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After releasing When Disaster Strikes... in late 1997, Busta Rhymes managed to make himself a household name through the popularity of his singles such as "Dangerous" and "Turn It Up (Remix)/Fire It Up", and at the same time gain major respect in the rap game by not "selling out" so to speak, but instead making a sophomore effort that was even more creepy and manic than his debut. In early 1998, then, Busta Rhymes was on top of the world, but you have to remember that, despite what he sometimes says in his music (see "Things We Be Doin' For Money Part 1" and "We Put It Down For Y'all", among others), Trevor Smith was actually a rather nice chap, and an unselfish one at that, which meant that, after releasing his sophomore effort (and the debut album from Rampage), he decided it was time to begin work on a group album for his cronies in the Flipmode Squad, an album that was apparently made in the span of less than two months (according to the main producer DJ Scratch, at least). Busta would go on to reach new heights just a couple of months after the release of this offshoot album, with his own, solo third release E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front, but that's a story to be told on another day.
This album, titled The Imperial, was released in September of 1998 to some fairly successful chart performance (it charted at no. 15 in the US), and some reasonably positive reviews, only to be sadly forgotten about as soon as the aforementioned Extinction Level Event album was released a couple of months later. The fact that none of the other members had really made a name for themselves outside of Busta Rhymes' looming shadow may have had something to do with this - outside of Rah Digga, who was at the time heavily affiliated with the Outsidaz, the members consisted of Baby Sham (who?), Spliff Star (ugh), Rampage and Lord Have Mercy. Those last two guys are pretty talented, but anyone who says they've heard of them are probably Busta Rhymes superfans like myself - the mainstream audience in '98 couldn't have given two shits about these guys. So, even though the album had production from DJ Scratch, Swizz Beatz, Da Beatminerz, Rockwilder and L.E.S., it is an album almost entirely forgotten about today, much like other group side projects from rappers at their most popular in the late '90s (see Def Squad's El Niño and The Firm's The Album).
But, just because people forgot about it, that doesn't mean it's bad, does it? Does it?
1. The Imperial Intro (prod. Busta Rhymes)
After an entirely unnecessary and nonsensical skit, a beat actually starts up, only for Busta Rhymes to spend what seems like many hours explaining who exactly the Flipmode members are, going into meticulous details such as their favourite ice cream parlours and what types of medicines each of them takes of an evening. "Listen to me, motherfuckers, this shit is serious!!!". Yeah, I think I'd rather not listen to you ever again, thanks.
2. To My People (prod. D.J. Scratch)
Over a surprisingly powerful, guitar-based instrumental, the members of the Squad minus Lord Have Mercy (the hell?) introduce themselves as some actually rather good lyricists, except Baby Sham, who's bars make about as much sense as his ridiculous name. Busta Rhymes also provides one of his best verses of the late '90s, incredible considering the heat he was delivering at this time, and the hook is really catchy too. Jesus, this is even better than I remember. Easily one of the best tracks on the album.
3. Settin' It Off (prod. M.D.)
While Busta once again delivers, with a lyrically impressive and incredibly entertaining verse, the rest of this song is sadly rather aggravating. The beat barely passes as music, and the hook is annoying as hell, especially that repeated "settin' it off" in the background. The other rappers not named Rah Digga don't perform admirably either, although Baby Sham's acknowledgement of his height (or rather lack of it) was respectable. Still, this song is underwhelming overall.
4. Run For Cover (prod. Swizz)
The lone Swizz Beatz production, and it's easily one of the best he ever did, with the powerful melody, and banging drums, which is perfect for Rampage at least, who sounds excellent on his verse, the opposite of his mediocre performance on the last track. Unfortunately, none of the others besides Busta and Lord Have Mercy really work over this instrumental, with people like Spliff Star and Baby Sham not having the energy and punch necessary for the fast-paced drums and synths. I still liked about half of this song, though, and Busta Rhymes really killed this shit. "The world's greatest fuckin' thief!"
5. I Got Your Back (prod. D.J. Scratch)
Once again, Lord Have Mercy is left out of proceedings, which must have been even more painful for him, thanks to everyone rhyming a story together in the verses on this one, but leaving him out of the party. A shame, as he would have fit perfectly over this ominous and saddening instrumental, that really does not fit with the story at all if we're being honest. Still, the back-and-forth storytelling on this one is pretty entertaining, even though the story itself is unnecessarily violent, and Busta's insistence to appear drunk can be rather aggravating. There's a skit on the end here too, but you can probably guess whether or not that was necessary. Hearing Busta repeat words like "bumbaclot" was quite funny, though.
6. This Is What Happens (prod. D.J. Scratch)
The first of three tracks here that only have two MCs on them, a necessary break after the previous few songs that all featured everyone (besides Lord Have Mercy, who only appeared on "Run For Cover"). This one only contains appearances from Rampage and Rah Digga, and it's pretty good, with the bass-filled beat being menacing, and both rappers providing entertaining verses. The chorus is bloody dismal, though. And was another skit really necessary??
7. Everybody On The Line Outside (prod. D.J. Scratch)
8. Last Night (prod. Busta Rhymes)
This track only features Busta and Spliff Star, but don't get it twisted - this shit is whack. Busta uses some fake patois during the hook (that he has utilised during basically all of the hidden skits so far), and it's laugh-out-loud funny, which is certainly not what he was going for ("me couldn't find me knife, so me go and get me 9"). Busta's verse is solid, though, but Spliff Star's verse is predictably dismal, bringing this track down into the trenches. This wouldn't have sounded out of place on Busta's latest album Blockbusta, and make no mistake, that's not a compliment.
