This comes from the standpoint of a huge fan of rap music, i Have over 800 CDs and heard an additional 100 plus rap cds in my lifetime...Ive always been a huge fan of San Quinn, but "I Give you my Word" has become one of the most underrated cds the bay has ever seen.
After bouncing from Getlow to Presidential to Champeli, Quinn finally found his niche under his own label Done Deal. His earliest releases were classics. "The Young Baby Boy" showcased a youngster holdin down the mic like a teenager, and his first official release "Live N Direct" showcased a highschooler holdin down the mic like a grown man. His raw lyricisim was backed by groundbreaking production by JT, and songs like "Come on in" and "What Goes On" are still recognized by Quinn fans as his best work to date.
"The Hustle Continues" showcased a more polished MC. Lines like "Game carry us styles various Quinn San commin can that is hilarious" revealed an MC with appealing concepts and a delivery that was unfuckwithable.
After waiting four years to drop an album, Quinn released "The Mighty Quinn," a solid effort despite being criticized as too mainstream and not Quinns style. Although many songs like "Give it Up" were made for radio, underground bangers like "Slumps," "Sunshine" and the infamous "Q2020" kept Quinns name on the map as an established artists.
Three years later, after the most known guest appearences in history and numerous radio drops, Quinn showed he is still a factor in the game and king of the Sco by dropping "I Give You My Word." Unfortunately, the album has fallen wellshort of platinum due to lack of distribution (people in SD and LA still cant find it in stores). Despite this shortcoming, "I Give You My Word is probably one of the best efforts in rap in a number of years. Heres why:
1. Tone Capone- Quinn decided to go with a seasoned vet behind the boards. Capone is known for his ability to produce club hits as well as underground bangers, and has worked with every artist from Mac Dre to the Luniz. His style helped produce beats that had club paced beats with underground horns and synths. Who else could have done a track like Hardway? Listen the beat on Mask Cracked and tell me WC or Snoop or any westcoast MC wouldnt kill for it?
2. Quinn has continued to mature as an MC- Quinns lyricism has become ridicolously vicious. No one wants to see Quinn on the mic, and its gotten to the point that people actually think Quinn isnt even tryin when he uses a slower, more clear delivery like on "Thugs." His subliminal diss to Jay Z "Give Orphan Annie a portion of that grammy, and pay Pacs momma a portion of that money, someone in your family violated the law, you and your girlfriend heard that before, thug life heard that before" will always keep me bumpin "Deep End" hoping for an established artist like Jay Z to take on a hungry MC like Quinn that he wont be able to handle. His ode to SF on "City Life" clearly outshines any copycat effort by Nas and Scarface, and the "Hardway" put real gangsta shit on his album.
3. No weak features- Previous Quinn albums have suffered from weak guest appearences, folks that aint nessecarily weak but aint on Quinns level and/or just drop verses that arent that good. This time Quinn keeps it just fam with Big Rich, Bailey and Willie Henn, all worthy, with and E-40 appearence and a Phatz Bos track with Phatz on the beat. Juvinile and Keak da Sneak compliment each other nicely on "the Pop Off," while the Killa Tay/Quinn/C-Bo trio on "Sav Boyz" produces a track to bomb police stations to.
4. Quinn's ability to outshine his guest appearences. Although the Fam is quite gifted when it comes to the mouthpiece, Quinn is clearly the top MC at Done Deal. "Hardway" brought a track to the masses that showed Quinn rappin harder than E-40 and also Bos on "Gangsta's Touch." On the more posse like cuts with several rappers, Quinn doesnt "shine" quite as clearly, though his material is clearly just a good as any of the other rappers.
5. The album has a "tone."- It plays well all the way through. The album starts with Quinn's storyline of "Northern California" a song that only a bay vet with credentials could do. It moves on to "Goin all Out," a thugged out banger for the turfies, and is followed by a similarly thugged out song with a more clublike beat in "Hardway." Quinn touches on the radio/club tip again with "Butterfly," and then moves on to a more posse like cut with "The Pop Off," giving folks a minute to soak in the various styles of other rappers. Next Comes "Mask Cracked," a West Coast style track with a club like beat and some good dj work. I could go on and on, but lets just say it has a feel to it, like other great albums (Techn9ne-Angellic, Makaveli-The Seven Day Theory, X Raided- Unforgivin, Mac Mall- Illegal Business, BIG- Ready 2 Die, IMP, Nas-Illmatic, Stillmatic etc.)
