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This album was released on July 30th in 1991. I’m gonna be starting the Busta Rhymes marathon now. I’ve always been a huge fan of him, even though I’m not super familiar with a lot of his work. I’ve never heard a single Leaders Of The New School song before in my life, so I really don’t know what to expect. I don’t even know the names of all the members… I’m gonna look it up real quick. Okay, there are four members: Busta Rhymes, Charlie Brown, Cut Monitor Milo & Dinco D. Hmm… Are they all rappers? I know Charlie Brown is a rapper. I think Dinco D’s a rapper too. I don’t know about Cut Monitor Milo tho. Maybe he’s a producer. Is this a classic album? Do people consider this a classic? I gotta look this shit up. Nah… Nah, I don’t think this is a classic album. Whatever. It doesn’t really matter. Well… Umm… I don’t really even know what to say. I think I’ll probably enjoy this. I really like Busta Rhymes, so this should be good.
Track 1: Homeroom
There aren’t any production credits listed for this song on the Wikipedia page for this album, so I’m assuming it’s just a skit. Well, I guess there technically aren’t ANY production credits on the Wikipedia page. There’s just a header that says “music” and then there are producers for each song. Busta Rhymes apparently did the “music” for track 7. I think that means he produced it. Whoever made the Wikipedia page for this album did a pretty shitty job. Anyway, this track is starting now. Hmm… I can’t really tell what’s going on… There’s a crowd of people chanting something. I can’t really make out what they’re saying. Okay, there’s some actual music starting now. Okay, yeah this is definitely just an intro. A lot of old school albums would start with a bunch of rappers just saying random shit. There’s not really anything worth noting about this track. I’m not gonna give it a rating since it isn’t an actual song.
Track 2: Case Of The P.T.A. (Prod. Cut Monitor Milo)
Alright, here we go. This is the first actual song. I’m pretty sure this was the album’s lead single. It’s starting now. Okay, I think that’s Dinco D on the first verse. Oh fuck. Oh FUCK. YES. THIS IS SO FUCKING AWESOME. THIS SHIT IS SO OLD SCHOOL. I’m so happy right now. This is just what I needed after listening to that Travi$ Scott album. There’s so much energy in this song. The first two verses from Dinco D were great. OH SHIT BUSTA’S GOIN’ IN NOW. HE DID THE FUCKIN’ DRAGON ROAR! I wonder why he stopped doing that shit. He needs to bring that shit back. Jesus Christ. This is CRAZY. Busta killed that shit. Gotdamn. Charlie Brown’s goin’ in now. He did his thing. The song just ended. Wow. That was crazy. They really started this shit off the right way. This track is insane. I definitely fuck with this track. It’s dope af. 5/5
Track 3: Too Much On My Mind (Prod. The Vibe Chemist Backspin)
Hmm… Is Cut Monitor Milo really a member of the group? There are only 3 members on the album cover, and there were only 3 members in the music video for the previous track… I feel like if Cut Monitor Milo was actually a member, he probably would’ve produced the whole album. Whatever. It doesn’t really matter. This song is starting now. This beat is a lot more laid back than that of the previous song. The hook is cool. Charlie Brown’s on the first verse. Man… This beat is actually REALLY dope. Charlie Brown did his thing. The second verse from Dinco D was nice. I liked that little bridge towards the end too. “The mind is more delicate / More action than a predicate / You think of things that are never thought of and then settle it.” Aw man… Busta didn’t have a verse. He just rambled at the end of the track. That’s kinda disappointing. I still really enjoyed this song tho. This is dope. 4/5
Track 4: What’s The Pinocchio’s Theory? (Prod. The Vibe Chemist Backspin)
This beat is dope. Charlie Brown’s on the first verse. Okay, his verse just ended. He just described his late high school years trying to make it as a rapper. I’m still not completely sure what Pinocchio’s Theory is. I mean, I think he talked about how he used to lie about being a famous rapper to his friends. Or maybe someone at his school was lying to him about being a famous rapper. I’m not completely sure. Oh shit. This is a solo Charlie Brown song. His ad-lib is pretty annoying. It kinda reminds me of Chance The Rapper’s ad-lib. This one is higher pitched and squeakier tho. Oh my God. Hahaha. Wow. He literally rapped the ABC’s at the end of the song. Why the fuck did that happen? I don’t think I’m gonna be coming back to this song. It’s not really that bad, but I don’t think it’s worth keeping in my iTunes library. I doubt that I’d ever wanna listen to this again. It’s alright tho. 3/5
