When Kurious Was All Great

Kurious released just one record since his last single on Columbia in 1994 until his return in 2008 with his awesome demo EP and lackluster comeback CD, II. And that record is the single "All Great" on Stonegroove Recordings, which dropped in 2001.

Predictably, this is middle-of-the-road Kurious material... not as funky as A Constipated Monkey, but better than most of the material on II. It's a single song 12" with two mixes of the one song "All Good," both coming in Clean, Dirty and Inst. versions. The A-side is produced by Celph Titled; and while it lacks the rich, soulful samples of his early work, instead sounding like it was made out of studio-created sounds. But despite that, it's catchy. It's got some very upbeat percussion, a head-nodding bassline and some fresh horn stabs. The hook features some very Premiere-like scratching by DJ Cheapshot (of Styles of Beyond). Lyrically, it's pretty solid, with Kurious doing his usual style of thoughtful freestyles:

"On a lifelong search for what's divine;
It's gettin' kinda hard to find an openin' line.
I met a wise man who said it's all in the mind.
I'm feelin' like I'm God and the devil at the same time."

Solomon comes on at the end to kick a short sing-songy verse:

"Players get played on;
We're gettin' sick and tired of the same song.
You're talkin' all this and that - whatcha sayin', dog?
Look at all them cats that ya paid off.
You niggas ain't sellin' dimes and ya ain't raw,
You don't do crimes and you afraid of law.
Now people tell me what y'all came for?
You want more, you only get what you paid for."

Then the B-side is remixed by Cheapshot. Conceptually, the instrumental is pretty much the same... catchy studio sounds. It's a little harder, but still bouncy. I think, personally, I marginally prefer the A-side, but it's a narrow distinction. Which isn't to say that they sound too similar, though. They sound different enough that it's worth having both mixes. It's just that they come in at a photo finish.

So yeah... this single lacks the deep production sound of his early work, but if you like Kurious, you'll like this. It's not must-have status like his debut or his demo, but it's not like we've got hundreds of Kurious records to choose from either.

Kuriouser and Kuriouser...

Just arrived: the vinyl debut of Kurious's demo sessions - previously available only as mp3s if you ordered the rerelease of Kurious's Constipated Monkey album online. Limited to only 200 copies (mine is number #21 and came with that signed, bonus artwork insert you see to the lower left there), but unlike the other limited release records I preordered and featured on this site, as of this writing, there are still copies available! So go to jibbering.co.uk and snatch 'em up quick (they also had some nice Kurious t-shirts if you'd preordered... 'fraid you've missed the boat on those now, though). But before you buy it, you might want to know how it is... it's great!

First of all, this BLOWS AWAY (all caps!!!!) the mp3s for sound quality... in fact, the difference is so drastic, it makes you wonder what the hell was wrong with the guys who put out the mp3s. The other major thing this 12" has over the mp3s (besides the facts that it's a tangible object, and an awesome sticker cover record, of course), is that this EP includes the complete version of the Pete Nice produced cut, "Fill 'Er Up." The original version fades out after the first verse, only about a minute long. This version is the full song, with three verses and a fresh breakdown in the middle.

Oh and, yeah, if you weren't already familiar with the mp3-only ("blah!" I say to that phrase) demo, the other tracks included are:

"Jorge Of the Projects (Original Version)", produced by the SD50's. This is the only song that's actually an alternate mix of an already available album cut. It's dope, though. I was tempted to say it's better than the album version, but then I listened to the album version again and thought, "damn, that's hot." So, ok; it's not better. But it's good.

"Rice and Beans (Freestyle)" produced by Prince Paul. it also says "featuring Prince Paul," but he doesn't rap or anything. Oh, and don't let the "(Freestyle)" bit fool you... this isn't some taped-off-the-radio Stretch and Bobbito freestyle; this is a proper song with a hook and dope beat.

The aforementioned complete version of "Fill 'Er Up," with a dope KMD "Gas Face" vocal sample on the hook.

"Trueness To the Blueness" produced by the SD50's. It uses the same loop Easy Moe Bee made RIF's "You Wanna Trip" out of, which is a little distracting (I keep wanting to hear RIF start harmonizing on the chorus); but it's still a good song.

"One 4 the Head," also produced by the SD50's and featuring Kalli Weed. It's more hardcore than Kurious's usual output - very cool.

And finally "Catch My Drift," a cool, slick track produced by Sam Sever and featuring Kadi (who you may remember from "Uptown Shit").

Except for the OG version of "Jorge of the Projects," it's a wonder these tracks weren't included on the retail album, because they're really fresh. Anyone who's even a casual fan of Kurious owes it to him or herself to pick this up, because it's genuinely some of his best work. Oh, and I almost forgot: Kurious doesn't seem to have a myspace - there's a couple people calling themselves "Kurious," but I don't think any are our boy.

Tags: Kurious