Kwame - A Day In The Life (A Pokadelick Adventure) 1990

Here is Kwame's second album titled A Day in the Life: A Pokadelick Aventure from 1990. A strong follow-up to his '89 debut album "Kwame The Boy Genius".

Below is a legitimate review of the album written by Steve Huey of allmusic.com,

"A Day in the Life: A Pokadelick Adventure is the definitive Kwamé album, a concept record about his life as a high schooler, and also the one where he created his signature visual style with a wardrobe full of polka dots. A self-described "quiet nerd type" who even brags about his excellent grammar on one cut, Kwamé navigates a world of bullies, crushes, immature girls, gossip-mongers, parties, bad report cards, and -- of course -- sucker MCs. A few songs don't seem to have much to do with the concept, but it hangs together pretty well musically, with buoyant, Daisy Age-flavored production (partly by Kwamé himself). "Ownlee Eue" and "Oneovdabigboiz" are underrated singles, and Kwamé shows off his storytelling talents on album cuts like "Da Man," "Therez a Partee Goinz On," and "Whoz Dat Guy." A Day in the Life is filled with cartoonish, electronically altered voices commenting on the action and interacting with the bemused hero. It's all good-humored and colorful, if completely non-threatening, and it's too bad that Kwamé seems best-remembered today through disses by hardcore rappers like Tim Dog and the Notorious B.I.G. Sure, the polka dots are goofy, but in light of everything that's happened since then in hip-hop, they also hark back to a simpler, more innocent era, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that."

1		Da' Man (4:15)
2		Skinee Muva (4:44)
3		Yes Yes Yall (4:27)
4		A Day In The Life (4:12)
5		Itz Oh Kay (4:04)
6		Therez A Partee Goinz On (4:53)
7		Oneovdabigboiz (4:45)
8		Hai (Heart Symbol) (4:02)
9		Whoz Dat Guy (4:18)
10		Doin' Ma Thang (3:42)
11		Ownlee Eue (5:20)
12		Ownlee Eue (Reprise) (2:19)

Download

-- Thomas V

Who Flipped It Better? Gangstarr Vs. Kwame

It doesn't really sound like too fair of a match-up, does it? But, don't sleep, Kwame didn't call himself the 'Boy Genius' for no reason. From what he says in the video below [from D-Nice's True Hip Hop Stories series], he basically brought a rhyme book and a crate of records that he wanted to sample up to a studio where the late great Paul C was engineering, and went to work. Check this video out and then we'll get into the breakdowns:

Kwame' And The New Beginning - The Rhythm: I am not one of the most 'analytical' guys here at the T.R.O.Y. blog, so bear with me. If you think this guy was wack because Biggie said, "your life is played out like Kwame' and them fucking polka dots," then I don't know what to tell you. This right here is some pioneering shit. Besides the sample we're focusing on, he also used pieces from James Brown - Funky Drummer, Lynn Collins - Ain't No Sunshine, and The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There [damn, car and/or douche commercials have really ruined this song for me]. Check how you can hear the separation of the drums in this video. That's rawness and I love it. The song has an almost amateur sound to it. But you can tell that was what they were going for.

Gangstarr - The ? Remainz: Where to even begin on this one? This is all speculation, but I get the feeling that Primo definitely had Kwame's song in mind when he approached his sampling for this track. I believe he wanted to show how a previously used sample could be flipped and chopped into something entirely different. He was also showing how Gangstarr was still like an open ended question. Constantly elevating from album to album and on the b-sides in between. You can yell at me in the comments if you think I'm wrong, but I really can't think of an earlier track where such small samples were chopped and replayed in this fashion. I pretty much bugged the first time I heard this and had to do a triple take when I realized what sample he used. The ? Remainz is definitely innovative and groundbreaking. And, not for nothing, Guru spits some of my favorite lines I ever heard from him on this cut.

I'm pretty positive that certain things were cleared for this song, but I'm not taking any chances here. I don't wanna be THAT dude that gets someone in trouble or causes them financial woes over clearance issues.

Previews:

Sample Source

Kwame' And The New Beginning - The Rhythm

Gangstarr - The ? Remainz

Download all tracks mentioned in this post in one folder here.

--Verge