Sup The Chemist - "Dust"

Sup The Chemist - Dust
2000, BEC

1. The Return Of...
2. Language of Imagination
3. My Shot
4. Gaiety
5. Interlude
6. Fresh Coast
7. Photograph
8. How Do You Like Your Hip-Hop?
9. Art
10. Walls
11. As The Sun Rises
12. Zone
13. Top Ramen Nights
14. Sup The Chemist
15. Venality
16. I-15 North (L.V. Here I Come)
17. Here
18. Is This a Dream?

Sup The Chemist is the solo name for Super C (aka Chris Cooper) from S.F.C. I'm not sure why he decided to go solo. S.F.C. was kind of his baby as it was. Maybe he wanted to try and do something different? Dust seems like a very experimental record. If you're looking for the smooth beats and easy grooves of S.F.C. you won't really find that here. It seems like there's some odd time signatures and raps here. At times it seems like Sup and the guest MCs are racing the beat to the end of the song with all the lyrics they spit out. There is some old-school type goodness to be had in the form of tracks like "As the Sun Rises" in which Jon Gibson reprises "Dust in the Wind" for the chorus. "Photograph" is another good one. If you haven't guessed, this isn't exactly my favorite album of his. I bought it a long time ago and got rid of it because I didn't like it at all back then. I do enjoy it more now but I would still probably pull out S.F.C. stuff if I wanted my Sup fix. I hope this one grows on me as it now has a place in the vault.

Useless Fact: Gene Eugene appears on "I-15 North". He's not singing or anything, he's just talking but it made me all sad that he's gone. He probably could have made some good stuff in the sixteen years he's been gone. Also, Project 86 appears on "Is This a Dream?" but I don't find their contribution to be that important, honestly.

S.F.C. - "Illumination"

S.F.C. - Illumination

1994, Brainstorm

1. Intro

2. One Time

3. Illumination

4. C-Mode Fizzunk

5. Interlude - We Can

6. Respect

7. The Vibe

8. How I Cope

9. Interlude - Mighty Gun

10. Don't Nap

11. Make Money

12. Phat

13. Interlude - If I

14. Existing in Time

15. Ladies and Gents

So it's 1994 right? Gangsta rap has pretty much ruined any sort of positive, good time rap. So what does Super C do? Well... he certainly doesn't follow the trend and go all hard core thank goodness! Illumination is another exercise in rap perfection. You can tell that Super C has matured as I think the lyrics are a bit more reserved and thoughtful and reflect that maturity. The only thing I don't really care for are the poetry interludes. I think I would rather have a silly skit, but like I said, this is a far more mature record so the poetry makes sense in terms of the overall vibe of the album. I think this was the last record Super C would record under the name S.F.C.

Useless Fact: Apparently there are two different covers for this album. The one pictured is the alternate, I think. The one I have has "S.F.C." spelled out in broken windows on the cover.

S.F.C. - "Phase III"

S.F.C. - Phase III

1992, Brainstorm

1. Intro

2. Hoods of Good

3. Glory Halagroovin

4. Terror On Tape

5. Freedom In Captivity

6. One

7. What We Need

8. Music is My Life

9. Phase III

10. Unity

11. The Setting

12. Kill the Spirit

13. In the House

14. Swingin'

15. Another One

16. Skanewpid

17. DJ Dove (The Minister of Music)

18. 113.3

19. Victory

20. More Skanewpid Stuff

Phase III is another rap classic. I think this is the one that most people cite as a favorite of theirs. I never really got into this one as much as the others until a year or two ago. "Hoods of Good" has some metalish guitar parts in it. There's also the trademark humor and skits.

Useless Fact: This disc adds another rapper into the mix, QP. He's alright, but I'd rather just hear Sup rap.

S.F.C. - "A Saved Man (In the Jungle)"

S.F.C. - A Saved Man (In the Jungle)

1990, Broken

1. Whatever

2. A Saved Man

3. Suplex 2 Mind

4. KACR 1

5. Idiot Box

6. Long Way

7. Raminos

8. Peculiar

9. The Verdict

10. In Your Speaker

11. The Bomb

12. My Alarm/Freestyle

13. Honesty

14. KACR 2

15. Can't Wait

16. Success

17. 2 Much Chemistry

18. A Word From Our Pastor

19. Jungle Message 2 Man

20. Prime Time Mix

I remember the first time I heard this album. A few of us were all sitting around when we popped this into my friends enormous boom box and when we heard the first notes of "Whatever" our jaws hit the floor. This was honest-to-goodness rap. This wasn't the poor imitation crap spewed out by a lot of Christian record labels at the time. This was the kind of stuff that was just as good as what was on MTV... I would argue better. Not to mention the elation I felt at the Guns N' Roses sample in "A Saved Man." Super C's lyrics weren't all bright and sunshiney either. He leveled his lyrical barrels at the church and called it out on its racism and hypocrisy, then turned around and did the same to non-Christians too. The beats are catchy and the rhymes are clever. Super C is another one of those rappers whose writings could be used as poetry. They can also be pretty funny as well - especially Sup's fixation on proper oral hygiene. Even the "skits" are amusing and I don't skip over them even though it's been 18 years since this came out. Wow.... has it been that long? Anyway if you don't believe me that this is a landmark album just listen to a track like "2 Much Chemistry" with the live drums, bass, and saxophone. Man, with Sup's raps over top of it - it makes me a rap believer even though I've never been a huge fan. Any of S.F.C.'s offerings is top of the line rap but A Saved Man (In the Jungle) remains my favorite to this day.

Useless Fact: On "2 Much Chemistry," which I previously mentioned Jon Knox (Adam Again) plays drums and Dan Michaels (The Choir) plays sax.