My Review of First Degree The D.E. - Before There Was Fahrenheit

[Blutarski]

First Degree The D.E. - Before There Was Fahrenheit

Disc 1: Tha Studio

1) "No Shame in My Game"
The first song is produced by First Degree himself. First Degree comes with some more of a gangsta feel on the mic, more so than what he usually sounds like nowadays. I like the hook to the song a lot as The D.E. comes with some solid flows on the verses as well. This has that old school feel to it, I'm loving it. A tight start to this album.

2) "Dr. Dulow" ft. Andre Rivers
This is the song taken from the Who Put Sac on the Map compilation. The beat by First Degree is tight as fuck. He brings the heat on the mic too with some cool ass lyrics. A little bit more of that weird shit that he does now, but still with those harder gangsta lyrics. Andre Rivers does the hook to the song nicely. A tight ass song overall, I was loving when I heard Who Put Sac on the Map and I'm still bumping it properly.

3) "Up in Ya Grill" (original)
The quality to this song is really terrible. You can barely tell that it's First Degree really, but he does bring the heat on the mic with some hard ass gangsta lyrics. The beat is done by himself and has a good feel to it, but the quality is so poor it's hard to hear the background instruments. Would have been a cool song if the quality was ok. I definately like the second version of the song on Southbound more.

4) "Gold Shoes"
A cool laid back song right here. Phonk Beta did the beat to this song and it has a cool cruise feel to it. First Degree comes with some cool laid back lyrics to go along with the beat. He just talks about getting high and rolling around on them gold shoes. A cool song overall, I like the laid back feel to it.

5) "You Can't Handle the Format"
A tight ass old school beat done by First Degree for this song. He comes with some fast paced flows on the mic, which doesn't really fit D.E.'s style, but I like it. This is just some tight ass gangsta shit on the mic by the D.E. I'm loving it.

6) "Murder Walk"
First Degree and Brotha Lynch collab on the beat for this song and lay down a tight one too. This one sounds more like the material that D.E. put out with Planet Zero or Damn That DE! The quality is significantly better on this song than the first five. I like the flows on the mic, they sound more like a song like Don't Be My Pleasure. I'm feeling it to the fullest.

7) "I Need a New Bitch"
First Degree and Brotha Lynch collab on this beat too, they lay down another tight one too. Again this sounds more like the material off of Planet Zero. He just talks about how he needs a new bitch and gives some of the reasons. A cool slower paced DE song that sounds more like a recent song to me. A cool song overall, I'm digging it.

8) "They Call Me the D.E."
This song has another one of those laid back type of beats done by The D.E. He just talks about himself on this one. More of those just grab the mic and kick it back type of songs. The production is good and First Degree handles it nicely on the mic. A cool laid back song, I'm feeling it.

9) "They Out to Bump Me"
This is the same song from Southbound. The beat done by First Degree and Phont Beta is tight as fuck as First Degree comes with some cool ass lyrics on the mic. Still just as tight as the first time I heard it. Bump this shit, I'm loving it.

10) "Murder in the First Degree"
This was The D.E.'s first single. I'm not really liking it too much though. His flow is too slow for the beat, done by himself and Ace Of Spades. I'm glad I didn't hear this song from him first or else I might not have checked out his other music. I'm not really feeling this song at all.

11) "I Manifest Every Word"
It doesn't list who produced this song on the booklet, but I'm assuming it was The D.E. himself. I like his singing on this song for the chorus. The verses are tight too. The beat bangs in the background as The D.E. brings some nice lyrics to the table. One of my favorite songs on the album. I'm feeling it overall.

12) "9-5"
Another old song that's hard to hear. First Degree does the production nicely, but his voice on the mic sounds terrible. It's just one of those early First Degree songs that nobodies heard at all. I like the flows and the beat, he should remake this song with some better quality. I like it except for the shitty quality.

13) "That Fahrenheit" ft. M.C. King, Crucial Point, Devonair
First Degree handles the production for this song and brings a tight ass beat that gets your head moving proper. The flows on the mic are tight as fuck too, M.C. King, Crucial Point and Devonair bring the heat with some fast paced flows on the mic as The D.E. does some cool singing on the hook. Another one of my favorite songs from this album, I'm feeling it overall.

