Fat Beats & Bra Straps: Battle Rhymes & Posse

RELEASE
March 17, 1998
LABEL
Rhino

Album Review

The second volume of Rhino's female hip-hop series Fat Beats and Bra Straps spotlights Battle Rhymes & Posse Cuts -- that is, cutting contests and songs recorded by a full group. Like its predecessor, the disc is a little light on actual classics -- there's Roxanne & UTFO's "The Rel Roxanne," plus L.L. Cool J's "Doin' It," which really stretches the limits of the "female" designation, since LeShaun is essentially used as window dressing -- but the strength of the collection is that it rounds up a lot of rarities, obscure singles and forgotten album tracks that haven't been widely heard since their initial release. Among the more interesting cuts are De La Soul & Shortie No Mass' "In the Woods," Sparky D's "Sparky's Turn," Pebblee-Poo's "A Fly Guy," J.J. Fad's "Ya Goin' Down," the Coup's "This One's a Girl" and "The Show Stoppa (Is Stupid Fresh)" by Super Nature, which was an early incarnation of Salt N' Pepa. Anyone serious about hip-hop will find cuts like these quite interesting, but listeners looking for a handful of hits should realize that this is more of an archival, historical release than a hits collection.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Track Listing

  1. The Show Stoppa (Is Stupid Fresh)
  2. Roxanne's Revenge [Street Version]
  3. The Real Roxanne [Uncensored Version]
  4. Sparky's Turn [Vocal Version]
  5. Round 1 [Uncensored]
  6. A Fly Guy
  7. Ya Goin' Down
  8. Big Mama
  9. This One's a Girl
  10. Rhymin' and Rappin'
  11. The Pros
  12. Sprinkle Me
  13. Doin It
  14. In the Woods
  15. Proceed III
  16. Oh! Veronica [Long Version]