Dah Shinin'

iTunes Review

Part of the extensive Boot Camp Clik, Brooklyn duo Smif-N-Wessun first appeared on Black Moon's Enta Da Stage, before dropping their own album Dah Shinin' in early 1995. Like Black Moon, Tek and Steele rhyme almost exclusively about gunplay and weed smoking, but do it with a style and charisma that sets them apart from the pack. Though unapologetically hardcore, they also inject subtle humor and a reggae influence into their songs, and benefit from some of Da Beatminerz' most impressive production; head-cracking drums and jazzed-out loops galore (the cover art is a visual reference to Roy Ayers' He's Coming LP). A New York classic through and through, it features timeless gems like "Bucktown," "Sound Bwoy Bureill," and "Wontime." After the album's release, a certain firearms company sued and forced them to change their name, (they were temporarily known as Cocoa Brovaz), but they eventually got it back and continue to put out new records and tour the world with the rest of the Duck Down collective.