14) "Creepside"
This is a instrumental track produced by Phonk Beta. It has a nice slow pace to it, although it sounds more like a D.E. beat to me. Keeping with the tradition of at least one instrumental to the album this was a nice throw in.

There is a hidden track to this song as well, not really hidden because it has its on track, but it's not listed on the tracklisting for the album. The tight beat is produced by BlackJack and features some tight mic work by Be Gee and AK. A tight ass song to throw in as a bonus, I'm feeling it to the fullest. No D.E. though.

 

[Blutarski]

Disc 2: The Underground

15) "Critical" ft. Ace Of Spades, AK47, Ms. Marvaless
Ace Of Spades lays down a tight beat to get this track started off properly. The flows are tight as fuck too. This is one of the first songs Marvaless ever did. Ace Of Spades and AK47 make for good features too. I don't like the echo effect they put on their voices though. Besides that it's a tight ass song overall. No First Degree though, that's the only bad part.

16) "Ya Best Believe"
Phonk Beta handles the beat for this song nicely, although you can't really hear it well because of the poor quality. First Degree comes hard on the mic with some gangsta shit on the mic. Sometimes I wish he still flowed like this, but a mix of this style and what he sounds like now would be perfect. A cool song overall, wish the quality was a little better though.

17) "Stridnapped" (original)
This is the original song that was released on the Southbound album. The beat is done by Phonk Beta, although I like the newer version of the beat and song. It was a good concept though, it came in handy later as it was one of my favorite songs off of Southbound.

18) "Dirt Doa"
The quality of this one is a little better. Phonk Beta again lays down a solid beat for D.E. to flow to. He comes with more of those gangsta lyrics on the mic. He touches on some of that tight First Degree singing, but he doesn't quite have it down propery on this song. Still a nice song though.

19) "Quick ta Rip Shit"
First Degree did the beat for this song, but the quality is really poor on this song. He comes with some fast, fast ass lyrics on the mic, probably the fastest I've ever heard from him. I'm glad he has slowed down his flow from a pace like this, I wasn't really feeling the super fast pace he sets on the mic.

20) "You Know Where it's At"
Another D.E. beat right here, I'm feeling this one too. The flows are really hard to pick up because the quality of the song is really poor. For me this is more of just a showcase of his early production skills because the beat is pretty good. Nothing much besides the beat on this one.

21) "The Pack is Back" ft. Crucial Point, J Dubb, Teaboan The Lune
More First Degree production for this song as Crucial Point, J Dubb and Teaboan The Lune grab the mic. The beat is tight ass fuck though, he should remix this and put is on a newer song, it's tight. I'm not feeling J Dubb and Teaboan The Lune as much as Crucial Point and First Degree, but they hold their own. A tight song, especially for the beat.

22) "Still Hold My Ground" ft. Be Gee
Some early for Be Gee. Phonk Beta does the beat for the song and lays a good one down. This song would have sounded tight if it had better quality to it. No First Degree, but Be Gee holds it down on a short song, not even a minute long.

23) "Stuck on Sprung"
This song sounds a little better. First Degree handles his own production once again for this one. I like the beat and First Degree lays down some good lyrics on the mic. I can this song leading more to the Planet Zero type sound, not quite there, but it's on the way with this song.

24) "I'm Ruthless" ft. AK47
Ace Of Spades lays down a tight ass beat for this song. This is one of my favorite songs off of the second disc here. AK47 comes hard as fuck on the mic as the tight ass beat bangs in the background. No D.E. on this one, but damn sorry to say it, who needs him here, AK47 rips the mic! Tight shit right here, I'm feeling it to the fullest.

25) "I Gives a Fuck"
A cool beat by Phonk Beta with some nice piano work in the background. The problem is that beat really drowns out First Degree's flows in the background. Again I wouldn't mind hearing a newer version of the song to hear it at better quality. A tight song, but you have to listen closely for The D.E.'s flows.

