Thursday, August 10, 2006

Review: Chunk - Break 'Em Off A Chunk

Artist: Chunk
Album: Break 'Em Off A Chunk
Year: 1994
Label: Murder One Records

Chunk hails from East Menlo Park, East Palo Alto in the bay. He came out in '91 when he dropped the underground classic 'Menace To The Game' on Tandem Records produced by Sean T. Chunk is apart of the Murder One Gangstas with artists such as Kaos, Papoose and of coarse Sean T and released a M.O.G. album back in around '92ish. Chunk followed up his debut album with 'Chunk II Still The Menace' and 'Marked for Death' also on Tandem. In '94 he dropped this one on 'Murder One Records' and has since released more including a mixtape, 'Still Breakin Em Off' and is also a part of the 2002 M.O.G. album (Murder One Gangstas) 'Still Exposed'.

The album starts off with 'Straight Murderin', the title doesn't leave alot to the imagination of what this track is about. It starts off off with a funky beat kicking in and has medium paced rhymes through the track that are seperated by a raggae hook. 'Hoo Ride' is next and has a slight upgrade on pace and a nice sampled hook which is always welcomed by me in any hip hop track, it also features Caus. 'Aint No Love' is Chunks bitch dissing track, these sorts of tracks are rarely the dopest cuts on artists albums and this one is no different, that being said though, this track is still pretty good with a laid back funky beat. Next up is 'It's On Like That' which is pretty much a day in the life of Chunk, it's another slowish sorta track with crazy flows and a old "you know, it's on" sample being cut up for the breaks.

Track five, 'The Game Don't Last' starts off with raps from the get go, the beat is pretty def although lacks a bit of bass through the guts of it but up to this point is probably my favourite track. The title track 'Break 'Em Off A Chunk' and starts with an incredible funky little beat, the rapping starts not long after but unfortunately we're half way through the album and his pace and flow have almost been identicle in every track. It's a dope style but it would have been good to have some variety. There's a slight change to the vocals on '187 Skills' which also has dope Sean T beat that makes the track stand apart from the rest of the album. Sean T also drops a verse on this track and has a "187" sample by snoop and a "The 187 Don't Stop" sample cut up through it. Fellow Murder One Gangstas, Papoose and Mob Boss feature with Chunk on 'Servin Mutha Fuckas'. The track aint too bad but could have been much better and have a more creative hook than Chunk saying "Servin Mutha Fuckas" once through it.

Track nine 'Devil Try To Do Me' catches you straight away with it's eerie beat and faster flows by Chunk. This tracks about Chunk being stalked by the cops and has another sick sampled hook, which I give Chunk and Sean T alot of respect for, staying away from those wack R&B hooks that should be left for R Kelly most of the time.
'You Gets Done' is another pretty good track that doesn't offer you too much more than you've already heard but you gotta love this guys flawless flow. The second to last track is 'Watch Out For The Set Up' which is the sort of track I skip each and every time. You know those slow tracks about girls or what not, anyway, the album ends with 'Get Off On Them' that features Gangsta G, Scrib, Double-O and D Villain as well as Chunk of coarse. The beat is dope, the raps are dope and the perfect way to end the album.

^^ Producer Sean T ^^
Overall the album is pretty def and although was probably better produced than his previous albums I personally liked the older ones a better. That being said this was still real good with all the beats sounding dope and considering that they were all done by Sean T except 'Get Off On Them' that was produced by G-Man Stan I guess it's no surprise. I think he could have been a bit more adventurous with his speed and style of raps but his flow is up there with Ad Capone's from Totally Insane.

MP3's:
Chunk ft. Sean T - 187 Skills
Chunk ft. Gangsta G, Scrib, Double-O, D Villain - Get Off On Them
>>DOWNLOAD<<

Rating:3 and a half Daytons out of 5

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is one of my favorite Bay releases Period.
Chunk is one of the most underrated cats from the Bay. Dude been releasing albums since way back & he barely gets any recognition.
Shame, folks are missing on some classic albums.

BULLANT said...

I completely agree with you on that Chunk is dope as fuck and one of the most under rated artists. Although I do prefer "Marked For Death" and "Menace II The Game" to this one, but still a tight album.

BULLANT said...

Yeah, Emvee bought that Kaos and this Chunk at the same time along with Sean T's "Straight From The Streets".

All fucking dope!!!

raffa said...

Im'ma dig out them old albums he done and listen 2 em again... Cos as far as i'm concerned this is the best one he did, them beats is funky as hell