Track 5: Just When You Thought It Was Safe… (Prod. Vietnam)
Okay, this should be good. I know Leaders Of The New School were cool with Public Enemy & The Bomb Squad, so I guess that’s how they got this beat from Vietnam. It’s starting now. This beat’s pretty good. Charlie Brown’s on the first verse. What the fuck? Wow. That was surprisingly dark. According to Charlie Brown, I’m contemplating suicide because my girl left me to be with one of my friends. Um… WHY? I wasn’t expecting to hear about anything so grim on this album. I don’t really mind it tho. Busta’s on the second verse. Damn… This whole song is really fucked up. Lmao. Busta Rhymes went in about how I’m a crackhead who had unprotected sex and am about to die from AIDS. Dinco D’s verse is about how a plane I was on got hi-jacked by terrorists. That outro verse where they were all trading bars was dope. I fuck with this song. I’m not completely blown away like I was with the first track, but I definitely enjoyed it more than the previous one. This is dope. 4/5
Track 6: Lunchroom
This is just an interlude. There’s a pretty good beat in the background. I wonder who produced it. I like this school day theme they have going throughout the album. That’s pretty cool. I don’t really think these interludes are necessary tho. It’s just them saying a bunch of shit I don’t care about. It doesn’t really take away from my enjoyment of the album that much tho. Again, I’m not gonna rate this shit since it’s not really a song.
Track 7: Sound Of The Zeekers Feat. Cracker Jacks, Kollie Weed & Rumpletilskinz (Prod. Busta Rhymes)
I’ve never heard of any of these featured artists. Oh God… Rumpletilskinz is a group. Now I gotta do some research and find out who all the members are… Okay, there are four members. One of ’em is just a producer tho. His name is R.P.M. The 3 MCs in the group are Capital LS, Sha-Now The Remedy Man & Jeranimo. Oh shit… The Cracker Jacks is a group too. Damn. Oh. I found an article about them on Fifth Element. Hmm… Okay, I’m pretty sure The Cracker Jacks are a duo. One of the members is named Brittle. I don’t know the name of the other member tho. Lemme see… Oh… Okay. The other member is Cool Whip. Brittle & Cool Whip are The Cracker Jacks. That’s cool I guess. Oh wow. There was actually a super group called The New School Society with The Cracker Jacks, Rumpletilskinz, Leaders Of The New School, and another group called The Leftovers. Alright, lemme stop talking about this boring shit and actually listen to the song. It’s starting now. Brittle’s on the first verse. He did his thing. I liked Cool Whip’s verse better tho. His flow was really dope. Sha-Now’s on the third verse. This beat’s pretty dope. Sha-Now’s verse was good. Jesus. This song is crazy. There are so many fucking bars. I guess that makes sense since there are so many different MCs. I wasn’t crazy about Capital LS’ verse to be honest. It was fine tho. It wasn’t really bad. It was only like 8 bars anyway. Jeranimo’s on the 5th verse. He did his thing. Kollie Weed’s verse was cool. It sounds like he’s from the West Indies. Honestly, Charlie Brown easily had my least favorite verse on the whole song just now. His delivery is pretty goddamn annoying. Dinco D’s verse was really dope tho. What the hell? Oh wow. Cut Monitor Milo is actually going in on the 9th verse. He did a pretty good job. Busta Rhymes’ verse was nice too. Damn. That was a lot of bars. I really fuck with this song. I’m not blown away tho. I liked most of the verses, and the beat was cool. It’s just a good song. None of the verses were super mind-blowing. I fuck with this track tho. It’s dope. Just not dope af. 4/5
Track 8: Sobb Story (Prod. Vietnam)
This was the second single from this album. It’s starting now. Oh snap… Oh shit… Oh fuck… Yes. This is the best beat on the album. Vietnam. Yes. Busta Rhymes is on the first verse. It was dope. I guess they’re all supposed to be rapping about sad shit. Busta just went in about not being able to get girls because he didn’t have a car. I guess that’s kinda sad. Kinda. This hook isn’t that good. It’s not too bad tho. It doesn’t ruin the song. Charlie Brown’s on the second verse. Oh shit. He’s rapping about the same thing as Busta. So are they all just rapping about not having cars? Huh. Okay. That’s cool I guess. I mean, it really isn’t, but it’s fine. This isn’t really a bad song. It’s just not really that interesting. I really like the beat, and Busta & Charlie had dope flows on this shit. The content and hook aren’t really that good tho… Dinco D’s goin’ in on the final verse. He did his thing. He has a nice flow. I don’t know. I enjoyed this, but I don’t know if I’d ever come back to it. It’ alright tho. 3/5
Track 9: Feminine Fatt (Prod. The Vibe Chemist Backspin)
