Connoisseurs Of Groove – Reap And Destroy is an example of early Flint hip hop and rap. This was probably the first hip hop/rap album out of Flint, Michigan! This was way before MC Breed, The Dayton Family, Top Authority, and Jake The Flake.
The album is filled with everything hip hop heads will enjoy. Heavy turntableism, loud heavy pounding beats, electro synths, and phat bass. You can tell the group put in a lot of work put with production due to the use in multiple layers of instrumentation The number of instrumental layers used in their songs is amazing. 2 layers of instrumentation for percussion and 4 layers of instrumentation for keyboards.
This album was released on vinyl only in 1987 on the Flint City Fresh label. Bernard Terry engineered the whole album at Silver Sun Studios. L. N. White served as executive producer. Connoisseurs Of Groove consists of 4 rappers which are Fresh Kid, Master Emcee, Doc Beat, and Jay.
Reap And Destroy serves as an introduction to the album telling who Connoisseurs Of Groove are. As the liner notes read, “The Connoisseurs of Groove is a group of young men from Flint, Michigan, who insist that the Midwest is the best when it comes to rap music.” Connoisseurs Of Groove seek out to reap and destroy any of those who oppose through their rap lyrics. They cold crush emcees using their incredible lyrics. In rap music, it’s about who’s crew is the best and who is the better rapper.
Things start to rumble as Connoisseurs of Groove introduce to us who they are. Down thought the years as the properties were told. A crew came out that was skilled and groomed by the masters. They would come into the rap industry. And throughout def words they shall deploy. There’s no place to hide as Connoisseurs of Groove have come to reap and destroy.
Have you ever heard MC’s so raw? That is what Connoisseurs of Groove are. They have potential with their credentials. They are supreme. They are kinetically inclined and have visual rhymes meaning that their rhymes use such vivid imagery. So duck! Connoisseurs of Groove are coming fast! Their legions of lyrics are coming tight as a beast. Not a bitch. Surely they will raise hell with their lyrics.
The song uses a bit of rock influence hence the guitar. Most hip hop and rap songs from the 1980s sampled rock guitar riffs. Heavy turntableism throughout different parts of this songs. The song uses old school beats.
Def Words uses dope and def sounds. Heavy turntableism, loud kick drum beats, and phat bass. The song uses old school beats. Def Words is one of the highlight tracks which uses multiple layers of instrumentation.
You can feel the beats as you listen to their lyrics. Def words are what you hear. Connoisseurs Of Groove is always on the go due to their def sounds and words.
Def Words uses samples from Hashim - Al-Naafiysh (The Soul) (A-Side) and The Fearless Four - Rockin’ It. Connoisseurs Of Groove never fail to disappoint when it comes to choosing creative samples for their music selection. Hip hop and rap nearly always uses samples. 80s rap more than anything did that.
Jay's Beat uses a hodgepodge of old school beats and samples. The bass explodes with rhythm and force. The rhyme is ignited by the sound of a voice. You’ve never heard of a rap group so fierce when it came to Connoisseurs Of Groove.
The song uses 80s electro synths over low bass. The Connoisseurs Of Groove are suppressing all beats that you thought were hard. Their beats are darker than Darth Vader.
Stone Break is similar to both Jay's Beat, To The Beat, and Rock the Lynn in terms of sound and beats. Of course some of the beats used for the songs on this album are recycled. Stone Break is one of the more slower songs which slows down the album and calms down the mood for this album. It’s some slow big beat type of shit here.
The thick heavy beats are what really stand out the most and are considered the highlight for this song. 80s rap can’t go without heavy beats. The song uses a bit of rock influence also.
Friends (Watch Who You Call Friend) is the Flint, Michigan answer to Whodini - Friends. Their take on the song is much slower than Whodini’s using a slower tempo. The song serves as a cautionary tale telling us we better know who our friends are and watch what type of person we call a friend.
The beat used on Rock the Lynn is similar to Reap and Destroy. That is no coincidence given that both songs were recorded in the same studio session. Rock the Lynn uses some amazing beatbox skills! All 4 rappers use fast complex rapping skills on this song of theirs. Overall Rock The Lynn is a dope fast paced rap song.
Free-Base City is an example of early Flint hip hop and rap. This was probably the first rap single out of Flint, Michigan! L. N. White produced Free-Base City in 1986. This song has got some faster raps than Reap and Destroy.
Free-Base City is an anti-drum rap song which in turn is based off the life of a cocaine addict where the cocaine user turns into a cocaine abuser. Free-Base City also serves as a cautionary tale on why to not use cocaine and the effects using cocaine. The dangers of using cocaine are discussed too. Cocaine. You ought to leave it alone. Raw cocaine from an 8 ball can be highly addictive. Cocaine if it’s raw is highly addictive.
Now Flint was turning into cocaine central back when this song was written and produced. 1986 is the year when cocaine was becoming big in Flint. Cocaine hit Flint hard.
The 1987 version of Free-Base City is different from the 1986 version of Free-Base City. The 1986 version is longer than the album version. This version here is the album version which is shorter than than the 1986 version which issued on a 12” vinyl single.
To The Beat is similar to Jay’s Beat as the song uses beats from that song. Some of the beats are slow. It’s some slow big beat type of shit here.
I rate this album, 5/5*****!
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