Kwest Tha Madd Lad - This Is My First Album

If I didn't make it clear how much I love Justin Warfield's album, let me make it abundantly clear that it is fantastic! If I came off rough on him it's not because I don't like or respect him, it's just that someone so talented has such a scattershot career. I would love to see consistent creativity like his on a more regular basis, but it's the people who are a little sharper than the mainstream can handle that have the shortest careers. I'm going to put the One Inch Punch album up in a few days as it's totally worth checking out, I just wish there was more JW stuff.

Kwest is kinda like JW in the sense that hie stuff is just a little too advanced for the mainstream, which is a shame. Like JW, Kwest dropped his album in the nineties on a Warner subsidiary, in this case American Recordings, the post Def Jam label started by Rick Rubin. Rick hasn't spent too much time working on hip-hop related projects since leaving Def Jam in the late eighties, although he shows up more frequently now in that field than he used to (99 Problems FTW!). He did keep an eye on the scene though which led to the signing of Milk (the verbal half of Audio Two) and Kwest Tha Madd Lad.

Milk recorded a short album named Never Dated which he produced mostly on his own and featured a Beastie Boys collaboration, but that couldn't save it from being kinda weak. On the other hand, Kwest got a proper full-length that showed off his awesome skills on the mic. At one point I recall the audacious claim that Kwest did every rhyme on the album off the head, and while that's just not likely, that's probably how almost every track started. He's just incredibly slick and moves from one idea to another with ridiculous speed. He's got a sense of humor and a dirty mouth that should make anyone with an open mind laugh their asses off. Take 101 Things To Do While I'm With Your Girl, where he may not give the full list but you're sure he could spit it at a moments notice and it would be just as dirty as you fear or hope it would be. On Skin Care he lists even more nasty things to do with a ladyfriend, all the while manually bleeping his curses without missing a beat. Then there's Damn where Kwest takes the role of a demon reporting to Satan and listing his failures and successes at break neck speed. Totally awesome!

Kwest's dirty mind was probably the main reason he didn't take off, but it didn't help that the beats aren't all sure-fire hits. Probably half of the album is spot on perfect, but tracks like I Met My Baby At V.I.M. don't help things. Lubrication's beat had to grow on me, but as much as it bored me initially now I'm totally feeling it, but on the radio or MTV you've got one shot to get into the listener's head and if there is a moment of doubt, you're lost. These tracks are too deep to sink right in most of the time, so it's no shock the album flopped, but it's still a shame.

Kwest lingered on the scene for a few years but he has basically been invisible since 1996/1997. He made a return of sorts in 2007 with a compilation of unreleased cuts named, what else, These Are My Unreleased Recordings. There are good reasons why much of those tracks didn't come out but it doesn't make the album any less entertaining. I'm not going to post that since it is available for purchase via sites like Amazon and iTunes, both as physical copy or download, but This Is My First Album is LONG out of print so download and enjoy!


Kwest Tha Madd Lad - This Is My First Album

01 Everyone Always Said I Should Start My Album off With A Bang
02 101 Things To Do While I'm With Your Girl
03 Disnexone
04 I Met My Baby At V.I.M.
05 Blase Blah (Off Tha Head)
06 Lubrication
07 What's The Reaction?
08 Daddiez Home
09 Kwest's Theme Song
10 Skin Care
11 Day In The Life Of My Asspipe
12 Butta-Few-Co
13 Disk and Dat
14 125 Pennies For Your Thoughts
15 Herman's Head
16 Bludawnmeyesneekhuz (Through Tha Eyez Of A Hood)
17 Damn
18 Say My Name Again