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Wrektime
Sound Bwoy Bureill
Home Sweet Home Album: Dah Shinin’ (1995) |
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I couldn’t decide if Smif-N-Wessun’s Dah Shinin’ should be categorized within LP Classics or Crate Diggin’.
One the one hand, Dah Shinin’ is a mid-90s banger, and was part of a wave of releases that brought some shine back to New York hip hop after years of West Coast dominance. So LP Classics seems like the right place for this post.
On the other hand, unless you were a serious connoisseur of rap, you’ve probably never heard of Smif-N-Wessun, its talented MCs Tek and Steele, or their underrated producers, Da Beatmizerz. The duo appears to identify itself with an underground aesthetic; so from that perspective, maybe Crate Diggin’ would be the more appropriate categorization.
It’s the rare record that can be both amazing and unknown, but Dah Shinin’ pulls it off. It’s not for everyone, though. The lyrics are raw, the beats are moody and ambient. And kids should definitely not attempt to learn spelling from the duo; everything in the Smif-N-Wessun universe uses ridiculous, phonetic spelling. (“Wipe Ya Mouf”?)
But for those who can hang with the realness, Da Shinin’ is one of hip hop’s most steady LPs; having a single producer oversee the record makes a huge difference to its flow.
