Spoonie Gee

• The Godfather of Rap [Tuff City, 1987] B+

Consumer Guide Reviews:

The Godfather of Rap [Tuff City, 1987]
Spoonie is so unreconstructed he talks the same old shit without even pretending he made it up--a little romantic vulnerability (not much) is as venturesome as he gets thematically. His rhymes'll sneak up on you, though, and his groove is so old it's new. Surprising a Mike Tyson fan is such a counterpuncher; Lee Dorsey as JB, he doesn't float like a butterfly--more like a waterbug on a shore current. Marley Marl is his match, deploying riff and dub and dissonance with a laggardly subtlety that'll pass hotbloods right by. So let me put it this way--Spoonie probably thinks Bob Marley stole his handle from Marl, and he's still the first rapper to come by his reggae naturally. B+