Flatline

by Jason BirchmeierIt took a year or two for MC Breed to make the transition from his early-'90s West Coast style to his late-'90s down South style, but by the time Flatline hit the streets in 1997, he had the Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik/pimpin'/baller thing down to a science. Just as he had done a year before on the solid To da Beat Ch'all album, he works mostly with producer Jazze Pha here, a soon-to-be big-name Dirty South producer who really comes into his own on these late-'90s Breed albums. Furthermore, Breed teams up with Bay Area and longtime TOO|$HORT?Too $hort producer Ant Banks for a few tracks, including the excellent lead single, "Dreamin'." In addition to Pha and Banks, Erotic D and D.O.C. help out on this album, which is just as solid as -- if not a step up from -- To da Beat Ch'all. Breed's late-'90s albums may have not been as commercially successful as his early-'90s efforts, but they're surely more polished. At this point, Breed's a veteran, and it shows.