What the fuck… Wow. Okay. Umm… This song is about how they love fat women. I don’t think they mean thicc women. It sounds like they’re really into morbidly obese women. That’s cool. I mean, I personally can’t really relate to this track, but who am I to judge? I’m glad this song exists. I’m sure this would give a lot of overweight women more confidence. Am I being offensive? I’m really not trying to be… This hook is pretty weak. The beat’s nothing special. Busta’s goin’ in on the first verse. Man… This is… This is not good. I mean, even if this wasn’t about “fat” women, I don’t think I’d enjoy it. Nothing about this track is good to me. I don’t like the production or the hook. I didn’t even like Busta’s verse. How many times do they say the word “fat” in this song? Oh shit. Is this a solo Busta Rhymes song? He’s on the second verse. I never would’ve guessed that a solo Busta Rhymes track would be my least favorite song on this album so far. This is actually really bad to me tho. I can’t fuck with this shit at all. This is wack af to me. 1/5
Track 10: Transformers (Prod. Geeby Dajani, John Gamble & Dante Ross)
Oh shit? Wow. This beat’s actually really dope. This is probably my favorite beat on the whole album so far. Charlie Brown’s going in on the first verse. His flow is dope af. Nice. I actually really liked his verse. That’s definitely my favorite verse from him on this album. It was really dope. Dinco D’s on the next verse. He did his thing too. Maybe they just sound really good because of this beat. I’m enjoying this a lot more than most of the other songs. This is actually probably my favorite song on the whole album so far. I think this is the best hook on the album so far too. Busta Rhymes killed that last verse. Yeah. Yeah, this is dope af. I definitely fuck with this one. 5/5
Track 11: Afterschool
Okay, this is the last interlude I think. Why… Why is this even here? I don’t give a fraction of a fuck about anything that was said in this skit.
Track 12: Show Me A Hero (Prod. The Vibe Chemist Backspin)
This track has a really long winded intro, but the beat is actually pretty dope. It’s been over a minute and nobody’s rapping yet. Alright, it’s starting for real now. This hook is pretty terrible. They need to stop singing. Woooah… Busta’s delivery is really aggressive on this one. He’s rapping about an encounter he had with a bully at school. I think this is a solo Busta Rhymes track. This is actually really dope. Okay, he ended up beating the fuck outta the bully. Nice. Yeah, I fuck with this track. If it weren’t for the singing and the long winded intro this would probably be one of the best tracks on the album. I still like it tho. This is dope to me. 4/5
Track 13: Trains, Planes & Automobiles (Prod. Vietnam)
Oh shit. Okay, Dinco D starts goin’ in as soon as the track starts. Oh God… Okay… Yeah. Nah. This track isn’t gonna be for me… I’m pretty sure he’s rapping about running a train on some chick… Hahahaha. Man, this is fucked up. Charlie Brown’s on the second verse. “At first she said ‘I’m not with the Amtrak‘ / Gently I convinced her to lay upon her back.” I can’t believe this is a real song. “All aboard.” I guess I just wasn’t expecting to hear something so dirty on this album. This isn’t for me at all. I don’t like anything about this track. The beat is nothing special. I guess their flows were kinda nice. That’s pretty much the only positive thing I can say tho. This isn’t for me at all. This is wack to me. 2/5
Track 14: The International Zone Coaster (Prod. Geeby Dajani, John Gamble & Dante Ross)
Alright, this was the final single from this album. It’s starting now. This beat isn’t bad. Busta’s goin’ in now. Alright, he’s rapping about how he skipped school and threw a house party. His verse was alright. Dinco D’s on the next verse. Huh. He did his thing I guess. This is kind of a boring song. I mean… It’s not really bad. I don’t know why this was chosen as a single tho. I guess because of the subject matter. Nothing really stands out about this track musically tho. I actually really liked Charlie Brown’s flow on his verse. Actually, they all had pretty dope flows on this track. That’s pretty much the only thing I liked about this song tho. Again, nothing about it is really bad. It’s just not really that good. It’s decent tho. I just wouldn’t ever play this again. 3/5
Track 15: Teachers, Don’t Teach Us Nonsense!! (Prod. Leaders Of The New School)
