REVIEW: Dis 'N' Dat Bumpin' (Epic Street)
- Martin Bate
OK - guess what this album sounds like. Look carefully at the name of the act and the album and then let me tell you that Dis 'n' Dat are two black women who claim they are into partying and are firmly in control of their sexuality. Then let me ask you - do we really need a vastly inferior Salt 'n' Pepa ?
Everything about this act smells of 'product'. From the embarrassing record company press release with its laughable attempts at street slang that you just know were written by a white, middle-class, 30-something marketing suit (the word 'hype' crops up once a sentence) to the black and white glamour sleeve-shots.
And the music? Well, there's actually some OK beats with some nice old school and electro touches. The opener, "Party" is even a passable old-style, party jam of the type that died in the mid 80's.
But overall the lyrics are cliched and dated and the girls' mic skills extend about as far as both of them rapping at the same time. In weedy voices. I suspect that if they tried to do something as difficult as......oh, trading lines or something, that they'd forget to chew their gum.
As for the strong black women angle, its impossible to tell, and doubtful, seeing as the girls' entire contribution to the album is one lyric write and a co-write. To make things worse, I suspect that the main writers of these Salt'n'Pepa styled "I want a strong man" rhymes aren't even female. The stench of 'product' grows more sickly by the minute.
Oh yeah, and they've got a song called "Whoot! Here It Is!". Need I say more ?
