DMP

'DMP'
'Dollars Mean Profit'

- Label: 'Verse Recordings'
- Genre: 'Hip-Hop' - Release Date: '2006'

DMP (http://www.verserecordings.com) will take you back to the days of listening to hip-hop tapes on big boom boxes; in other words, this is in-your-face and energetic rap music, old-school in its primal beats and massive sampling but also indebted to the political econsciousness of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions.

These lads have plenty to say about the state of black life in America; however, some of it is expressed through a cynical sense of humor instead of misanthropic rage. Particularly stinging is the parody of "Wheel of Fortune" called "Skit," which actually isn't a musical piece but a piece of painfully real commentary done as a TV game show. In it, guys from poor black neighborhoods are given prizes that reflect their miserable lives, including "a year's worth of child support." It's pure genius.

Elsewhere, DMP (it stands for "Dollars Mean Profit" in case you're wondering) recall the boisterous rhyming and explosive energy of the Beastie Boys on "It Was All a Dream" and "Pulling Rank." On "It Was All a Dream," DMP throws out a dirty laundry list of limited opportunities for boys in the 'hood, making money through drugs and violence or being sent to fight the war in Iraq. Yet DMP are not really confrontational; they're merely reporters, not self-righteous warriors.

Featuring J.J. Budget, Rob Relish, Vernon Stones, Filth Spot, and Tony Black, DMP are a pretty tight unit; their chemistry is almost like that of a rock band's, each functioning for the greatness of the whole.
author: Adam Harrington

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.whisperinandhollerin.com/reviews/review.asp?id=4393 - Whisperin And Hollerin

[12.11.06]
In this new age of music exposure, it's probably better to introduce DMP via their hilarious YouTube hit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZggVycPmZQ. Welcome back, YouTube junkie. That footage summarizes what DMP is about better than anything I could write, but let's give this a shot.

Hailing from the East Coast, DMP is a five-member hip-hop act that has one foot in the grit of street life and the other in the tongue-in-cheek urban humor of Living Color (remember that show?) DMP can address serious issues, such as the lack of opportunities facing African-Americans ("It Was All a Dream") and the never-ending cycle of violence ("Lay Down") in the 'hood. However, the band can be funny as hell as on "Skit." Not a song at all but a comedic interlude a la Cheech & Chong, "Skit" has the group participating in a Wheel of Fortune game for poor blacks wherein the prizes include free weed and "a year's worth of child support." Hilarious stuff spiked with the bitter pill of everyday reality.

On "It Was All a Dream" and "Pulling Rank," DMP recalls vintage Beastie Boys with their aggressive, pounding rhymes and raw urgency. But the group's artistic ambitions transcend easy comparisons. "American as Pie" is actually a sample of Black Panther party member H. Rap Brown's incendiary speech from the late '60s about violence being "as American as apple pie"; placed before the context of "Lay Down," it becomes brilliantly ironic.

The expected profanity is on display here; however, DMP don't use it excessively.

Written by Michael Sutton


http://cdreviews.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1666&Itemid=27 - cdreviews.com