Happy 25th Anniversary to Smif-N-Wessun’s debut album Dah Shinin’, originally released January 10, 1995.
A big part of hip-hop culture is defining who you are in relation to the hood, city or borough in which you were born and bred. This environmental ethos has helped shape hip-hop’s bravado since it was conceived in the South Bronx in the early ‘70s, and is seeing a contemporary resurgence as some of rap’s new generation are retracing their hip-hop origins.
Perhaps no single area holds to this creed closer than New York City’s County of Kings, a place that prides itself on having a notorious reputation. For instance, there’s probably not a hip-hop fan on the planet who hasn’t at least once heard the chants “Where Brooklyn at?” or “Is Brooklyn in the house?” at a party or rap concert. Recently, Flatbush native Casanova and his Bed-Stuy neighbor Fabolous’ collaboration “So Brooklyn” has rekindled borough-wide pride and sparked a “So Brooklyn Challenge” that has set fire to social media, inspiring established names like Maino, Papoose, and Joell Ortiz to pen their own odes to the borough that gave birth to some of the most rugged raps and street narratives to come out of the culture.
Many of us consider the ‘90s the seminal era that defined hip-hop, specifically as a musical genre, and right in the heart of the decade, you find the hardcore duo of Tek and Steele collectively known as Smif-N-Wessun making an album that is 100 percent Brooklyn. Dah Shinin’ is Brooklyn to its core, literally because each guest emcee and producer hails from BK, and figuratively, because every bar encapsulates the grittiness and aggression we’ve all grown to associate with the borough.
Brooklyn maintained a strong presence within hip-hop throughout the ‘80s with artists like Big Daddy Kane, Special Ed, MC Lyte, and X-Clan, but you can say that Black Moon helped the borough declare its independence as a sovereign nation within the culture. Black Moon’s debut LP Enta da Stage (1993) not only introduced the group’s front man Buckshot as a premier emcee and the production team Da Beatminerz as a force within the industry, but it also opened the door for the entire Boot Camp Clik collective who would serve as the military special forces brigade of Brooklyn’s eventual dominance over East Coast hip-hop.
Dah Shinin’ opens like an auditory article of war, grabbing your attention with DJ Evil Dee’s cuts and scratches as the beat settles over a track that details the dress code for soldiers who have enlisted to help plant the flag of Brooklyn on a higher mountain in the world of hip-hop. The album opener “Timz N Hood Chek” was one of the first musical acknowledgements of the Timberland clothing brand, whose boots have endured as one of the most important fashion symbols within the culture and have become almost synonymous with the ruggedness of Brooklyn. In the song, Steele explains “What up to all my cock strong troops in they boots / true to tha game stayin' true to they roots / that's how we choose to remain, cause we just can't change / and we won't change, still stay the same” to provide a little background of how a water-resistant boot most likely created for the outdoorsman or even the blue-collar laborer was adopted to traverse the harsh terrain of urban America.
The group revisit the topic several times throughout the LP, including the third and final single “Wrekonize” where Tek asserts, “The deals going down like this / run off at the mouth, watch your lips and my boots do a French kiss.” Produced by Da Beatminerz member Baby Paul, “Wrekonize” also spawned an acclaimed remix in the tradition of their Boot Camp forerunners Black Moon whose similar debut LP was almost solely devoted to hardcore rhymes. In response, Da Beatminerz developed a successful formula of making slightly more daytime friendly remixes to help broaden the base of Black Moon and Smif-N-Wessun listeners. In the “Wrekonize (Remix)” also produced by Baby Paul who samples the popular Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers single “Just the Two of Us,” Tek and Steele guide listeners through a day in the life of Smif-N-Wessun, which of course includes getting suited and booted in the group’s favorite apparel as Tek explains with the line, “Timbs all season for ass-kicking reasons / never know when you’ll catch a spy committing treason.”
Aside from dressing for combat on a daily basis, Tek, a native of Bed-Stuy, and Steele who hails from Brownsville, were also pioneers in adding other layers of authenticity to the very sound of Brooklyn based hip-hop. Any trip to the borough is not complete, especially in the ‘80s and ‘90s without overhearing a conversation that is brought to life by a West Indian dialect or a city block made appetizing by the smell of Caribbean cuisine. The Bushwick based production team Da Beatminerz who carried the full load of Dah Shinin’, as well as Enta da Stage, proved to be right at home with Reggae themes, but stepped into full stride for the song “Sound Bwoy Bureill.”
Peppering lyrics with West Indian patios was a staple of Smif-N-Wessun’s musical identity, but “Sound Bwoy” was a full tribute to the rich heritage of many of the Boot Camp Clik’s members. The minimalist beat with Raggamuffin-Dancehall overtones provided by Mr. Walt and Evil Dee also served as the perfect soundscape to introduce Steele’s younger brother, Top Dog and Starang Wondah who along with Louieville Sluggah form the group Originoo Gun Clappaz (O.G.C) who help complete the Boot Camp Clik collective.
Dah Shinin’ also holds the distinction of showcasing the very first Boot Camp Clik posse record, featuring all core members (Buckshot, Tek, Steele, Ruck, Rock, Starang Wondah, Louieville Sluggah, and Top Dog) on the song “Cession At Da Doghillee.” The great eight’s rhymes stack up like one of the high-rise public housing complexes which are home for nearly 30,000 residents just within the Brownsville section of Brooklyn alone. The powerhouse group of emcees would lead one of the most impactful underground hip-hop movements of the ‘90s and into the mid ‘00s, initially under the musical orchestration of Evil Dee’s steady hand who offset the energetic delivery of the Camp members with a jazzy sample of Bobbi Humphrey’s “Harlem River Drive.”
Treasured as a jewel of ‘90s Boom Bap hip-hop by critics and hardcore rap fans, one of the things that makes Dah Shinin’ so special is that it’s arguably the hallmark of Da Beatminerz’ storied catalog. Tek and Steele sound like savvy veterans on their inaugural outing, fully confident over the sinister horn samples and dusty drum patterns. The Da Beatminerz are perfectly in sync when composing tracks together and turn out works of brilliance when behind the boards solo. Like Baby Paul’s “Home Sweet Home” which samples Roy Ayers Ubiquity’s “We Live in Brooklyn, Baby” from the album He’s Coming (1972) which also inspired the cover artwork for Dah Shinin’. The soulful selection and precision in interpolating the original song helped Tek and Steele create a timeless tribute to the tenements that make up Crown Heights, East New York, and Fort Greene, which had been largely forgotten until the expansion of hip-hop.
“Bucktown,” which led Dah Shinin’ as its initial single, may stand as the masterpiece of this flawless LP. As another tribute to the borough, “Bucktown” helps solidify the album as arguably the definitive Brooklyn rap album. With the production credited to both Mr. Walt and Evil Dee, “Bucktown” has ascended to an elite status alongside other classics like Wu-Tang’s “C.R.E.A.M.” and Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones (Part II),” all of which immediately invoke uncontrolled emotional outbursts from listeners.
Released early in 1995, Dah Shinin’ led the charge in what would go on to be perhaps the grittiest year of hip-hop music. Unapologetic in its fashion, dialect, and aggression, Dah Shinin’ is as authentic of an album to its environment as we have ever heard in hip-hop. So, with all due respect and appreciation to Casanova, Fabolous, and all participants in the So Brooklyn Challenge, Tek and Steele claimed that title 25 years ago, and are still releasing quality projects that prove they haven’t surrendered their reign as Brooklyn royalty.
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