become crack heads. It's not all prostitution and killings. The song shows no solutions or answers to the problems. Overall the song is filled with negativity with no solutions to the sadness of urban reality.
But life is not all that bad in Flint since the late 2000s revitalization attempts of the area of Downtown Flint is slowly rebuilding especially with Kettering University. Don't forget that folks.
8 MC's has that deep dark, grimey mid 90's East Coast sound to it. Particularly that grimey NYC sound. East Coast hip hop meets Midwest rap on 8 MC’s. Think Onyx, Das EFX, Necro, Ill Bill, Almighty RSO, Non Phixon, Orko, U-God, Bahamadia, and The Undatakaz. It has jazz samples like as many East Coast hip hop and rap songs did at that time. Flint was a gutta and ghetto place at that time and it still is.
8 MC’s is the MOSS posse cut which is a hardcore rap freestyle that is a posse cut that includes all members unleashing verses including Big G, Scurvy, and Googie Mac. MOSS members Googie Mac, Cognac, and Scurvy stand out the most as usual. However MOSS members Scurvy and Googie Mac stand out the most as they are the ones all over this album with Big G and Cognac. Overall 8 MC’s is a MOSS posse cut.
The track 8 MC’s was produced by The Beat Faktory who produced for legends such as The Dayton Family, Project Born, DOA, Took N Bone, Mean Gene, Bootleg, Shoestring, and more.
The song Googie Mac has the dope Wu-Tang Clan - 36 Chambers sample in it! It really showcases Googie Mac’s rap style and East Coast flow. His accents is a lot different from the average Flint rapper and any rapper in Michigan at that.
The song Googie Mac is a solo cut recorded and written by none other than Merrill Hood rap legend Googie Mac. This is a solo cut where Googie Mac gets the spotlight to stand out the most on the MOSS album. He gets his time in the light. Hip hop meets rap on Googie Mac.
On Sodom and Gammorah, an unnamed voice tells us not to adjust the sound on our speakers for the next 34 minutes on the b side of the cassette. The voice tells us how city people are evil. For example calling them thieves and murderers. The voice tells that the city of Flint is like Sodom and Gammorah. Flint has reached a point beyond redemption. People get robbed and beat up in these city streets of Flint. The Jazz sample is from J. Blackfoot.
Fully Automatic was a dark song with the high pitch note violins squealing in the background. It had that dark and grimey NYC sound as well. Gangsta rap meets East Coast hip hop on Fully Automatic. D.I.D is a G-Funk track which is the hardest shit ever! You will love the Jamaican intro at the very start. B-Def from Detroit is on this Moss posse cut.
You will love the Isaac Hayes sample used on Confessions. It has a sad yet sentimental feel. MOSS gets holier than a bible on Confessions. Each member of MOSS gives a confession about their life and sins. DJ Psycho was responsible for production.
DJ Psycho does the cuts on Verbal Murder. Bangtown (Pharlon Randle) produced Verbal Murder. Verbal Murder is a Cognac solo which is a solo cut that has an East Coast rap and hip hop feel. The track Verbal Murder is similar to Fully Automatic.
The Rick James sample used in Marijuna was a genius idea. Bangtown knew what he was doing as he, himself, was the person who produced the track Marijuana. War - Cisco Kid is used as a sample on Marijuana. No Escape tells us there's no escape from Flint. No Escape has samples from the film called Shocker. The track No Escape is similar to the track Sodom and Gammorah.
I rate this album, Erb-N-Reality, 5/5*****!!
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