“Listen up, I’ve got a story to tell.”
Those words fell perfectly over the funky melody and crisp drums of “Touched”, the track marking the half-way point of Underground Kingz’s masterful third LP, Ridin’ Dirty.
By the time the now famous line has met your ears, you’ve already toured scenes of hard living indebted to drug-related survival tactics. Duo Bun B and the late great Pimp C use words like a fine point paintbrush.
UGK outlined, detailed, and accented depictions of urban America without smearing. It’s no question they were unique and skilled on their first two albums. However, on Dirty they were brilliant.
The slow-motion pace of the Isley Brothers-sampled “One Day” gave some listeners their first taste of a screwed-and-chopped track. Kicking the album off with this luscious lag was unconventional to most auditory canals, and UGK took their time traveling it to get inside heads.
“I’m up early because ain’t enough light in the daytime/smoked two sweets and sold these chickens before the clock strikes 9” rhymes Pimp C.
UGK were always the consummate lyrists, a character trait they held for years without adequate credit. They finally got it here.
On “Pinky Ring” Bun B educates, “Breaking haters off, can’t be mistaken for fakin’/fools are the ones left shakin’, flakin’ marijuana deals with Jamaicans”.
The smooth “Diamonds & Wood”, the dark groove “3 In the Mornin’”, and the final chapter title track are but a few more standouts on an album that’s an all-time standout. |THIS.
[By Mr. Joe Walker]
