Terminator X & The Godfathers Of Threatt – Super Bad 2xLP

Rush / P.R.O. (1994)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I had the first Terminator X album back in the 90s and was quite the fan of it.  While not every song was incredible, it was a solid listen all the way through and the highs were pretty high.  The follow up to that album wasn't released until 1994, and honestly I had no idea it even existed.  1994 was definitely a year where my taste in music was starting to change, as hip hop was also changing.  I guess I wasn't paying as much attention as I thought as this one just slipped by me until I discovered it a few years ago.

It's never been rereleased, so it took me a minute to find a copy in good condition that was also at an affordable price.  That second part was very important because while this is a solid record, it is absolutely not good enough to pay collector prices for.  The highlight of the album is the production.  Terminator and Chuck D crafted a record full of interesting samples and beats and there's a consistency there that I wish carried over to the vocals.

There are moments of lyrical excellence.  Chuck D, Ice Cube, Ice T and MC Lyte all contribute to "Sticka," a fiery anti-censorship screed over a laid back beat.  There are also a lot of appearances by those considered old school at the time like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Cold Crush Brothers and Fantastic Five.  These appearances are kind of uneven and for me, only Whodini's run on "It All Comes Down To Money" really sounds like something from 1994.  And even that song is almost ruined by the nonstop repetition of the sung hook.

All in, it's a fun record and one I'll definitely listen to on occasion.  But if you only have room for one Terminator X record in your collection, go with Jeep Beats.

Terminator X & The Godfathers Of Threatt – Super Bad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xedga5Jo3M&ab_