Picture This

Do Or Die: Belo, Nard, AK-47 (vocals). Additional personnel: Tung Twista, Johnny P (vocals). Producers: The Legendary Traxster (tracks 1-3, 6-10); Mike Dean (tracks 4-5); Crazy C (track 11). Engineers: Mike Dean, The Legendary Traxster. Recorded at Creator's Way Studios, Chicago, Illinois and Lil J Studio, Houston, Texas. Samples include "Computer Love" (R. Troutman/L. Troutman/S. Murdock). While the East and West coasts battle loudly for so-called hip-hop supremacy, the Midwest and the South are quietly emerging as new hotbeds of hip-hop talent. One non-coastal city that has defined a sound of its own is Chicago, home to Common Sense, Da Brat and Crucial Conflict, and now Do Or Die, which debuts with the very funk-oriented PICTURE THIS. Do Or Die's lyrics concentrate on the usual gangsta subjects of pimpin' and hustlin'. But the music, built on slow, bass-and-keyboard-heavy tracks, is as much funkster music as it is gangster music. The sound is not unlike that on the Geto Boys early albums. A guest appearance by Tung Twista, the world's fastest rapper, adds extra flavor to the relatively laid-back grooves of "Po Pimp," "Paperchase" and "Money Flow." Do or Die's 1996 full-length debut Picture This followed the success of their single "Po Pimp" with more bass-heavy gangsta grooves and more of Tung Twista's smooth, rapid-fire rapping. Along with "Po Pimp," "Money Flow," "Kill or Be Killed," "Shut 'Em Down," and "Paperchase" are some of the album's best examples of the group's soul-inflected gangsta rap. ~ Heather Phares, ISBN13:B000000WBZ ISBN10:B000000WBZ Material Type:audioCD