No Panty is a 3 man group consisting of Joell Ortiz, Bodega Bamz and Nitty Scott MC with the sonics spearheaded by the indelible Salaam Remi(this man is totally underrated IMO). Their debut project is titled “Westside Highway Story”
On paper the names may look out of place but if you look closer you would see how so much they all gel. The first and major link is the Spanish element which is present in all the main players and essentially plays a HUGE part in the sounds used for this project. The second link is Salaam Remi and I must add how the hell did he put this together so well?!!!
The project starts off with the Take Me to Mardi Gras Drum infused upbeat cut titled Hola. As far as intros go, this project is devoid of one and takes the listener right into the fray with all 3 MCs showing off their verbal prowess from the jump. The following track Singing My Song employs Slick Rick‘s Mona Lisa drums to great effect here making it into a total latin summer jam. The following joints Spanish Fly, Westside Highway Story, “Iceys On Deck” switch up the vibe with more Afro Latin grooves, hypnotic rhythms, exotic melodies and of course the trio’s trademark fiery flows. Mother’s Mark sees the MCs going all introspective as they each spew personal narrative about their respective Mothers with a very heartfelt tone.
“…My father not from this country, my mother yeah that’s my planet, that’s my Earth in her womb I was planning. Can I make it through 9 months I can manage. Everytime I was hungry she felt the kick/Moved around a little bit. When’s my due date, i’m trying to make my mark” Bodega Bamz
“…Word up mami, came home for your home cooking/I’m on the road but I found space in between bookings. On the patio just sipping some rum. Talking about how far we’ve come. Like remember when you rode up on y step moms and beat her ass cos she tried to over step moms…” Nitty Scott, MC
“…A song to my favourite, look ma we made it/It shudda happened sooner and I hate it/Licked your thumb and light the coal helped me bundle up/Yawning waiting for the morning bus/A queen of my castle flipping burgers out of white castle. My daddy used to drive right passed you…” Joell Ortiz
The second half of the project flips to a wave of mid tempo summer Latin tinged grooves. Just so you know there is no central underlining concept behind this but the cohesiveness is praise worthy. There are no fillers, just well crafted tracks laid back to back. The basketball referencing Shots, the Mariachi-esque Gato and the cinematic Levitate liven things up and it don’t stop there as the congo driven Rraahh comes in- sans drums just a deep bassy pad, congos and the MCs doing their thing. These guys never come off weak or uninspired and it would be hard to pick one over the other. The Afterparty(live at Jimmy’s Pt 2) which is kinda like an ode to Angie and Pun’s song(check Angie’s solo project) is pretty cool while the closing cut No Panty Anthem is a total Latin carnival affair from start to finish, a shameless party starter complete with the “No panty” chant.
No panty succeeds more than it fails to be honest. Bodega Bamz, Nitty Scott and Joell are pretty spirited all over this project and the blend of old school hip-hop, Latin and Afro Cuban elements makes it interesting without getting stale. Like I said, there is no running theme (besides the somewhat annoying reverb soaked vocal stutter effect employed one time too many) so do check it out.
Last words: 13 tracks of break beats, Latin elements and a whole lot of dope lyrics.
Grade: B+