O.C. Albums (4)
'Smoke and Mirrors'
Release Date 1/1/2005
Tracks 18
Label Hiero Imperium
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Brooklyn/Queens rapper O.C. (Omar Credle)'s third release is a far cry from the underground rapper's groundbreaking mid-'90s work. The member of the D.I.T.C. family is an abundantly gifted lyricist with the kind of dynamic persona equaled by very few in the rap game. However, for an artist who delivered a definitively timeless blow against money-grubbing studio thug MC's with his 1994 classic cut "Time's Up" ("those who pose lyrical and really ain't true I feel...their time's limited hard rocks too"), O.C. effects a diametric shift in tone and character on Bon Appetit. While it is hard to fault a long-suffering artist for making a bid at financial freedom, there is something altogether distasteful about this project. O.C. serves up a full course meal of corrupted ideals, thereby tarnishing his credibility as one of hip-hop's pillars of purity. While the occasional D.I.T.C. stamp helps this album from submerging irrevocably in mainstream iced-out production and concepts (Lord Finesse's gurgling beat on "Dr. Know" and a guest appearance from the gifted A.G. on "Weed and Drinks"), O.C. gorges himself on aimless rhymes and tired tales of decadence and arrogance. While O.C.'s robust storylines do pop up on an inspired ode to the late Big L ("Psalm 23") and even bend toward a lesson on the solid "Doin' Dirt," of the album's 13 cuts, only a few hint at the quality of his prior two efforts. Some of the blame rests on the shoulders of O.C.'s in-house producer Buckwild, who seems to be doing his best Jermaine Dupri impression throughout. While all is not lost for O.C., it's safe to say that the goals and mainstream market power of hip-hop have claimed another victim. This repast might just make a few hip-hop heads lose their lunch. ~ M.F. DiBella, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
D.I.T.C. cohort OC returned in 1997 with his second full-length LP, titled Jewelz, and that is exactly what it is. Even though his 1995 debut was well-received within the hip-hop community, the same adulation did not correlate to sales success. Instead of succumbing to mainstream pressure, OC kept his music street-based, and the listeners reap the benefits of that high quality. With a production roster of top-flight NY producers (Premier, Buckwild, Da Beatminerz, Showbiz, Lord Finesse and Ogee) your ears never get a rest. "My World" sets it off and of the four cuts Primo contributed, this shines brightest: "My skills ill and all of that above/Confidence I'm not worried about a street buzz/I'm OC who you I never heard a ya/Get out my face before I turn into a mother*uckin murderer/I want the green like endo/A mansion a car/A wife who's never been a bimbo/Too much to ask well to me that's simple/Wanna retire on a yacht called 'the S.S. Minnow'." "Win the G" teams OC with Freddie Foxxx (one of the two tracks the pair collaborate on) over yet another Primo track. "Dangerous" is a party-type cut with OC and Big L flipping verses back and forth over a Beatminerz track. OC is truly one of the most skilled MCs in the business, and if he dropped a few cuts catered to radio we would probably hear more from him -- but here's hoping he never goes that route. Like OC said in his classic single, "Time's Up": "I'd rather be broke and have a whole lot of respect." ~ Matt Conaway, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
O.C.'s auspicious debut announced the arrival of one of modern rap's more gifted storytelling lyricists. The artist dropped his thesis on "Time's Up" a '90s rap benchmark track that served to separate rap's true school from its ever-expanding species of frauds. On that track, O.C. takes umbrage with money-grubbing fake MC's over a combined droning bass guitar and well-plucked sample from Slick Rick's "Hey Young World." The album is drenched in classic, hard-core East Coast B-boyism, but O.C. puts the boasts on the shelf to take up more existential subject matter. On "Born to Live" he spins wistful fables from his childhood in order to discuss life's bittersweet fragility: "born to live/a life to die/life's so damn short and I wonder why." The soulful composition lifts a tasteful snippet from Keni Burke's "Keep Rising to the Top." O.C.'s connections to Organized Konfusion shine through on his debut, showcasing a thought-provoking intellectual diversity rarely seen on rap albums. Organized's Pharaoh Monche sits in on the album, as do producers Buckwild and Lord Finesse. Word...Life saw little commercial success due, in part, to the drained coffers of the failed endeavor that was Wild Pitch Records, but one would be hard-pressed to find a hard-core hip-hop fan without this recording somewhere in their collection ~ M.F. DiBella ., All Music Guide