26) "Gangsta Babble"
Back to another First Degree beat right here and he lays down a nice one. This really must have been one of his first songs he ever recorded because he doesn't even sound like himself at all, he sounds more like a kid to me. He has a more of a raw style to his flow, but it's still cool though. A cool song, nice to see where First Degree started out from.

27) "Nonchalauntly" ft. Teaboan The Lune, Crucial Point, J Dubb, M.C. King
M.C. King does the production for this song, but I'm not into it much. I'm not really feeling this song that much. The quality is really bad and it's hard to hear and the beat changes a lot too. The flows aren't all that great either. Still a nice early song from First Degree's running mates.

Overall this album was more of a throwback to the early days of First Degree's music. It had one disc dedicated to the songs he recorded way back in the day recorded in houses and garages, which were cool to see where First Degree got it all started, but the problem was that the quality was so poor on many of the songs it was hard to hear what people were saying or it just took so much away from the songs that I wasn't feeling them as much. However, I did like most of the underground songs, I just wish the quality was better. The first disc was all of the songs recorded in studios, but never released. To me it sounded just like songs which were cut from his first two albums, Southbound and Planet Zero. There were some original songs and a song used on Southbound too. The features were all early collabs that First Degree had when he was first getting started music. There are still plenty of hints at the new D.E. sound, but this is more of that hardcore gangsta shit that made the mid '90s great for Sacramento rap. I like this album, but more for the first disc. Still is you're a big D.E. fan you'll love this album and if you like more of the D.E. when he was serving you up with Planet Zero then you'll like this one with that old school gangsta feel to it. A good selection of old unreleased songs from First Degree The D.E.

Overall Rating = 4/5

 

[2ndcoming]

My favorites are(in no particular order):
1. No Shame in My Game
2. Dulow(of cooooarse)
3. Murder Walk
4. They Call Me the DE!
5. Murder in the First Degree
6. I Manifest Every Word
7. That Fahrenheit
8. Ya Best Believe
9. Dirt Doa(tight, OOOoooohhhhOOOaaaahhhhoo)
10. Quick Ta Rip Shit
11. Stuck on Sprung

Nice comp 'Gree, worth the wait... PEACE OUT!

 

[TONE DOG THE 01]

CAC There used to be snippets here. But here is the review of the album. No Shame in My Game is a tight ass song!

 

[Cacarot60]

CAC There used to be snippets here. But here is the review of the album. No Shame in My Game is a tight ass song!

Thanks for the review. My only thing is probably half the songs are noted as having poor sound quality. It's really hard for me to pay money for bad sound quality. I don't even download tracks for free with bad sound quality, it ruins the track for me even when the lyrics and beat are tight. Preciate you looking out though Tone ... I will have to think it over. I definitely want to at least give it a listen, it is DE afterall.

Much Luv

Cac tha 6-0

 

[Blutarski]

Listen to it at www.2siccaudio.com and how see for yourself if you like the songs or not.

Late!

 

[Cacarot60]

Haha ... that Gansta Babble was pretty weird hearing the DE on that one. Thanks Blutarski, good looking. The quality on the disk two is horrible. Straight underground for real. I respect that and like you said it's good to hear where an artist started from, but I wouldn't purchase it. The first Disk I thought was much better ... and I liked some tracks from that one. Overall I wouldn't buy it though. DE is one of, if not MY favorite artists, but I will have to wait for his new solo. I expect him to come out with some fresh DE lyrics only he can lay down, and of course the beats that only his cds have the cabability of bumping.

"I said that shit cha bumping suuuucks! Put First Degree the DE in your tape deck WHAT!"

I appreciate it though Blut and Tone. I'm glad to see some old schoolers holding it down at the Fahrenhiet board. Seems like the entire Siccness is on a little decline.

Much Luv

Cac tha 6-0

PS ... I'll tell ya I checked out that Nikatina from last year, I was sleeping on that. Been a long time since I really checked up on music. They don't have any of that good Sactown/Cali shit here, if they do it's FAAAAAR and INBETWEEN.

 

[Been Drinkin]

THis is my favorite D.E. cd of all time and also one if not thee best cd of all time. I dont ever get tired of bumping it because I always find something new on it to hit on. Cac I thoght Murder in The First Degree was raw as fuck, but to each they own good review homie.