Search - Mc 900 Ft Jesus :: Welcome to My Dream

Alternative Hip Hop: Must Have

Drew Duece-Tre | Atlanta, GA | 11/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to admit, my exposure to MC 900 FT Jesus was one of random chance. It was back in the day when most record stores didn't have a RAP section and the term HIP HOP had yet to become ubiquitous to the genre.



I was living in Boston and my friends and I would spend time browsing the RAP section at Tower records. Two of us picked up "Hell with the Lid Off". To this day, it still amazes me that the rap section is where this album ended up being classified.



This was also a time when true hip hop fans broke down and analyzed the beats, samples and lyrics. After the dissection was complete, my friends and I were all blown away at the complete uniqueness of the album. (I mean, really... who else was layering rough, killer hip hop beats under the incoherent ramblings of a mental patient?!)



I continued to follow the musical career of MC 900ft Jesus with the purchase of "Welcome to My Dream". The album begins with the Miles Davis influenced track "Falling Elevators". It's a song in which the lyrics are equally as haunting as the music. WARNING: Paranoid schizophrenics - avoid listening to this song for the first time while driving on the highway!



Next, the "Killer Inside Me" paints a vivid tail of a serial killer hunting his/her prey. The juxtaposition of this song right after, the spoken word, Elevators provides a great insight into the contrasting styles of this artist and made me wonder - was I listening to the music of a genius or a certifiable Lee Harvey Oswald-type?



My favorite track is the "City Sleeps". I recall living in NJ and listening to Howard Stern interview MC 900ft Jesus about this song, because it had generated a fair share of early 90's hysteria due to the story line of an arsonist on the prowl. The combination of rap, 808, jazz and the perfectly placed sample of "lit `em up like the 4th of July" create a song that sounds as fresh and creative today as it did the day this album dropped.



Right after this album came out, I had the pleasure of seeing MC 900ft Jesus live in NYC at the Limelight. Although unaccredited on subsequent album, DJ Zero performed with him. The show mixed live trumpet playing, rap and a liberal mix of a pre-Scott Wielend use of a bullhorn. It was a musical treat that culminated with DJ Zero's turntable-IZM skills of cutting up the Poor Righteous Teachers sample "...cause...cause I'm on top of this" as he literally climbed on top of the table as he cut the lyrics with his hands, elbows and knees.



I recently began dumping my CD collection to my IPOD and spent the better part of 20 minutes on the genre field attempting to place this album and MC 900 ft Jesus' others. Ultimately, I opted for "UNCLASSIFIABLE" - and that's a great thing."

Adventures in success.

H3@+h | VT | 03/28/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have all my cd's split into 12 different categories, and I still fail to find the right spot for "Welcome To My Dream". Is this rap, jazz, spoken word electronica, or just "alternative"? Maybe that's what is appealing about it. Without a doubt what got me into this in 1992 was the track "Adventures In Failure", and it remains my favorite on the album. But I also really like "Falling Elevators" and "Hearing Voices In One's Head". There's also a track or two I always skip, hence the 3 stars. But if you do pick this up, be sure to play it while the "City Sleeps"."