L.O.T.U.G.M.O.N.E.Y.U.P.D.A.T.E.

Will the updates EVER slow down? Holy cow; I'm on a major roll! Blog updates every day, discography updates, new artists' pages... I need to get out of the house more! Well, here's another one for ya.
After their period of great success, it was several years before the Lords of the Underground came out with their third, comeback album, Resurrection. But to us indie hip-hop record collectors, they really hadn't been gone. Their last releases on Pendulum records, the "Faith" and "What I'm After" remix 12"'s, which had some buzz mainly due to a timely Keith Murray guest appearance, came out in 1995. Then this came shortly after in '96, just as we'd all found out they were officially dropped by their label. I remember seeing this sticker cover up on the new release wall at Armand's Records ('at's in Philly)... so to me, they were always around.

No production credits are given here, so I don't know if Marley or K-Def had a hand in this, but judging from the sound of it, I'm guessing it was self-produced by DJ Lord Jazz. Which is not to say it's bad; this is a pretty cool record, really. The sound, with a cool guitar sample over a basic beat, bassline and a lot of snare, is definitely catchy. But with much more relaxed flows (though still distinctive voices... when DoItAll jumps on for the second verse, there'll be no doubt who you're listening to), this ain't no "Funky Child." Instead, with a cut up Method Man vocal sample for a chorus, this fits right in to the underground, indie vinyl style of the late 90's.

The b-side, which I again suspect but don't know to be produced by DJ Lord Jazz, is by Lunatic Asylum, which is also the name of the song. They haven't done much else, but did turn up again on LOTUG's third LP, on the cut "Infinite." This one features a slow, heavy bpm, that snare again! and a subtle piano loop that eases in mainly just during the hooks. It's ok, but the generic lyrics - continually drifting between being a realistic look at hard times and talking about how Crazy Psycho Nutzoid they are - and derivative deliveries won't make you respect The Lunatic Asylum as MCs. Not that they're terrible, but with raps like these, you'd need need a hot beat to sell you on the record, and this one ain't it. So, you'll play it once or twice when you first get it, but A-side wins out here for sure.

So, yeah. In addition to this post, I've made a new artists' page for LOTUG, which also includes affiliate De'1 (Sah-B already has her own page). As for what they're up to these days... According to (yes!) their myspace, they're working on their fourth album, House of the Lords. And they've got this site: stilllotug.com, promoting a documentary DVD about themselves.