MC Breed - Fharmacist (CD)

All Music Guide

After a few years of embarrassingly exploitative attempts to cash in on the Dirty South feeding frenzy of the late '90s, MC Breed somewhat returned to his roots in the Midwest. He had begun his career in Flint, MI, less than an hour's drive north on I-75 from Detroit, before criss-crossing the States during the '90s, heading first out west to work with D.O.C. and then to Atlanta to work with Jazze Pha and Too hort. But in 2001, ten years after he'd broken through with "Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'," Breed returned to Detroit to work with the upstart Fharmacy Records and up and coming Midwest producer Gee Pierce. Since Breed's never been one to miss a trend -- jumping first on the West Coast gangsta bandwagon and then cashing in on the Dirty South trend -- it's perhaps not surprising that he headed back to Detroit. By 2001 the city more identified with soul and techno than rap was experiencing something of a boom: Following the initial success of Eminem, a number of other Detroit rappers broke out of the underground, the more noteworthy being D-12, Royce the 5'9," Drunken Master, E-Dub, Slum Village (which features producer Jay Dee), and more exploitative stuff like the Dayton Family and Esham. Overall, Breed's moving-up-north gamble seemed to work. The Dirty South movement lost some of its steam in 2001, and Breed scored his biggest hit in years, "Let's Go to the Club," a remake of a song from his It's All Good album. The remake features production and rapping by Jazze Pha, and the song became a gigantic hit in Detroit -- definitely a high-rollin', blunt-smokin', Stacey Adams-wearin', we-be-clubbin' city -- where the song was ubiquitous on the radio for months. In addition to the hit single, the album finds Breed returning to sincerity after a few years of exploitation. He raps from the heart and looks back on his prolific decade in the rap game. In addition, it's nice to see Breed writing with D.O.C. again, and Pierce showcases why he was hailed as such a promising beat-making talent.

- Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide