Reception and Influence
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Robert Christgau | |
| RapReviews | (9/10) |
| The Source | |
| Spin | (favorable) |
| Trouser Press | (favorable) |
Dead Serious caused an immediate sensation upon its release in March 1992. The album went platinum on the strength of the singles "Mic Checka" and the Top 40 pop hit "They Want EFX", by 1993. Giving it a 4 out of 5-mic rating, The Source's Matty C compared the duo's lyrical style to that of Busta Rhymes, Treach, and EPMD, writing "Not only have they innovated a new rhyme flow that expands on all these styles, but they have brought back fun filled hip-hop". Ronin Ro of Spin complimented their "hard lyrics that simultaneously perplex, captivate, annoy, and amuse... television-induced, schizophrenic, lyrical wit". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave the album an honorable mention rating, indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like".
In a retrospective review, RapReviews writer Steve Juon described the album as "ten tracks jam-packed with dopeness" and commended Das EFX for "merging pop culture and punchlines, beat poet skat and hip-hop style, and creating a free form lyrical jazz in the process". Ira Robbins of Trouser Press called it "a monstrously entertaining debut" and wrote that they "don't push the topical envelope any — geography, rhyming and sexing are pretty much the alpha-omega of their menu... Fortunately, the pair's rereading of old news yields fresh and funny angles". Allmusic's Stanton Swihart gave the album 5 out of 5 stars and noted the duo's "lightning-fast, tongue-twisted word association and stream-of-consciousness rants rich in pop cultural references and allusions". Stewart elaborated on its initial appeal and subsequent influence in hip hop, stating:
he album wasn't just appealing; it was also enormously influential, ushering in an entirely unique rhyming flow that influenced any number of rappers, established and novice alike... their lyrics are about as far removed from hardcore realism as they could possibly be, and although there are certain elements of boasting, it is so cut up and contorted that it never sounds like there's even a hint of the humdrum here... It was a completely original rhyming style in 1992 — one of the reasons it had such an impact both in the insular world of hip-hop and on the wider public — but it also had an invigorating looseness that lent itself to commercial radio. —Stanton StewartSpeaking on the duo's impact, Hines stated that he felt "what we were doing brought a twist to the game without watering anything down. If you were only hearing our radio stuff, you had one impression of us, but if you got the album then you realized there was a lot more depth there".
Read more about this topic: Dead Serious (album)
Famous quotes containing the words reception and/or influence:
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“They tell us that women can bring better things to pass by indirect influence. Try to persuade any man that he will have more weight, more influence, if he gives up his vote, allies himself with no party and relies on influence to achieve his ends! By all means let us use to the utmost whatever influence we have, but in all justice do not ask us to be content with this.”
—Mrs. William C. Gannett, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 5, ch. 8, by Ida Husted Harper (1922)