Search - Brand Nubian :: Everything Is Everything

DOPE (but slept-on) lp- very sinister! Sadat X's steals it!

Todd E. Jones | Edison, NJ USA | 06/07/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"At first, I HATED this album... Lord Jamar especially [angered me].. but through time and many listens, I learned to LOVE IT!!! It's hardcore... It's East-coast 5% gangsta hiphop.. Smoked-out revolution... SADAT X steals the entire lp!!!! Every verse of his is memorable... The beats are PANCAKE fat.. produced by Lord Jamar, Buckwild and co-produced by Sadat X..Guests are all unknown except for Busta Rhymes in the extremely violent and raw "Alladat". The only songs I'm not feeling too much are "Nubian Jam" and "Hold On" which uses the simply Red loop.. The best songs are "Word Is Bond"
"Straight Off Da Head" ( a freestyle joint with a live band)
"Down For The Real", "Alladat" f/Busta Rhymes, "Lik Dem Muthafukkaz", "Step Into The Cipher" Some songs have live instrumentation like "Nubian Jam", "Straight Off Da Head", and "Down For The Real" and also "Claimin' I'm A Criminal"...1. Word Is Bond (single... funky bassline, guitar, and horn along with live piano keys. This is a full song. Sadat X gets real ghetto and funky on this one.)2. Straight off da Head -(freestyle improv with live band. Dope!!! Sadat X steals the show.. They have skills on the mic and this song proves it!)
3. Weed Vs. Weaves (Interlude) -(skit about spending money on weed instead of your girlfriend's hair)4. Nubian Jam - (lame, smoothed out commercial attempt. the beat is soft too. RnB hook that goes no where. The song is about nothing really.)5. Alladat (f/Busta Rhymes) - (DOPE!!! Sadat X solo produced by Buckwild and Busta is on the hook. This is a wild track.. made to [anger someone]. One of the best Dotty X tracks ever!)6. Step into da Cipher (f/Maestro Manny, Snagglepuss and others) - (this posse cut uses Black Moon's scratched hook "In the cipher with my boys, you know we get busy". This is a dope track with a dope jazz guitar loop)7. Sweatin Bullets - (sinister track with a hypnotic bassline.. it's about shooting people.)8. Lookin' at God (Interlude) - (Farakhan speech) 9. Lick Dem Muthaphuckas [Remix] - (incredible!!!! The beat pounds. It's pancake fat. Real sinister, Sadat X gets wicked and the scratched hook is dope using Redman's voice.. "No matter who you are, you still catch a bullet scar!")10. Another Day in the Beast (Thoughts from a Criminal) - (answering machine message from jail)11. Claimin' I'm a Criminal - (slow and sad song about prison, jail and being arrested. Sadat X gives a very sad verse. Singing comes in too but it's well done because it sets up a very somber and serious atmopshere without being corny. Chuck D's vocal sample from "Black Steel" is used in the hook. Good track but very serious.. a little too long but still good.)12. Gang Bang - (this is kind of lame and trite. It uses FREDDY'S DEAD sample. This is about police. The hook is chanted "Gang bang! Gang bang! Po-lice ain't nothing but a gang bang!")13. Down for the Real - (DOPE!!! Slow, jazzed out live instrumentation with a West Coast feel to it. Sadat X is incredible. He tells a very vivid story. One of the best verses he ever made.)14. Return of the Dread - (Lord Jamar solo.. The beat is dope.. very thick and 'pancake fat'. I like Dorry X more but this is decent.)15. What the...? - (sinister and jumpy-type thick beat. There's no real hook on this except for them saying 'What the fukk this all about?" once before news clips about people getting shot. IT's dreary and sinister. Lord Jamar talks aboutb killing your mother. It's a good song but not one of the best.)16. Hold On (f/Starr) - (ahh.. lame... Simple Red's "Holding Back The Years" is used. It's as blatent as Puffy's "I'll Be Missing You". They loop the beat AND the hook is the same except it's sung by some guy named Starr. "I keep holding on..."... It's a message to young black men to hold on. Lord Jamar says "You think you're mighty but whitey got your head sick. Sadat X steals the show with a cool verse. That's the only good thing about this song.)The slices and scratches by Sincere are done well too.. especially in songs like "Step Into The Cipher" and Lik Dem Muthafukkaz" which uses Redman's line "No matter who you are, you still catch a bullet scar!" This album is severely slept on... Most people who like Brand Nubian didn't like this album.. I hated it at first It is DIFFERENT for Brand Nubian.. It's ANGRY, it's raw but at the same time, it has a smoothed out feel in some tracks musically. (This is around the time "Ready To Die" came out..) On this lp, Busta Rhymes does the hook where he yells "Fukk dem ni99az over there who think they all a dat! They think they all a dat!" and on the FOUNDATION lp, Busta Rhymes does the hook where he yells "Let's Dance! I know you got the feeling!"... It's a whole different vibe... Where IN GOD WE TRUST was angry and raw and revolutionary, it was a little more religious. EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING is much more sinister and less religious.. even though the 5% nation is represented here.
It's a dope slept on album. There is a west-coast vibe to some of the tracks too.. If you like Sadat X, get it! It is different from Brand Nubian's "One For All" and "Foundation". If anything, it's more like a mellow and more sinister "In God We Trust". Sadat X is incredible on this lp. Every single verse by him is memorable. Lord Jamar looks like a fool next to him. The lp really grew on me. Like I said before, I used to hate the lp.. but now, I love it. 8.75 out of 10"

