Casual - Fear Itself
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Music CD Cover
Artist: CasualEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1994-02-01
Music Label: Jive
Soundtracks:
- Intro
- You Flunked
- Me-O-Mi-O
- Get Off It
- That's How It Is
- That Bulls**t
- Follow The Funk
- Who's It On
- I Didn't Mean To
- We Got It Like That
- A Little Something
- This Is How We Rip S**t
- Lose In The End
- Thoughts Of The Thoughtful
- Chained Minds
- Be Thousand
Free Music Notes for Fear Itself
Free Music Review: He "Didn't Mean To" Drop Such A Great Album...Or Did He? (Rating: 8 out of 10- -4.0 stars)
Hit: 4 Stars
Call it what you want, when it comes to the Hieroglyphics, Casual might be the most lyrical sounding from the group (okay, maybe it's a toss up with Pep Love, but where was his album back in the 90's?). He really has shown some growth since he first appeared on Del's No Need for Alarm prior to this album being released. Not only he is very lyrical, but he can be a versital emcee as well. He is great at rocking mics or telling such hilarious stories, which are all throughout this album.
"I Didn't Mean To" would be his most popular single from this album, a song about him sleeping up with a friend's girl. Other great lyrical tracks would be "You Flunked" and the catchy "Follow The Funk". As mentioned before, he can tell a few stories like on "Loose In The End" and on the hilarious "Be Thousand".
A benefit of being in such a innovative group full of emcees is how easy you can get them to be a guest on a track in your album. Casual uses that to his full advantage here, whether if someone is dropping a verse, or if they are just ad-libing over the track. Case in point with the former where Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Pep Love on "Who's It On", or with the latter where as you have Snupe and A-Plus on the hook of "This Is How We Rip ****", and on "Be Thousand" having Snupe and Tajai ad-libbing the story. Even Toure would come and scratch a few samples throughout a few songs. The only outside person who makes an appearance is Saafir from Digital Underground doing his thing on "That B.S." (and would battle Casual less than a year later on "The Wake Up Show").
As for the production, believe it or not it's quite different than most Hiero releases in the mid 90's. Domino produced most of this album, with the help of Del, Jay-Biz, and Casual himself. Not too often will you hear a will hear a great horn loop like on "Get Off It". Also at times, you can hear the laid back funk production, such as "Me-O-Mi-O" and "Follow The Funk". I would have said this would have been the best produced album from The Hieroglyphics, but Like It Should Be would hold that honor. But still the production here is excellent.
It's easy to see why Fear Itself is such a great album. Great production and lyrics all over this album. No doubt Casual can hold his own with this dope album. Given that his later albums were lack luster (Meanwhile was canned, and the one after that was a dissapointment), this would be known to be his best and his most popular, which bring me to something else. With the exception of their group albums, most of the great Hiero solo releases were on popular record labels (Casual and Souls were on Jive, and Del was on Elektra). Maybe Jive can release some sort of greatest hits and some lost tracks that Casual and Souls of Mischief made while signed to that label. But until then, there is no doubt Fear Itself will satisfy any fan of hip hop from the mid 90's. Peace.
Lyrics: A-
Production: A-
Guest Appearances: A-
Musical Vibes: A-
Top 5 Tracks:
1. Follow The Funk
2. Get Off It
3. Be Thousand
4. I Didn't Mean To
5. Who Is It On (featuring Pep Love and Del)
Honorable Mention:
1. Me-O-Mi-O
2. This Is How We Rip ****
Fear Itself Poster
Compared to the complex psyche of Del and the Souls of Mischief's interwoven rhyme schemes, Casual was the most conventional of the Bay Area's Hieroglyphics, yet few would to be foolish enough to dismiss him as any average MC. The very essence of a battle rapper, Casual was a braggadocio maestro who badgered the competition into submission with his freestyle-infused lyrics. Fear Itself perhaps represented the zenith of the Hiero's abilities. The most lyrically and musically consistent album the collective ever put out, Fear Itself had no end of impressive lyrics or tracks. On the latter end, producer Domino and fellow Hiero members put many of their obscure breakbeats to use, filling the album with thick, rolling bass lines ("Me-O-Mi-O") expressive jazz melodies ("Thoughts of the Thoughtful") and crashing drum marches ("Chained Minds"). Holding up his end of the bargain, Casual was relentless, straight-smacking MCs down on "That's How It Is," "You Flunked," and "Lose in the End," but still taking enough time to sleep with his best friends' girls ("I Didn't Mean To"). --Oliver WangDance & DJ Music CDs
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