6. Something for everyone- Many tracks on the album appeal to both males and females, young or old. Songs like "Hardway, Butterfly and Smiling Faces" are just as appealing to women as they are to men. Also, Quinn hits a variety of subjects, there's songs like Smiling Faces which sound incredibly happy but in reality talk about liars and backstabbers, songs like "Hardway" and "Thugs" are appealing to the young and wild, "Sav Boyz" touches on police interactions and abuse, "Always Be A Daddy" about the importance of fatherhood, "Northern California" about the history of the bay, "Greatness" about the importance of god.
The bottom line is, there are very few albums that come out that have a formula like "I Give You My Word." As a bay area native with ties to SD, I love to bring down new CDs to play to my ignorent friends. Although they were feelin quite a few bay artists like Mac Dre, Turf Talk and Yukmouth, not one bay area artist I introduced recieved the same attention as Quinn when they heard I give you my word. Now, that doesnt really mean a whole lot, but it just shows you that this album can get anyone. And it also shows you that Game Recognize Game, and if Quinn can ever get some distribution he's really capable of doin big things.
I only took 20 minutes to write this, and its not spellchecked, but its something I thought I had to say. A lot of folks on this site give some pretty interesting reviews, and I see a lot of 8 and 9s and 10s being thrown around here. One reviewer gave over 80% of his reviews an 8 or over. I am goin to be modest and say that I always give a real ass review, and Im not gonna hit you up with some bullshit. A lot of folks couldnt understand how i could give Thizzle Washington a 6.5/10, or Big Lurch a 6, or some Artists who actually post hear havent been impressed with my opinion of their album.
The problem I have with an album when I give it isnt fully competed. Some albums have dope songs but they arent sick all the way through. I dont give very many 9s and 10s. To me a 9 is a classic, it slumps nearly the whole way through and its put together in a fashion that gives the legendary tone that other artists have forever established themselves with, while a ten is perfect effort (spare one song maybe) with excellent production and lyrics, and it all fits into a tight package. The new Quinn is a 10 no doubt, and if your late on checkin out the Quinn its a must peep.
After bouncing from Getlow to Presidential to Champeli, Quinn finally found his niche under his own label Done Deal. His earliest releases were classics. "The Young Baby Boy" showcased a youngster holdin down the mic like a teenager, and his first official release "Live N Direct" showcased a highschooler holdin down the mic like a grown man. His raw lyricisim was backed by groundbreaking production by JT, and songs like "Come on in" and "What Goes On" are still recognized by Quinn fans as his best work to date.
"The Hustle Continues" showcased a more polished MC. Lines like "Game carry us styles various Quinn San commin can that is hilarious" revealed an MC with appealing concepts and a delivery that was unfuckwithable.
After waiting four years to drop an album, Quinn released "The Mighty Quinn," a solid effort despite being criticized as too mainstream and not Quinns style. Although many songs like "Give it Up" were made for radio, underground bangers like "Slumps," "Sunshine" and the infamous "Q2020" kept Quinns name on the map as an established artists.
Three years later, after the most known guest appearences in history and numerous radio drops, Quinn showed he is still a factor in the game and king of the Sco by dropping "I Give You My Word." Unfortunately, the album has fallen wellshort of platinum due to lack of distribution (people in SD and LA still cant find it in stores). Despite this shortcoming, "I Give You My Word is probably one of the best efforts in rap in a number of years. Heres why:
1. Tone Capone- Quinn decided to go with a seasoned vet behind the boards. Capone is known for his ability to produce club hits as well as underground bangers, and has worked with every artist from Mac Dre to the Luniz. His style helped produce beats that had club paced beats with underground horns and synths. Who else could have done a track like Hardway? Listen the beat on Mask Cracked and tell me WC or Snoop or any westcoast MC wouldnt kill for it?
