Album: Gangsta Lean (Capitol)
Songwriters: Tracey Carter, Chris Jackson and EJ Turner
Hit #1: November 13th, 1993 (6 Weeks)
Now THIS is interesting.
Before Bone: Thugs N Harmony amassed huge popularity by blunting rap's bite with intricately sung harmonies, five-part Sacramento hip hop troupe DRS (musical aliases: Endo, Pic, Jail Bait, Deuce Deuce and Blunt) were tearing down the walls between R&B and gangsta rap. At the time, the concept seemed a bit strange, but no matter your reservations at the interesting angle, if you were a R&B fan during the fall of '93, you couldn't escape "Gangsta Lean".
Think BTNH's "Crossroads", Coolio's "C U When I Get There" or Master P's "I Really Miss My Homies", omit the rappers and put Jodeci in their place and you have "Gangsta Lean". Dedicated to fallen homies, the track borders "SNL" parody, especially with lyrics that are sung rather than rapped ("I tip my 40 to your memory/ Take a drink and I start to think/...I know one day soon/...We'll be hangin' out."; "My God/ Won't you pass a message for me/ Tell him put down those dice for a second Lord/ And listen to his homies"). Yet regardless of DRS' odd choice of performance, their soulful mourning is sturdy and moving, spotlighting an all-too-real tragedy many families were unfortunately far too familiar with at the time.
Despite spending six weeks at #1 and earning a heralded response from critics and fans alike for bringing attention to a sobering aspect of the dominant gangsta rap scene, "Gangsta Lean" was DRS' sole hit and they quickly faded back into obscurity. They've barely been mentioned about since.
面对强大的机器翻译,我已经震惊得几乎不能动弹了!