Up and Down like the Dow Industrial

Chris G | Chicago, IL United States | 06/26/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Brand Nubian shocked heads from the jump. White, black, asian, and latinos all have at one time or another been exposed to this group of self-aware New York talent. "Everything is Everything" is one of those joints that many hip-hop peeps may have just straight up missed. This LP has it's fresh and not-so-fresh moments. Fortunately, editing on this piece is proper, scattering the gems throughout the album. Nubian was at a strange time in 1994. Puba went off on his own little solo venture, and Alamo, well, Alamo must have been doin' his own thing as well. DJ Sincere is on the decks this time. This gives Dottie-X and Jamar a chance to shine on their own and express themselves without the quite possibly overbearing prescence of Puba. Dope undergound talent is exposed here in a major way. Check out track 6 "Step into the Cipher" for proof of this. Overall though, "Everything is Everything" will leave you feeling the way you did after watching "The Empire Strikes Back", unsettled and eager for the next episode. Peace."

Brand Nu takes a different route with this one

DukeOfEarl | Phoenix, AZ United States | 01/21/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"And I thought "In God We Trust" was dark! That album shines happy as the sun compared to "Everything Is Everything!" The cursing is severely worse here, and they basically take violent and angry themes a la "Pass The Gat" and "Black And Blue" and basically turn it into a whole album. They drop almost all the religious and righteousness rhetoric and really do get up on some gangsta sh#t. Maybe Brand Nubian was paying too much attention to Tupac's idea of revolution at this time(1994). This still turns out to be a pretty good album, you just need to beware before entering it.

Most of the album contains talk about guns and inflicting violence upon others, especially the "devils" out there. The first song, "Word Is Bond," is a banger and probably the only uptempo track besides "Alladat," perhaps. If you don't want to hear them talk about dark, violent situations, then you may only want to listen to the first 5 or 6 songs. Sadat X and Lord Jamar actually get a solo song to themselves with "Alladat" and "Return Of The Dread," respectively. Sadat's is solid with Busta Rhymes ranting and cussing on the hook and at the end of the track, by which I usually skip ahead because I can't stand Busta's explicit rambling at the end. Jamar's is pretty good too, with a memorable beat, and it does delve heavily into violence. If you're gonna stay for the violent songs, the best example is the viciously dark "Sweatin' Bullets" which works well for them, and Sadat's verse does outshine Jamar's. "Claimin' I'm A Criminal" is possibly the best song here where Jamar and Sadat lay down unforgettable verses. Jamar starts off and talks about getting arrested, while Sadat continues and talks about living in jail, and the verse is admittedly pretty sad. The last track, "Hold On," may have a blatant sample and is hit-or-miss, but I enjoy this one every now and then and can see what they're trying to accomplish with this song.

Actually once you familiarize yourself with all the songs of this album, it's apparent that no one track stands too tall above the rest and no one track falls below what they're aiming for. In fact, this might be Brand Nubian's most consistent album, because if you think about it, even "All For One" was quite uneven. It's just that not many of these songs rank up to the best of their other works. Any Brand Nubian greatest hits albums that come out in the future probably won't feature too much of this material. The only tracks that can be considered as possibilities are "Word Is Bond," "Straight Off The Head," and "Claimin' I'm A Criminal." Actually, many of you might enjoy the posse cut "Step Into The Cipher" with three other obscure MC's joining in. I think Lord Jamar was the highlight of this album overall. To the last guy who is obsessed with Sadat: Datty X holds it down, but they are a few tracks, like "Hold On," where he rambles on about nothing. Jamar's verses were always pertinent to the hook or whatever point they were trying to make in EVERY SONG.

"Everything Is Everything" is not vintange Brand Nubian, but it doesn't mean that this album sucks though. I think if anything, they were showing that they could do the gangsta stuff just as well as any other rappers at the time. Although they leave out the righteousness and Islamic messages, the fact that this album was done in such a single focused manner must mean that they were trying to get some point across, even if it is hard to swallow at first! They beat us over the head with how much they dislike the cops, black on black violence, and all the "devils" keeping them down. Still, the fact that this album was consistent and that it had great production means this album deserves four stars at least. Lord Jamar produces nearly every track, with Sadat co-producing some, and this has got to be the best-produced Brand Nubian joint. It's all dark and mellow, except "Word Is Bond," and live bands and instruments are employed on a number of tracks. Check out the beats on "Straight Off The Head," "Down For The Real,"(maybe the best one) "Nubian Jam," amongst many other memorables. They did go a little overboard on the sampling, though. "Everything Is Everything" is not an album that you should pigeonhole Brand Nubian as, but it's still worthwhile and a testament to their ability as artists, rather than preachers."