Track listing
1. Show Dat Work (Shake It Like a Dog), Pt. 2 - (featuring Mystikal/5th Ward Weebie)
2. Excursionz - (featuring Phoolish)
3. Count Your Ones - (featuring Fiend/Boss Playa)
4. Down Wit You
5. Jail of Eden (Interlude) - (interlude)
6. Kane and Abel
7. Quick 2 Buss
8. Slide It Off
9. What U Think? - (featuring Box & Royelle)
10. Dub Dat
11. Informant (Interlude) - (interlude)
12. Drama
13. We Got That Candy
14. Get Right!
15. Snakes (Interlude) - (interlude, featuring Sundown)
Details
Contributing artists: 5th Ward Weebie, Boss Playa, Box & Royelle, Fiend, Mystikal, Phoolish, Sundown
Distributor: Universal Distribution
Recording type: Studio
Recording mode: Stereo
SPAR Code: n/a
Album notes
Personnel: Kane & Abel, Mystikal, 5th Ward Weebie, Phoolish, Fiend, Boss Playa, Box & Royelle, Sundown (rap vocals); Beautiful, Ghetto Angel (vocals); Steve Reynolds (guitar, bass); Logic Gonzalez (vinyl scratches).
Producers: Hex Luger, Big Ro, Happy Perez, Lunatic.
Principally recorded at South Coast and Ultrasonic Studios, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Recording information: Most Wanted Sound Lab, Baton Rouge, LA; South Coast Studio, New Orleans, LA; Ultrasonic Studios, New Orleans, LA.
Photographer: Stella Giraldo.
You've got to love a gangsta rap outfit that's both witty and unselfconscious enough to rhyme "body bag" with "lollygag." That's the just the kind of thing that makes Kane & Abel's uncompromising style work; they're single-minded enough to pursue an unrelentingly aggressive hardcore aesthetic, but they've got enough chops to keep things from getting boring or monochromatic.
On MOST WANTED, Kane & Abel continue to deliver the kind of gritty, violent scenarios and unadorned, primal-sounding tracks for which they've become known. As before, there's a palpable sense of urgency throughout the album, and their bleak, existential view of violence that can be heard in everything from the militaristic percussion of "Count Your Ones" to the explosive sound effects on "Drama." The boys take time out for a couple of booty-chasing exploits, but for the most part, MOST WANTED heads straight for the mean streets.
Struggling to cut through the suddenly cluttered myriad of Dirty South albums getting substantial distribution in late 2000, Kane & Abel's second post-No Limit album on their blossoming indie label finds them moving forward. Most Wanted bases a substantial amount of its content on the duo's drug bust, trying to turn this unfortunate incident into a positive one. As exploitative as this may be, it at least allows them to break away from strict cliché regurgitation. Yet for the most part, Kane & Abel stick to what got them to this point: gangsta posturing backed by thick Dirty South drum machine percussive rhythms. Despite the familiar feel of the production -- a blend of No Limit's and Cash Money's sounds -- there are few moment when the two Louisiana twins prove that their songs aren't merely generic, such as on the heavy metal guitar-sounding "Somebody Gotta Pay" or on the bounce sound of "Snakes" and "Lemme Get Up in Ya." The duo even contribute yet another entry into 2000's collection of booty anthems; "Shake It Like a Dog" isn't much of a departure from "Back That Azz Up" or "Wobble Wobble," surely Kane & Abel's attempt at commercial breakthrough. Still, even though this album rates above the majority of generic Dirty South rap circa 2000, it's still highly derivative. Had this album hit the streets a year or two earlier, it would have been an exciting album, but in late 2000 they come off sounding a bit like laggards, despite the album's appeal. Most importantly though, this is a positive step forward for the duo, who inch even closer towards being noteworthy rap artists. ~ Jason Birchmeier
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