Notes & Personnel Info |  | The Beatnuts: Ju-Ju, Psycho Les (rap vocals). | | Personnel: Eileen Cruz (vocals); Eric Krasno (guitar, keyboards); Ryan Zoidis (saxophone); Rashawn Ross (trumpet); Neal Evans (keyboards); G. Wise (talk box); Roc Raida (scratches). | | Additional personnel: Chris Chandler, Freeway, Greg Nice, A.G. , Akon, Milano, Rahzel, Tony Touch, Tripel Seis, Prince Whipper Whip, Gab Goblin (rap vocals). | | Audio Mixers: The Beatnuts; Cochise. | | Recording information: Cutting Room. | | Photographer: Mark Mann. | | In 2004 the Beatnuts returned with another album (Milk Me) on another label (Rykodisc), and though they'd long struggled to regain their footing in the commercially disappointing wake of their Loud Records heyday five years earlier, they continued to release first-rate East Coast hip-hop. There's nothing exceptional about Milk Me, granted, but it's another in a line of solid Beatnuts efforts -- sure to please fans, if not overly impress them and win new ones in the process. The two Nuts -- Psycho Les and JuJu -- produce all their own beats, as they often do, and they rap over them in a fairly carefree, insincere manner. A few notable guests show up for the party -- Greg Nice, Akon, Freeway, Rahzel, Roc Raida -- and those guests are featured on the handful of standout songs: "Hot," "Find Us (In the Back of the Club)," "U Nomsayin," and "Confused Rappers." ~ Jason Birchmeier | | On 2004's MILK ME, the Beatnuts' seventh record, Juju declares he's "never been much for words," and while this is debatable (as both he and Psycho Les can break out some memorable lines), it's never been the lyrics that have drawn hip-hop followers to the Beatnuts by the thousands. Well known and sought after (as producers/remixers) long before Les and Juju (along with original member Fashion) took the mic themselves in the early 1990s, the Beatnuts create rhythms that are instantly recognizable, funky, melodic, and incredibly tight. MILK ME is no exception, and, indeed, may contain the duo's greatest production accomplishments since their pinnacle record, 1999's A MUSICAL MASSACRE. | | As the music shifts styles and drops in and out, Les and Juju mix circus beats, flutes, and blues guitar riffs with swatches of old-school rap and '70s funk to form a thrilling hip-hop melange. The Beatnuts' lyrical fierceness is present, but, more often than not, the words fade into the backdrop, serving as another element to fuel the head-nodding beats. The Beatnuts boast a remarkable consistency, and MILK ME continues their tradition of releasing powerful, engaging hip-hop records. |
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