Lyrically, what happened to Kurupt on Kuruption?

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

How come he was great in his Death Row days, and dope on Streetz is a Mutha.. but came wack on Streetz is a Mutha?

For real, that was his time to shine.  If he would have came out with a dope album people would have gotten behind him.  It still landed at #6 on the charts and went gold even after how wack it was.

I want a thread with analysis of his lyrics.  Really, was he too busy with playing the role of CEO and hanging wit Foxy Brown to spit some decent lyrics and flow?

[Al Bundy]

Kuruption wasn't that bad.

[XaNdEr]

Bryan, will you quit making Kurupt topics? I think this is the 3rd you made in 1 day, stop this nonsense foo. Get off Kurupt's nuts and get a life. -1

[Okka]

Kuruption wasn't that bad.

[Darksider]

Kuruption wasn't that bad.

[Lord Funk]

I agree with Infinite.

I clearly remember hearing the album for the first time. I was at university and was given an advance press copy to review for the university paper. I put it in my CD walkman and listened to it as i walked into town, and to this day I remember being immediately struck at how incredibly wack the lyrics to the opening track were.

I think people here today are so used to Kurupt's ups and downs lyrically that they fail to appreciate just how remarkable the difference was from the high calibre of everything he dropped prior to Kuruption. There are flashes of lyrical brilliance across the album, don't get me wrong, but I'll never forget hearing 'This One's For U' for the first time and being shocked at how sloppy it was.

As for why? Who knows. It can't be easy setting up your own label like that, so maybe the guy had other things on his mind. But it didn't seem to me that there was any pride taken in the rhymes on that album. Those weren;t the raps of an MC who, a year or two before in The Source, said his dream had always been to be able to take any rapper out with a freestyle.

[shaydee]

daz and kurupt both switched to a slower flow in 2000..... imo kurupt will never be as tight as he was in 95

[Pushinbigbody00]

D-R-U-G-S

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

I agree with Infinite.

I clearly remember hearing the album for the first time. I was at university and was given an advance press copy to review for the university paper. I put it in my CD walkman and listened to it as i walked into town, and to this day I remember being immediately struck at how incredibly wack the lyrics to the opening track were.

I think people here today are so used to Kurupt's ups and downs lyrically that they fail to appreciate just how remarkable the difference was from the high calibre of everything he dropped prior to Kuruption. There are flashes of lyrical brilliance across the album, don't get me wrong, but I'll never forget hearing 'This One's For U' for the first time and being shocked at how sloppy it was.

As for why? Who knows. It can't be easy setting up your own label like that, so maybe the guy had other things on his mind. But it didn't seem to me that there was any pride taken in the rhymes on that album. Those weren;t the raps of an MC who, a year or two before in The Source, said his dream had always been to be able to take any rapper out with a freestyle.

nice post.. much props..

But the song that really got me was not, "This Ones For U", but the song I really think displays how greatly his skills had fallen off from his Death Row days... is "Play My Cards".  Battlecat laced a nice beat, that you could really ride to and reflect, and Kurupt just spits unfocused trash over the track.  It's like he ain't even trying, it could have been a freestyle or something. Check it out..

Play My Cards

"I'm a G
Ohh yeah that's me
Don't forget it
Act like you knew it fore I set it
I put the needle on the wax
Before I turn around
And burn everything to the ground
I seen it comin
A fool over to the right gunnin
The homies wistled
We all drew pistols"

btw, you got a scan of that Source article by any chance?  Did DPG get the cover of the Source when Dogg Food came out?

[d-nice]

He sounded drunk or high on alot of the songs. Just sounded like on a couple tracks he just threw some words together and made a song. I think people underestimate how much of a influence Dre had on DPG when they were on Death Row. There is no way Dre would have let many Kurupt tracks be released the way they were. But you have to learn on your own. He corrected alot of that on TSIAM so it makes me wonder even more what was going on with certain tracks on this album.

[floatin_above_everything]

I really don't feel like his lyrics were bad at all. It was his 1st solo, and a double disc at that. He spit nothin but venom on the Eastcoast disc, and dropped a few gems on West Coast side too. I'll admit I haven't heard the album in it's entirety, but his lyrics sounded far better than say ATG, SDDS or any of the recent Dogg Pound albums.

[d-nice]

I really don't feel like his lyrics were bad at all. It was his 1st solo, and a double disc at that. He spit nothin but venom on the Eastcoast disc, and dropped a few gems on West Coast side too. I'll admit I haven't heard the album in it's entirety, but his lyrics sounded far better than say ATG, SDDS or any of the recent Dogg Pound albums.

True. I only have a problem with a couple cuts here and there. But overall, he had some heat. Game is still my shit off that East disc. His flow and lyrics were on point on that track.

[floatin_above_everything]

I really don't feel like his lyrics were bad at all. It was his 1st solo, and a double disc at that. He spit nothin but venom on the Eastcoast disc, and dropped a few gems on West Coast side too. I'll admit I haven't heard the album in it's entirety, but his lyrics sounded far better than say ATG, SDDS or any of the recent Dogg Pound albums.

True. I only have a problem with a couple cuts here and there. But overall, he had some heat. Game is still my shit off that East disc. His flow and lyrics were on point on that track.

No doubt, I like Light Shit Up the best.

[d-nice]

I really don't feel like his lyrics were bad at all. It was his 1st solo, and a double disc at that. He spit nothin but venom on the Eastcoast disc, and dropped a few gems on West Coast side too. I'll admit I haven't heard the album in it's entirety, but his lyrics sounded far better than say ATG, SDDS or any of the recent Dogg Pound albums.

True. I only have a problem with a couple cuts here and there. But overall, he had some heat. Game is still my shit off that East disc. His flow and lyrics were on point on that track.

No doubt, I like Light Shit Up the best.

Yeah that one and It's A Set Up. Nice little jab at Nas on there too.

[Lord Funk]

btw, you got a scan of that Source article by any chance?  Did DPG get the cover of the Source when Dogg Food came out?

Unfortunately not. It was a feature they ran on the 10 hungriest new school MCs, or something like that. It was a fold-out orange cover with all of them together - Canibus was there, I think Big Pun was on it. For some strange reason I think they included Silkk the Shocker lol.

Kurupt was there, and he said something like: The only thing I ever prayed for was to be able to drop a perfect freestyle, straight off the top of my head. And I've been blessed to do that. (Something like that, I'm paraphrasing).