To Da Beat Ch'all

by Jason BirchmeierIf MC Breed's album from a year before, Big Baller (1995), found him trying to switch from a West Coast sound to a Southern sound, To da Beat Ch'all finds him finalizing that switch. He wasn't working with D.O.C. or other West Coast artists like Warren G or 2 Pac any longer, like he had only a couple years before on The New Breed (1993) (though D.O.C. does contribute some vocals). No, he had moved to Atlanta, just as TOO|$HORT?Too $hort had, and began working with Atlanta artists, most notably Jazze Pha and Hurricane, as well as Eric Sermon, who spent some time in Atlanta at the time. As a result, this is a fresh album for Breed, a firm step in a new direction. And it's also a formative album for the then embryonic Southern rap scene. Unfortuantely, just as Big Baller had, it left many of Breed's fans scratching their heads in dizzying confusion: first he was Midwest, then he was West Coast gangsta rap, and now he's a down-South baller. Commercial success aside, this is a solid album from Breed, who usually takes an album or two to successfully change styles. For instance, just as The New Breed bettered the West Coast style Breed struggled to adopt on 20 Below, this album betters the down-South style he struggled to adopt on Big Baller. Plus, it's a really slick album with great production from Pha and Sermon, two producers who never cease to amaze.