The Dayton Family - What's on My Mind? (CD)

All Music Guide

Originating from the unlikely locale of Flint, MI, the Dayton Family scored a distribution deal with Relavity and saw their debut album, What's on My Mind, spreading outside their hometown to become an unlikely mid-'90s underground favorite. It was the unique ideology of the group's primarily members, Shoestring and Bootleg, that made this album so intriguing. Nothing like New York or Los Angeles, Flint presented a different sort of ghetto lifestyle that the Dayton Family exploited perfectly, a lifestyle more akin to other post-industrial ghetto environments such as Gary, IN, or Detroit, MI, than L.A or N.Y.C. In sum, these guys don't rap about getting rich or riding around in expensive cars -- they rap about getting by and surviving. It's a rather grim portrait, to be quite honest. And this decadence is exactly what made this album so appealing. The production isn't that noteworthy, as it rather liberally co-opts the early-'90s West Coast gangsta sound, but on "Flint Town," in particu...lar, the beats elevate the already impressive rapping to wonderful heights. Anyone unaccustomed to the Midwestern sounds of acts such as Esham or Three 6 Mafia are in for a surprise with this album -- this isn't even close to being your standard East or West Coast rap. Their subsequent album, F.B.I., and their solo albums are much more polished, but this album's grit and the album-concluding "Flint Town" makes this an album that still sounds unlike any others. - Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide Read more Less