Attack of the Attacking Things

Artist: Jean Grae
Label: Third Earth Music
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 821517000822
EAN: 0821517000822
ASIN: B000069JJR

Release Date: 2002-08-06

Attack of the Attacking Things

Related Categories:

General

| R&B | Styles | Music

General

| Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Pop Rap

| Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Intro
What Would I Do
God's Gift
Block Party
No Doubt
Skit (Bubblin')
Thank Ya
Love Song
Get It
Knock
Live 4 U
Fade Out

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This Week
Good Music
Talib Kweli presents The Beautiful Mix CD: Hosted by Dave Chappelle [Mixtape]
The Listening

Album Description

"Attack of the Attacking Things is Jean Grae (formerly known as What? What?), after dozens of similar cameos over several years of underground records, finally battling demons on her own turf, trading on both her unaltered gift for lyrical delicacy, and her distinctive, deliberately understated vocal style." -Harry Allen, Village Voice

Customer Reviews:

I am at a loss for words........2006-02-19

Yo this album is so deep and raw I would straight fight my mom for this CD. Yo this woman is the rapper of the ages for me. She should be studied by other artists who think they nice. Compared to her your favorite artist is probably garbage. I can't even go on to much about it. Yo this is a MUST own. First time I played it I felt like I had to let the world hear it. This is one of the few CDs in my collection that I can say I am proud to own. And she is like the only artist that I can say I am not ashamed of being a fan of. If you like well put together beautiful underground music for your soul. Get yah hands on this NOW. Nuff said.

JEAN GRAE IS A REAL MC, AND I ENPHASISE REAL.......2005-11-03

I knew this girl had skills but man is she good (or girl as the case may be). This lp although quite hard to get hold off is something I would recommed real hip hoppers to seek out.
Straight from brooklyn this girl carries an essence about her which is both refreshing and old school at the same time. I first heard of jean when I read the review of this album in the source magazine a few years ago and at the time I tried looking for this album but had no luck I could not find it anywhere and eventually gave up on it, still I never forgot about it, I started hearing her on other albums and I could not believe that I was hearing a female mc with so much talent yet she recieves barely any recognition. So I started the search recently again and I was able to find a copy on amazon for a very cheap price and after hearing this lp I was not dissapointed.

The production on this lp is solid containing a nice new york feel, it has a similar vibe to Masta Ace's A Long Hot Summer album using a soft yet hard tone at the same time, basicly the type of beats I expect to hear from a place like brooklyn.

On the rhyming tip expect less lil kim think more along the lines of Lauren Hill, yet Jean in my opinion is better, she brings a realness to her rhymes which just screams authentic, there is nothing corny about her.

Overall this is an excellent lp yet I feel the best is yet to come so I will deffinatly be checking her future releases and I suggest you do too.

Yes, it's long, but please read this review!.......2005-09-04

You know how people say the best music ever made was written in someone's basement? Well, Jean Grae does you one up, she wrote, produced and recorded her entire album in small, corner-studios, wherever she could get at, and let me tell you something, this record validates that statement one hundred percent. Jean's first solo LP, "Attack Of The Attacking" things is genius, or rather jeanius, but either way, it is easily one of the most incredible, and most incredibly slept on albums of all time. Real quick - the reason I titled this review so simply as "read this review," is because this album has become practically impossible to lay your hands on,and whether they're discontinuing it or taking it off the market or what, make some noise in protest! It would be an absolute travesty to hip hop music, period, to take this record off the shelves!

If you know thing one about Jean Grae, you know she can rap. She can write, rap, produce, she can do practically anything. Seeing as she learned to read at age three, Jean's relationship with language goes back a long way, but even more than that, it's her intelligence that truly makes her music what it is. Listening to her music isn't like listening to rap. Not a single line in this album is compromised for the sake of hitting the right rhyme, or emphasizing the right beat. She doesn't seem to have to even think about it. She weaves comprehensive stories that might as well have jumped out of five-star novels, and puts them to catchy, blissfully melodic loops. The result is absolutely amazing. So if I say one important thing in this review, here it is: W-O-W.

Buy this album. Yes, in the tiny little pixilated picture you can barely make out online, the cover of this album looks extremely bootlegged, (oh what irony,) but in person, it's actually a pretty cool album cover, and the cartoon layout on the back is artistic and creative. Props to Jean for working so well with a low budget. But enough about the cover-art. If you make one mistake, ONE MISTAKE with this album, it would be not buying it because you think it looks unprofessional, or some other rubbish. Don't do that. The music on this album is absolutely incredible, and while Jean's release "This Week" champions the top of her discography list as the best, I have to say, "Attack of the Attacking Things" is a near miss, and even though "This Week" may, overall, be a better album, this record has a few very strong features that her other releases simply lack. Such as...

Jean's softer side. Yes, I said it, Jean has a soft side. Everyone knows it, all you have to hear is "P.S." on "This Week" to know it, but "Attack of the Attacking Things," I believe, is EASILY Jean's most introspective, emotional, and downright moving work yet. Track 8 - "Love Song" is one of the most incredibly moving songs I've ever heard. Over a beautifully haunting, melodic track, Jean weaves a story in third person about a young, naïve girl who is constantly taken advantage of by predator men. Then, slowly, towards the end, after mixing "I's" and "Her's" throughout the song, Jean drops the pretense and admits the story is all true, and all about her. "Maybe it's easier to talk about this stuff in third person," she says as she closes out the track with her last verse, and the listener can't help but feel close to Jean.

