The Beatnuts: Take It Or Squeeze It : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

After two uninspired follow-ups to its inventive 1994 debut album, Street Level, this duo from Queens, New York, is having fun with its samplers again. "No Escapin' This" kicks off with a percussive choral loop that sounds like it came from a Broadway musical. In "Hood Thang," the Beatnuts slink off to a party armed with a sexy guitar lick and X-rated crooning. From the sunny piano on "Yo Yo Yo" to the goose-bump funk of "Who's Comin Wit da Shit Na," group members Ju Ju and Psycho Les revel in diced break beats and kooky samples. Doubling as MCs, they brag of gats and inner-city beefs. But their gun talk lacks the conviction of hungrier thugs. And after seven years of putting food on the table through dedicated musicianship, the Beatnuts make something clear in the innovative vocoder blues and double-time hook of "If It Ain't Gangsta": They are still a lot happier in the lab than they could ever be in the streets. (RS 867 - April 26, 2001)

NEIL DRUMMING