9. Where You Think You Goin' (prod. D.J. Scratch)
Well, for a cry after hearing that last song, that's where I'm going. Is that alright with you?
"Make a pussy boy kill hisself like Nirvana"
*quiet sobbing*
Just kidding, this song is nice as hell, with one of the best beats on the album, but I can't look past that insanely disrespectful and dismissive line, and I don't even like Nirvana!
10. We Got U Opin (Part 2) (feat. Buckshot) (prod. Da Beatminerz, Inc.)
The only guest verse on the album comes from Black Moon MC Buckshot, on this rather entertaining remake of the group's classic track "I Got Cha Opin". It seems we've finally found a beat that all of the rappers fit on comfortably, something that has been a struggle so far on this album. The instrumental itself, jacked from the original of course, is very nice, and Lord Have Mercy, Busta Rhymes and Buckshot end off the track with three of the best verses on the entire album. This shit is straight up boom-bap, and it's one of the best on the album. The fact that this is also the most simple beat on the album so far speaks volumes - maybe the group should think about getting some different types of instrumentals?
11. Straight Spittin (prod. Tony Touch)
Hey! They actually listened to me! Unfortunately, this beat is a little TOO simplistic (I'm petty, I know), but it's still better than a lot of the previous instrumentals, or at least better for these rappers. Surprisingly, Busta Rhymes has the weakest verse - the alliteration is impressive, yes, but his verse, with its "Gimme a F!"s and such, is corny, and way too repetitive. Everyone else, however, brings the heat, with some pretty memorable and clever lines popping up on here. Pretty great stuff.
12. Money Talks (prod. D.J. Scratch)
Unlike this, sadly. The piano-based beat is sentimental, yes, but it doesn't sound right on here at all, and only the ever-dynamic Busta Rhymes can fit properly over the randomly placed piano keys. The subject matter also makes pretty much no sense, and certainly doesn't appear worthy of making a song about. Stick to the party songs, guys.
13. Cha Cha Cha (prod. D.J. Scratch)
14. Hit Em Wit Da Heat (prod. Rockwilder)
Seems that Rockwilder has popped up for a beat on this album too - was there any late '90s album he wasn't involved in? Sadly, he provides us here with easily the worst instrumental on the album, which consists of some annoying drums and the occasional scraping metal sound. "Hit Em Wit Da Heat"? More like "Hit Em Wit Da Shitty Music". I have no idea what persuaded Busta and his crew to purchase this shit, but the prospect of a lifetime supply of bacon may have had something to do with it. Busta Rhymes has a great verse on here, but otherwise this was terrible. "Suck my penis from here to motherfuckin' Venus" is one of the best lines on the album, though, just for how ridiculous it is.
15. Do For Self (prod. D.J. Scratch)
The Baby Sham and Spliff Star track. One would think that a song with just those two would be terrible, but this track goes down as the big surprise of the album, as it's easily one of the best songs here. The beat is yet another sentimental one, but it actually sounds very pleasant, and the whole concept of Spliff nurturing a young and hotheaded Baby Sham to a more mature man is really strong. The hook is actually quite powerful as well. This track is almost like a better version of Jay-Z's "Coming Of Age" - yes, a BETTER version. This is a strong contender for best song on the album. It's really, REALLY good, folks.
16. Everything (prod. L.E.S.)
It seems that Busta has recruited frequent Nas collaborator L.E.S. to produce the final track here, a song preceded by yet ANOTHER goddamn skit. The beat sounds very reminiscent of the beat Memphis Bleek rapped over on the track "Intro - Hand It Down", on Jay-Z's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life album, or is that just me? Wait - this song came out BEFORE that one? So Preemo basically stole that beat? That's crazy. And a lot more interesting than the song itself as well, which ironically seems to be discussing absolutely NOTHING.
Sadly, Flipmode Squad's first and only group album goes down as a bit of a disappointment. It's not that this album is bad, but the main issue does lie with the fact that most of these guys don't actually sound that good on here. And boy, is this a long album. 75 minutes approx, although admittedly a large proportion of that is taken up by the hidden skits, that seem to occur at the end of every goddamn track (I didn't mention them all, but from track 5 onwards there seems to be seven or eight at least). Baby Sham and Spliff Star are usually very uninteresting, with Spliff's consistent attempts at fake patois almost always failing miserably to entertain, and Rampage seems to have regressed from his own solo album, letting his increasingly frequent ad-libs do the talking for the most part. And while Rah Digga is unquestionably a good lyricist, her delivery on here for the most part is, frankly, annoying as hell. Besides Busta, the only rapper on here who actually delivers consistently is Lord Have Mercy, who only appears on six out of sixteen songs anyway. And whoever chose these beats needs to get a smack around the head, because they almost uniformly seem completely unsuited to at least half of the rappers on the song, with some exceptions of course. Really, the main reason to listen to this is Busta Rhymes, who (with the exception of his "Straight Spittin" verse) always entertains, and comes through with easily some of the best verses of his career on this record. Still, I wouldn't recommend a listen unless you really enjoy Busta's first few albums, and want more out of him. But absolutely everyone should check out the best tracks listed below, as there is some dope shit to be found here. It's just a shame that this album isn't quite what it could and should have been.
Best Tracks: To My People, Run For Cover, Everybody On The Line Outside, Where You Think You Goin', We Got U Opin (Part 2), Straight Spittin, Do For Self
Worst Tracks: Last Night, Money Talks, Hit Em Wit Da Heat
For other Busta Rhymes reviews, click here, and for my review of Rampage's debut, click here
Images for "Everybody On The Line Outside" and "Cha Cha Cha" singles taken from Discogs
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