Whoomp! There It Is! Whoomp There It Is! (Whoomp There It Is - Tag Team)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	Whoomp There It Is - Tag Team
Date:	02/06/09 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of bangers

Disadvantages: Nothing specific

In 1993 the Atlanta-based rap duo named Tag Team released their debut album, taking its title from the hit single which brought them fame: "Whoomp! (There It Is)" in the Miami Bass style. They were pretty fresh at the time as one of the first Dirty South Hip hop acts to find worldwide fame, despite really being none other than a one-hit-wonder. The pair consist of members DC the Brain Supreme and Steve Rolland.

1. "Whoomp!"

Two months prior to this dropping as a single, the Florida rap crew 95 South came out with "Whoot! There It Is", and so you may recognize this too as the ATL crew basically jacked the hook to build their track. From this they came with some original raps to ride the freaky beats in a way that only people from the South in the US could. It is banger of a tune and get you grooving.

**Five Stars**

2. "U Go Girl"

You have rapid Breakbeats being used for this track and they force you to get down to them too as they just kick apart the grooves in it. You have the fast-paced breaks juxtaposed with a deep bassline to reflect the way that similar acts, such as 2 Live Crew in particular had as it is designed specifically to get the girls doing their thing on the dance floor and wit this type of thing being the foundations to it, I don't know how it couldn't come out this way.

**Five Stars**

3. "Free Style"

You have things relaxed quite significantly as you compare it to the ones which opened the album off, and it allows the pair to make much more of an impact with the lyrics of the rhymes, rather than with the beats. This too gets you to chant along as they show how rap is done down south, and since it could have been the first experience for many listeners it is the portrays life down there with a simple recording.

**Four Stars**

4. "Just Call Me DC"

As many claim that the Dirty South has lost its original Hip Hop roots, listening to this one assures you that there as a time where you simply wouldn't have had this cross your mind as they rap on top of the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache" whilst sampling classic work from MC Ricky D (as party of the Get Fresh Crew). Here DC shows his strengths on the turntables, as well as on the microphone.

**Four Stars**

5. "It's Somethin'"

Following a pretty average introduction, it dramatically improves as the breaks come into effect and on top of it you have the rappers do their thing and rap about how they are moving the crowd with what they are doing with this music. It is a big tune, and in mid-tempo so it shows that they can do more than what the singles indicate.

**Five Stars**

6. "Get Nasty"

I recognize the sample in this one as something that the West Coast Hip Hop crew Jurassic 5 used many years later, and with this funky they force you to just freak along to the beats. It is just a killer tune, and it appears that they know where to find the biggest samples to have them bring out their full potential. Within out a doubt this is one of the best here, and I can't see how anyone couldn't groove to it.

**Five Stars**

7. "Bring It On"

Here they go for some hyped club music to take inspiration room all the great southern DJs who were able to get people on their feet and partying to the heavy bass and speedy percussion. You feel these vibes with chants being used to convey this atmosphere, and it was all brought back up with the Crunk movement of the late nineties through to the mid-00s.

**Four Stars**

8. "Funk Key"

They clearly have the "Funk Key" this time around as they find the perfect samples to work with to get you swaying along. It is just too funky for its own good as it is infectious in what groves come out of it, and they display that there is a lot more to them than what you would expect from hearing the disposable sound of "Whoomp! (There It Is)".

**Five Stars**

9. "Gettin' Phat"

Here you have them sticking to the lower pace of things, and have to say that it suits them and they are able to do all that they can with the club ones as they can with the calmer ones such as this where they rap in a simple manner about how fresh they are. The quality of the rhymes isn't particularly special, but it its in with the music they represent.

**Four Stars**

10. "Bobyahead"

They exploit the fact that they extremely versatile with the production by doing a mellow track which is made primarily for listeners to just do what is said in the title and just bob along to the calm yet stern beats which they use here. On this type of thing, its all about the lyrics and it appears that they are able to supply with something relevant for this kind of thing here.

**Five Stars**

11. "Wreck Da Set"

They go for more typical rap stuff for this one and they make it funky again to get you swaying on even more as they continue things and attempt tot excite all of those who were perhaps put off by the fact that they were slowing the pace quite a bit. They get Crunk here long before it was commonplace in Georgian rap.

**Four Stars**

12. "Drop Dem"

To show that they really aren't that different from 2 Live Crew, this one has them come with the type of nasty rhymes which made 2 Live notorious in the late eighties. The explicit content of what the rhyme about shows that they do support the type of thing which got Miami Bass popular in the Hip Hop world and it seesm right to have a tune in this style.

**Four Stars**

13. "Kick Da Flow"

To finish the album off you get them doing a gentle groove to just get you vibing as they finalise things. They sample work off the beastie Boys' "Licensed To ill" album to show to show even more about how much significance the early days of the genre had upon their work it is a nice way to end, and round it off nicely.

**Four Stars**

I really didn't expect to have such consistent quality throughout this album as I thought that "Whoomp!" would be just a fluke of a hit from them, but in fact they produce banger after banger throughout the record. They show that they are able to diversify the music with some general rap put to some Miami Bass and having each one show more of what they are able to do.

Summary: Tag Team's debut album