2. Quinn has continued to mature as an MC- Quinns lyricism has become ridicolously vicious. No one wants to see Quinn on the mic, and its gotten to the point that people actually think Quinn isnt even tryin when he uses a slower, more clear delivery like on "Thugs." His subliminal diss to Jay Z "Give Orphan Annie a portion of that grammy, and pay Pacs momma a portion of that money, someone in your family violated the law, you and your girlfriend heard that before, thug life heard that before" will always keep me bumpin "Deep End" hoping for an established artist like Jay Z to take on a hungry MC like Quinn that he wont be able to handle. His ode to SF on "City Life" clearly outshines any copycat effort by Nas and Scarface, and the "Hardway" put real gangsta shit on his album.
3. No weak features- Previous Quinn albums have suffered from weak guest appearences, folks that aint nessecarily weak but aint on Quinns level and/or just drop verses that arent that good. This time Quinn keeps it just fam with Big Rich, Bailey and Willie Henn, all worthy, with and E-40 appearence and a Phatz Bos track with Phatz on the beat. Juvinile and Keak da Sneak compliment each other nicely on "the Pop Off," while the Killa Tay/Quinn/C-Bo trio on "Sav Boyz" produces a track to bomb police stations to.
4. Quinn's ability to outshine his guest appearences. Although the Fam is quite gifted when it comes to the mouthpiece, Quinn is clearly the top MC at Done Deal. "Hardway" brought a track to the masses that showed Quinn rappin harder than E-40 and also Bos on "Gangsta's Touch." On the more posse like cuts with several rappers, Quinn doesnt "shine" quite as clearly, though his material is clearly just a good as any of the other rappers.
5. The album has a "tone."- It plays well all the way through. The album starts with Quinn's storyline of "Northern California" a song that only a bay vet with credentials could do. It moves on to "Goin all Out," a thugged out banger for the turfies, and is followed by a similarly thugged out song with a more clublike beat in "Hardway." Quinn touches on the radio/club tip again with "Butterfly," and then moves on to a more posse like cut with "The Pop Off," giving folks a minute to soak in the various styles of other rappers. Next Comes "Mask Cracked," a West Coast style track with a club like beat and some good dj work. I could go on and on, but lets just say it has a feel to it, like other great albums (Techn9ne-Angellic, Makaveli-The Seven Day Theory, X Raided- Unforgivin, Mac Mall- Illegal Business, BIG- Ready 2 Die, IMP, Nas-Illmatic, Stillmatic etc.)
6. Something for everyone- Many tracks on the album appeal to both males and females, young or old. Songs like "Hardway, Butterfly and Smiling Faces" are just as appealing to women as they are to men. Also, Quinn hits a variety of subjects, there's songs like Smiling Faces which sound incredibly happy but in reality talk about liars and backstabbers, songs like "Hardway" and "Thugs" are appealing to the young and wild, "Sav Boyz" touches on police interactions and abuse, "Always Be A Daddy" about the importance of fatherhood, "Northern California" about the history of the bay, "Greatness" about the importance of god.
The bottom line is, there are very few albums that come out that have a formula like "I Give You My Word." As a bay area native with ties to SD, I love to bring down new CDs to play to my ignorent friends. Although they were feelin quite a few bay artists like Mac Dre, Turf Talk and Yukmouth, not one bay area artist I introduced recieved the same attention as Quinn when they heard I give you my word. Now, that doesnt really mean a whole lot, but it just shows you that this album can get anyone. And it also shows you that Game Recognize Game, and if Quinn can ever get some distribution he's really capable of doin big things.
I only took 20 minutes to write this, and its not spellchecked, but its something I thought I had to say. A lot of folks on this site give some pretty interesting reviews, and I see a lot of 8 and 9s and 10s being thrown around here. One reviewer gave over 80% of his reviews an 8 or over. I am goin to be modest and say that I always give a real ass review, and Im not gonna hit you up with some bullshit. A lot of folks couldnt understand how i could give Thizzle Washington a 6.5/10, or Big Lurch a 6, or some Artists who actually post hear havent been impressed with my opinion of their album.
The problem I have with an album when I give it isnt fully competed. Some albums have dope songs but they arent sick all the way through. I dont give very many 9s and 10s. To me a 9 is a classic, it slumps nearly the whole way through and its put together in a fashion that gives the legendary tone that other artists have forever established themselves with, while a ten is perfect effort (spare one song maybe) with excellent production and lyrics, and it all fits into a tight package. The new Quinn is a 10 no doubt, and if your late on checkin out the Quinn its a must peep.
