Funkdafied [PA] (CD - 1994)

Recorded at Kross Wire Studio, Atlanta, Georgia.

All songs written or co-written by Jermaine Dupri. Samples include "Under The Bridge" (as performed by The Red Hot Chili Peppers), "Deeper" (as performed by Boss), "Between The Sheets" (written by Isley Brothers and Chris Jasper) and "Fear" (written by Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet).

Until recently, New York- and California-based rap artists have dominated the market, making it difficult for outside talent to break big in the industry. However, with the release of her debut, FUNKDAFIED, Chicago's teen-aged female rapper Da Brat has been able to put the Windy City on the hip-hop map.

Writer/producer Jermaine Dupri, who has shepherded bar-mitzvah-aged rappers Kris Kross and vocal prodigies Xscape up the pop charts, has once again come through with a superior production. On "Come And Get Some" Dupri turns a single Lenny Kravitz guitar chord into a mind-blowing, psychedelic soul loop. And on "Funkdafied," which leaped right over the heads of hip-hop listeners onto the Hot Singles chart, he connects Da Brat with funk across the ages by sampling the Isley Brothers' "Between The Sheets."

Far from L.A.'s gangsta scene but decidedly of it, Da Brat delivers her Snoop Dog-influenced rhymes with streetwise bravado, in a coarse Ice Cube-esque lingo that is free of any feminine attributes.

Personnel: Da Brat (vocals), Eric Brice (guitar), Manuel Seal (keyboards, background vocals), Jermaine Dupri (background vocals).

Recorded at Kross Wire Studio, Atlanta, Georgia.

All songs written or co-written by Da Brat and Jermaine Dupri, except "Give It 2 You" (Jermaine Dupri/C. Kelly). Samples include "Between The Sheets" (as performed by The Isley Brothers).

The first album by a female rapper ever to sell one million copies, Funkdafied is a promising debut effort that finds da Brat still solidifying her style. She's a very good rapper without a strong identity of her own yet, and despite her own obvious intensity, she seems infatuated with the offhanded drawl of Snoop Doggy Dogg on much of the album. She's not just influenced by him, but cops recognizable inflections, phrasing, and vocal riffs, and producer Jermaine Dupri sometimes supports her with Dr. Dre-style G-funk tracks, most obviously on the single "Fa All Y'All." But even at its most derivative, Funkdafied has spirit. Repeatedly announcing, "I ain't no muthaf*ckin' joke," da Brat paints herself as a cussin', weed-smokin' badass bitch who can hang with the boys and beat them at their own game. Cuts like "Da Shit Ya Can't Fuc Wit," "Fire It Up," and "Give It 2 You" effectively establish her tough-talking persona, and the smash title cut is a breezy, laid-back party jam. On quite a few tracks, da Brat augments her Snoop fixation by referencing lines from '80s classics, almost as though she feels compelled to prove she knows her history; she can also rely a little too heavily on her catch phrase, "Brat-tat-tat-tat." But even if she isn't quite there yet, da Brat knows who she wants to be, and she has the talent and production to make the journey entertaining. ~ Steve Huey minimize