Get Dirty Radio
Label: Look/Tha Ave Records
Length: EP
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Get Dirty Radio
Though he hasn’t done a full-length in some time, the New York MC called Andre the Giant (aka A.G.) garners considerable respect in discussions of ’90s hip-hop, for both his credible debut on Lord Finesse’s Funky Technician and his successful union with producer Showbiz. Get Dirty Radio pins A.G.’s skill against striking production with smart beat-maker choices that include Jake One (check the saloon-piano stomper ‘If I Wannaâ?�) and Madlib. J Dilla’s scratches and hard synth grooves on ‘Hip Hop Quotableâ?� make a good bed for Aloe Blacc’s slick sung vocal and A.G.’s verses, which connect rampant lyrical allusions to previous classics. Churchy group choruses bookend A.G.’s adept and intimate vows to loved ones on ‘Love.â?� Here you can chalk up another brilliant stitched-up soundscape to Oh No, complete with vinyl cracks, clipped backups and muted plucked guitar notes. A.G. returns to his roots in Get Dirty‘s swankiest funk nugget, as plentiful well-trod homicidal threats on the Lord Finesse’produced ‘We Don’t Careâ?� make ‘Loveâ?�’s pleasantries seem miles away.
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2006.