Aside from poignant, emotional tracks, Jean also proves she isn't afraid to say what she means, point blank, and does her best to try and inspire change in the black community, or society period. This is something not seen on her other albums. It's not that Jean isn't conscience on her other albums, she is, but she's never said it so straightforward, and I love it. I hope to hear more tracks like this from her in the future. The track is called "Block Party," a deceptive title, and as the opening line, she says "I don't want to preach or come off bitter, this is a commentary, auditory, editorial, about the state of things, state of mind and state of being." From there, she goes on to make some of the most absolutely intelligent, unsaid and covered up truths and observations I've ever heard, begging for change. "You need to get out your house, get off your block, go see something, go change something." To her fellow women, Jean says "Ladies, know your worth, the way we're giving it up, we might as well auction ourselves on ebay, to the lowest bidder, so what if his dough is better? Money doesn't make the man, maybe self sufficiency would better make you understand."

One last thing that must be said, briefly, for this album, is the outstanding production. I have to say, "Attack" has some of the most beautifully melodic loops - EVER. From jazz, to rock, to R&B, to your hard-hitting rap baselines. Not only that, but every loop fits the mood, such as track 7, "Thank Ya." This has an addictive, jazz/rock loop behind it, over which Jean uses her biting sense of humor. "It's scary, like women that ain't really women, to dudes that try to holla at them, wait, that was confusing."

SUMMARY
For those of you who know Jean, and for those of you who don't, BUY THIS ALBUM. For ages now, going on five years, I have confidently proclaimed Talib Kweli as my all time favorite rapper, but finally, Jean may have usurped him from that position and taken his place. Well, they're neck-in-neck, at the very least. One thing must be said for Jean - she is the ONLY rap artist, the ONLY musical artist period who consistently puts out albums which I can listen to straight-through without having to skip a track. Yup. Jean Grae has yet to put out A SINGLE SONG I don't like. That's dumb-founding to me. Ultimately, what makes Jean so great, is her talent for words, and her sense of humor. Please hear me on this; Jean is beautifully human. It's easy to idolize a rapper like Talib Kweli who focuses so relentlessly on conscience rap, and I absolutely love him for that, but there's something about Jean Grae's candid emotion and honesty, her talent for using sardonic wit to point out painful truths, and her movingly personal narratives that make it easy to love Jean Grae as a person trying to make a difference, and view her as a human, and not just idolize her as a symbol.

To Jean: Don't ever stop. All the turmoil you've gone through, everything you've fought for has been worth it, because whether you realize it or not, you DO effect people, and without a doubt, inspire (at least me) to do everything I can to make a difference, not as a symbol, not with money, not with influence, but as a human, who can connect with others on a deeper level.

Huge Potential.......2005-08-11

This is the only album i own by jean grae, but its pretty good. lyrically, Jean Grae is the 3rd best female emcee in the game(beaten only by Rah Digga & Lady Of Rage) but her flow tends to fade into the track after a while(Foxy Brown & Da Brat have better flows). Shes definetly a 'concious' emcee but on tracks like block party where she talks about blacks expanding their horizons, the sh*t she spits doesnt come off preachy but as matter of fact. She will instantly endear you to her because she seems like a normal woman whereas other female emcees live in a fantasy world, ms. grae spits facts and makes it sound good. she has a lot of potential to make a classic but this isnt it. the beats are mostly by nashym nameen (???), masta ace and the beatminaz. in my opinion they didnt hook up the samples right, and the mixing is quite poor, but its still a good album if you like concious hip hop

Jean Grae (AMAZING ............).......2005-07-29

To the niggas that's new to Jean Grae might find her Corney. Man. I LOVE THIS WOMEN! I LOVE HER! SHE HAS THAT CRACK. Just like Nas, Styles and M.O.P. Her flow just comes right in like Styles was done a minute ago. And her's being the weakist. We would rather refer to the Trouble Making kid 50 Cent and the Rest of the G-Unit Punks that is still in the game and that left the game because of technical difficulties. She is gifted. It's like she was never talented, she just grabed a pen, a pad, and then started to write and gave it a try. You see, I first seen the old album at Best Buy back in Yonkers, after I came from 119th Avenue in Jamaica Queens, and then I said; What is this?! What kind of album is this, I got the CD and I opened it, and I listend to it, I'm like AW MAN!! THIS Young Girl Can Spit like that So? Looks like shes going to be dumping on all of the Females in RAP indrestry. MC Lyte, don't lose that title now. Foxy Brown, I'm depending on you!! Or else Jean Grae will draw more attention to herself. But it dosen't look like she compares to anyone. It's just that some of the people quit because of the new rappers or some of them are aging. But mostly quiting because of the new rappers. And shes the Dragon! She has mad talent. If she doesen't, then who does then nigga?! NOBODY!

1. Intro
2. What Would I Do (The First Song That I Ever Danced To)
3. God's Gift (Nobody in the game made something like this)
4. Block Party (THIS IS THE SONG!)
5. No Doubt (It's All Right)
6. Skit (Bubblin') (Mad Funny Skit)
7. Thank Ya (I'm Thinking About This One)
8. Love Song (Yall don't know nothing about this)
9. Get It (I thought DJ Premire Produced this Track For Her)
10. Knock (The Matrix Beat)
11. Live 4 U (I've heard of this song before, and I'm still thinking about it)
12. Fade Out (This is my song too)

OH MY GOD! This Album Should Go Platinum!

Née Tsidi Ibrahim -- 1976 -- In South Africa

Jean Grae!! Babygrande! Canibal Ox! Talib Kweli! Q-Tip! Mos Def and The Raukis! Styles P! Mobb Deep. Make sure yall niggas cop that This Week Album.

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