Let's be upfront: Spitting on mainstream hip-hop is really easy. Nobody cares that Pharrell pumps beats into a calculator and gets cookie-cutter club knockers. Nobody blinks when Juvenile chants, "Uhh, I like it like that, she workin' that back, I don't know how to act." Not a soul wept when The Roots brought the blatantly unfinished "Don't Say Nuttin'" to mega-producer Scott Storch and he dubbed the track dynamite.
But the purist in me harkens back to a time long ago-- the early 90s-- when "underground hip-hop" was only fledgling phrase, and groups like De La and Tribe headed a Native Tongues army, preaching truth and beats for all. Eschewing the decadent values and gang-banging personas of their hip-hop peers, these Golden Age warriors wed themselves to Afrocentricity and musical ingenuity. So after a five-year hiatus, when New Rochelle natives Brand Nubian decide to release another LP, I expect the trio to build on their reputation as remnants of one of the best eras in hip-hop.
Unfortunately, Fire in the Hole fails to invoke any effective nostalgia as it phlegmatically wanders through 12 solid but unexciting tracks. After 1998's stellar Foundation, Sadat X and Grand Puba left the group in search of solo success, but only found acclaim rapping on other people's tracks. Meanwhile, Lord Jamar made the challenging jump from rapper to inmate on HBO's Oz. As a result, Brand Nubian has been a name without a body and Fire in the Hole fails to capture the synergy that the group once possessed.
Six years later, Brand Nubian just sounds tired. Listen to the much-hyped single "Who Wanna Be a Star?" and you've heard the whole album: The eternally idiosyncratic Sadat X drops crazy shit on the chorus ("And all the broads, yeah, ultimate head!") while Puba and Jamar push honest but unpolished verses against well-worn underground hip-hop motifs. "Always Mine" echoes the album's laziness: a standard soul reworking and mediocre flows ("We first met in junior high/ I was so shy, you were so fly"). Meanwhile, "Got a Knot" is straight from the Mario Paint beatmaking kit with its jarring blips and obnoxious MIDI rock guitar.
While Fire in the Hole may not spark a comeback, it does reveal glimpses of Brand Nubian's former potential as potent, emoting MCs. "Where Are You Now" crackles with summery keys and reveals Brand Nubian's vulnerability as they retell of all the women that have done them wrong. "Just Don't Learn" projects the desolation and nihilism of the ghetto through Brand Nubian's sobering experiences. Sadat X laments: "I wish I had a dollar for every funeral parlor I been to/ I've been friends to a lot of dead niggas." These two tracks, however, hardly salvage an otherwise average release. While Brand Nubian may boast positivity, they're missing the quality. If Nas is right, sleep is the cousin of death, and Brand Nubian's career is certainly napping.
