Product Description

When discussing albums that helped to redefine rap music inthe late 1980s, it would be impossible not to mention CRITICAL BEATDOWN. The debut album from the Ultramagnetic MC's isone of the pinnacle releases of 1988's "new school" movement. Over frenetic, self-produced tracks that sound like the Bomb Squad beaming down from outer space, rappers Kool Keith and Ced-Gee deliver esoteric and often comical lyrics that somehow manage to retain a street attitude. It is this truly original blend that makes CRITICAL BEATDOWN such a timeless listening experience. Standout tracks include "Ease Back" and the bona fide classic "Ego Trippin'", though every song ismemorable. Why CRITICAL BEATDOWN never found a mainstream audience is anyone's guess, but its influence on hip-hop cannot be understated.

Track Listing

1. Watch Me Now
2. Ease Back
3. Ego Trippin'
4. Moe Luv's Theme
5. Kool Keith Housing Things
6. Travelling At The Speed Of Thought
7. Feeling It
8. One Minute Less
9. Ain't It Good
10. Funky
11. Give The Drummer Some
12. Break North
13. Critical Beatdown
14. When I Burn
15. Ced Gee (Delta Force One)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68736 in Music
• Released on: 1997-10-06
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Part B-Boys and part Bad Boys, the Ultramagnetic MCs took a series of mind-blowing singles, including "Ease Back" and "Funky", wrapped them around at least as many new tracks and released Critical Beatdown, one of the greatest new-school albums. Combining seriously dog-eared samples (James Brown's "Funky Drummer" appears out of tradition more than necessity on "Give the Drummer Some", and the Meters' "Look-Ka Py Py" provides the backbone for "Ease Back") with very clipped rhyme patterns from the Kool Moe Dee-Big Daddy Kane school of linguistics, Ultra's style lives on in everyone from 2Pac to Company Flow. Production is tight, and the two-headed leadership of Ced- Gee and lunatic genius Kool Keith (just try to decode his astral cipher on "Ain't It Good to You") makes this album shoulders above other new-school heads. --Todd Levin

Customer Reviews

stands the test of time
listen to this now, and you would not think this is over 15 years old now !

up there with all of the classics from the 80s and 90s.

a must for any hip hop fan, and kool keith fans.

Awesome
As a white, middle aged physiscs teacher, you might not think that I would be into this kind of music, but it is excellent. I really enjoy the beats and the MC-ing is out of this world.
Thankyou Utramagnetic MCs, keep up the good work!!

Classic Hip-Hop
As an album, Critical Beatdown just falls short of being 5 stars but there are enough fantastic tracks on here to make up for a couple of weaker efforts. The trouble is that the good tracks are timeless classics so make others seem weaker than they are.

Kool Keith showed the world that he was the greatest rapper out and Ced Gee and engineer, Paul C pioneered new sampling techniques and really started to work the samples in original ways. Ced Gee (Delta Force One) is one of my favourite tracks, mainly for the ingenius and infectious chop of Bob James' Nautilus.

This record has influenced so many people, from the vocal samples The Prodigy have used to Fatboy Slim's production blueprint (the big drum sound) and it's essential for everybody to hear - just to appreciate the affect they have had on modern music.