I’m about a third of the way through this song and I don’t really have anything to say. I’m kinda getting tired of this album. This beat is really nothing special. Charlie Brown apparently got detention for yelling out annoying ad-libs in class. So… He just yells out these same annoying ass ad-libs randomly in the middle of class? What the fuck? That guys a fuckin’ weirdo. That sounds annoying as fuck. I mean, his ad-libs are already annoying enough when they’re in the middle of his verses. I feel like it would be extra irritating if some kid just made those random ass noises in the middle of class. Why the fuck would you do that? Whatever, I’m thinking way too hard about this shit. His verse on this song is annoying as hell. This whole song is just about how each member of the group is always getting in trouble at school. I’m not really enjoying this. It’s not bad. I don’t like it tho. It’s a tolerable song. It’s not something I’d wanna hear again tho. Hmm… The way the beat switched up during Busta’s verse was actually really nice. Has it been doing that throughout this whole song? I didn’t really notice the production until now. Lemme check real quick… Okay yeah, the production just switches up for Busta’s verse. I wish the beat sounded like that for the whole song. Whatever. I’m not really feelin’ this one. It’s not bad, but again… It’s not really good either… 3/5
Track 16: My Ding-A-Ling (Prod. Cut Monitor Milo & Dinco D)
Oh boy… This isn’t gonna be good… What… What the fuck is this shit? What the fuck am I listening to right now? What… What the hell is this? Okay… Okay, the song’s actually starting now. It just had a really weird intro skit… Dinco D’s on the first verse. His flow is dope af. Oh my God… Jesus fucking Christ. Okay, I REALLY like Dinco D’s flow on this track, but this hook is unforgivable. Huh. I think this is a solo Dinco D track. The beat’s decent. Holy fuck. This fucking hook… I can’t believe how bad this is… This is fucked up. This track is annoying as fuck. I’m not feelin’ this shit. The only reason I’m not giving it a 1 is because of Dinco’s dope flow. Actually, you know what? Fuck it. This track is fucking horrible. This hook is absolutely ridiculous. Fuck this song. 1/5
Track 17: Where Do We Go From Here? (Prod. Charlie Brown)
Okay. Last track. Finally. This album is long as shit. Alright, Dinco D’s on the first verse. I think this is the slowest track on the album. The beat’s alright I guess. I don’t know. I think I’m just getting tired of this sound. It’s just a loud beat with each MC yelling with a fast paced flow. It was cool at first, but it all kinda just starts to sound way too similar after a while. This hook is really bad. They’re singing. They need to stop. They need to stop doing that. It’s not good. It’s bad. It’s really bad. It’s annoying as shit. I think this is the longest track on the album. I’m about halfway through. Busta Rhymes is giving shoutouts. Alright… He’s been giving shoutouts for the past minute and a half. Is the rest of the song just gonna be shoutouts? Oh shit. The beat just switched up. Dinco D’s giving shoutouts now tho. Okay, guys. I think that’s it. They’re not gonna spit any more bars. It’s over. This song did nothing for me. I honestly kinda tuned it out after a while. It just sounded like noise. It’s not even that bad tho. I mean, it IS bad. It’s not terrible tho. It’s definitely more listenable than the previous track. That’s not really saying much tho. This is wack to me. 2/5
Final Thoughts:
Nah. I didn’t like this album. I don’t think it’s bad tho. It’s okay. It really fell off during the second half. The last few tracks are really rough. I’m glad I listened to it personally tho. I got a handful of really dope tracks outta this album. It’s honestly not as good as I was expecting it to be. It kinda makes sense that I didn’t enjoy it that much tho. This sound is really outdated. I think I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more if they switched up the formula a little bit. Most of these tracks have a very similar structure. It’s just a lot of loud old school production with each MC yelling with a fast paced flow. The majority of the hooks were pretty terrible too. They really need to stop trying to sing. It’s not good. It’s really, really, really just… Not good. I don’t think there’s a super complexed reason why I liked the songs I liked. I think some of the songs just have better production and hooks than others. Hopefully on their second album they chose better beats and stopped singing so much. I think they’re all talented MCs. It’s kind of a shame that Dinco D didn’t have a successful solo career. Charlie Brown is annoying as fuck so I kinda get why he didn’t stay relevant like Busta did. So yeah. This was an interesting listen. I’d only recommend this album if you’re a big Busta Rhymes fan or if you’re just curious. Both of those things apply to me tho, so, again, I’m glad I checked this out even if I didn’t really enjoy it that much. It’s alright.
Favorite Song: Transformers
Least Favorite Song: My Ding-A-Ling
Verdict:
62%
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