Grand Puba Albums (4)
'Understand This'
Release Date 10/23/2001
Tracks 20
Label Koch International
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
After being hailed as a promising talent following his debut with Brand Nubian in 1990, Grand Puba struggled through a rocky decade. His 1992 solo debut, Reel to Reel, and a 1998 reunion album with Brand Nubian, Reunited, ended up being the only other highlights in an otherwise quiet decade for Puba. In 2001, however, he made an ambitious return to the rap game with Understand This, his first solo album in over five years and the first album on his Rising Son label (distributed and marketed by Koch). Furthermore, Puba produces every track on this comeback album. But, despite his ambition, Puba's return feels awkward and ultimately a bit embarrassing. Rap has always been a culture by and for the youth, and particularly in the early 2000s more than ever. Therefore, a veteran like Puba seems more than a little out of place among other East Coast rappers of the era like Jay-Z and DMX. Ultimately, Puba's just too old for the rap game. He's out of touch with the times and sounds ridiculous trying to co-opt early-2000s lingo like "ice." And it doesn't help that his productions, though adequate, are less than engaging. In the end, like the many other golden age rappers trying to make comebacks in the early 2000s, Grand Puba ultimately embarrasses himself with Understand This. Sure, you have to commend his efforts and his courage, but, even if you're a longtime fan, you kind of wish he'd thrown in the towel when he was still on top of the game. It'd be different if Puba would have stuck with his old style. However, that's sadly not the case. He's an old man unsuccessfully trying to sound young. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Grand Puba's second solo album continues his groundbreaking fusion of jazz and hip-hop, adding a harder, street-oriented edge for 2000. The production saves the album, even when the songs are weak. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
In a sense, Grand Puba really never was a genuine member of Brand Nubian. He was several years older than Lord Jamar and Sadat X, and had already recorded with the old-school crew Masters of Ceremony several years before finally hooking up with his younger mates. And even the mostly collective-minded One for All featured a couple Puba solo joints. Based on the sophomore Brand Nubian outing, it is pretty clear that Grand Puba's carefree verbal play, completely unencumbered by ideology, tempered the more in-your-face manifestation of Jamar and Sadat X's radical politics since In God We Trust which, as thrillingly polemical as it could be, was also rather severe and uncompromising, even apocalyptic, in its outlook, and therefore off-putting at times. Likewise, based on this debut solo album, it's clear that Brand Nubian created precisely the right context in which Puba's self-reflexive braggadocio could flourish without wearing thin because Reel to Reel, as much fun as it is, has little in the way of substance. As a result, the record never becomes more than a pleasing divertissement. Minus any counterweights who can "drop the science," Puba, like some sort of hip-hop Dolemite, proved to be interested mostly in self-puffery, partying, and playing the ladies. While the persona is entertaining as far as it goes, it doesn't have a lot of mileage in it unless you have a high tolerance for tall tales about stunts and blunts. The artist himself had a good time satirizing this penchant at the beginning of the classic "Wake Up" from One for All, but seems to have lost sight of some of the possibilities for self-parody here. Having said that, the album really does have a lot to offer, including the irresistible one-two punch of "Check Tha Resume" and "360°," the deep-fried "Honey Don't Front," and the delightfully lazy "Who Makes the Loot?," whipped off with Brand New Heavies when they were at their funkiest. The production (most of it by the artist himself) is universally excellent, and Puba is, without a doubt, one of the cleverest, most cheekily complex MCs to ever pick up a microphone. Just bring your incredulity and sense of humor -- the lower the brow the better -- and Reel to Reel is a real hoot. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide
