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> Artist: Tim Smooth
> Title: 'I Gotsta Have It EP'
> Label: Yo! Records/JG Records
> Year: 1991
Just how Smooth is Tim? Let us count the ways. On the cover he's sat on a jeep, rocking Jordans and holding a circa-1991 mobile brick to his ear, the sheer size of which, by my calculations, means he's due to get brain cancer in about 14 minutes. He's got a beeper hanging from his waist - this fella does not like to be out of reach, I'm only surprised he's not carrying a paper cup with a string attached and trailing behind his jeep to Ma Dukes back home. He's also got a DJ with a hi-top fade and the look of DJ Tat Money, although it's not him. Yup, pretty Smooth alright.
The Yo! Records catalogue is pretty curious, to say the least. It opens with a couple of fine Gregory D & Mannie Fresh releases (Mannie's rep might not extend much beyond the South, but his work with Gregory D and various Cash Money artists is beyond reproach) then curves into some releases from indie faves Bizzie Boyz. Then it's back into pretty collectable LP's by the likes of PKO and Royal Flush (the '976 Dope' Royal Flush, not the 'Iced Down Medallions' Royal Flush) and the works of Tim Smooth. That's what so curious about the Yo! Label. It's got New York and Texas cats rubbing shoulders, while Tim's material is pitched somewhere between DOC-era Ruthless, Geto Boys and any number of minor NY artists. If it wasn't for a certain twang and the specific New Orleans references, it'd be hard to place. And that's its appeal. Over 6 tracks, Smooth proves to be interesting company. He throws us standard brag rap on the dope title track and standard sexism on 'U Can't Trust No Hoe' and 'I don't give a damn about your boyfriend'. This latter sounds distinctly Southern, while the rhymes come over all Willie D.
"I open up the window so your boyfriend can see us /
About to fuck, lookin' hot, naked as a fetus"
But it's 'That's Why They Sell Dope' that shines the brightest. You may have the socio-political justification for selling drugs a million times from MC's, but Smooth's works so well precisely because it's surrounded by so much other generic (albeit very good) material on this EP. Of course, after hearing Tim's analysis of why the man is keeping him down, you might wish to hear some self-awareness about why he's doing his best to denigrate women, but I don't think a man who shouts out his homies 'Danky Dee', 'Bum', 'Shank Shank' and 'Gangster Rat' wants to hear that. I like to imagine he's talking to 'Bum' on his brick phone.
It's another release that needs to find its way into Freddy's Fresh next edition, especially when I've seen the man selling one himself. Speaking of which, expect to pay between £30 and £65 on eBay or Discogs. Three years later he released the 'Straight up Drivin' Em' on Rap-A-Lot, a release that also helps little with the ongoing conundrum of his real name. On this EP's label, he's listed as 'Timothy Smoothe'. On the back of the sleeve he's 'Timothy Smoot'. Maybe that's why he chose a name somewhere in the middle. It sure beats 'Bum'.
> Reviewed by: Drew Huge
> Title: 'I Gotsta Have It EP'
> Label: Yo! Records/JG Records
> Year: 1991
Just how Smooth is Tim? Let us count the ways. On the cover he's sat on a jeep, rocking Jordans and holding a circa-1991 mobile brick to his ear, the sheer size of which, by my calculations, means he's due to get brain cancer in about 14 minutes. He's got a beeper hanging from his waist - this fella does not like to be out of reach, I'm only surprised he's not carrying a paper cup with a string attached and trailing behind his jeep to Ma Dukes back home. He's also got a DJ with a hi-top fade and the look of DJ Tat Money, although it's not him. Yup, pretty Smooth alright.
The Yo! Records catalogue is pretty curious, to say the least. It opens with a couple of fine Gregory D & Mannie Fresh releases (Mannie's rep might not extend much beyond the South, but his work with Gregory D and various Cash Money artists is beyond reproach) then curves into some releases from indie faves Bizzie Boyz. Then it's back into pretty collectable LP's by the likes of PKO and Royal Flush (the '976 Dope' Royal Flush, not the 'Iced Down Medallions' Royal Flush) and the works of Tim Smooth. That's what so curious about the Yo! Label. It's got New York and Texas cats rubbing shoulders, while Tim's material is pitched somewhere between DOC-era Ruthless, Geto Boys and any number of minor NY artists. If it wasn't for a certain twang and the specific New Orleans references, it'd be hard to place. And that's its appeal. Over 6 tracks, Smooth proves to be interesting company. He throws us standard brag rap on the dope title track and standard sexism on 'U Can't Trust No Hoe' and 'I don't give a damn about your boyfriend'. This latter sounds distinctly Southern, while the rhymes come over all Willie D.
"I open up the window so your boyfriend can see us /
About to fuck, lookin' hot, naked as a fetus"
But it's 'That's Why They Sell Dope' that shines the brightest. You may have the socio-political justification for selling drugs a million times from MC's, but Smooth's works so well precisely because it's surrounded by so much other generic (albeit very good) material on this EP. Of course, after hearing Tim's analysis of why the man is keeping him down, you might wish to hear some self-awareness about why he's doing his best to denigrate women, but I don't think a man who shouts out his homies 'Danky Dee', 'Bum', 'Shank Shank' and 'Gangster Rat' wants to hear that. I like to imagine he's talking to 'Bum' on his brick phone.
It's another release that needs to find its way into Freddy's Fresh next edition, especially when I've seen the man selling one himself. Speaking of which, expect to pay between £30 and £65 on eBay or Discogs. Three years later he released the 'Straight up Drivin' Em' on Rap-A-Lot, a release that also helps little with the ongoing conundrum of his real name. On this EP's label, he's listed as 'Timothy Smoothe'. On the back of the sleeve he's 'Timothy Smoot'. Maybe that's why he chose a name somewhere in the middle. It sure beats 'Bum'.
> Reviewed by: Drew Huge
