In the past few years, hip-hop has shown that it is large enough to contain many different styles. “Some people say you can’t bounce if you hip-hop.” This line from the South Coast Party Boyz CD Escape From New Orleans pinpoints the restrictive aspects of categorizing forms of music. Bounce is New Orleans’ native sound; a bass-thumping blend of call-and-response vocals and fast beats, whereas hip-hop has traditionally put more emphasis on lyrics. This album marks the growing popularity of classic hip-hop in a city traditionally ruled by the dance-powered sounds of bounce. But instead of apologizing for their musical roots, the Party Boyz aim to bring respect to bounce in the eyes of hip-hop culture. They aim to move the crowd and make them think at the same time. Whether they achieve this noble endeavor has yet to be seen.
Escape…is driven by the undeniably twerking (New Orleans’ new slang expression of the month) vibrations of 808 drum machine kicks over bounce beats. The opening track conjures classic hooks like “Shake Watcha Mama Gave Ya” and features MCs Desire Zion and Mutt Malamute counting as they blend singing into their rhymes. The listener might assume that they have found another bland Cash Money-ish duo until the second track when the beat is stripped down and the Boyz start to improvise with freestyle rhymes. It soon becomes apparent that there is much more to the music than a simple call to party. Zion and Mutt reveal their conscious sides, spitting positive flows over the simple beat and adding melody with their well-matched voices.
The album is highlighted by points like this, when the two MCs truly seem to search for a middle ground between their two sides. At these times, like Desire Zion’s first verse on “Diamond Rows,” the gap that has always separated New Orleans bounce from the rest of hip-hop seems a bit smaller.
On “Galactic Bubble” the duo show a more funky side, riding the roller rink beat back and forth as they repeat the hook in a singing style comparable to a mixture of the Artist and George Clinton. “Cannabis Lane” features the sparsest beat on the album, with a slow beat box and smoked-out, funny rhymes.
All in all, Escape From New Orleans stands out simply for what the Party Boyz attempt to do. The beats get boring and repetitive at times (the famous whistle from N.W.A.’s “Express Yourself” can be heard on no less than three tracks) but Zion and Mutt make up for it with their tight rhymes. The production is nice and Escape… would no doubt do a sufficient job moving any club into a sweaty twerk. Except for the times when the content becomes overtly and unnecessarily sexual, these two conscious young MCs show that they are bringing something new to the hip-hop world—something for everyone.
