The Native Tongue family consists of...

Surely I speak for the vast majority of readers of A Story To Tell, and heads across the world, in proclaiming Black Sheep's 1991 album "A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" to be an absolute, cast-iron classic. There is of course nothing revolutionary in this statement, or anything remotely slept on about this album, but sometimes you have to just re-state the bleeding obvious. There is just no doubt about it, from start to finish, it is to my ears virtually faultless and the only reason I haven't posted about it up until now is that I just don't know what to say that will do it justice that hasn't already been said.

So instead let's just revel in the reasons why this album remains a sparkling gold nugget in the rap firmament, and one of the undoubted greatest hip-hop albums of all time. The humour, of which there is of course plenty, still makes me laugh out loud, and I know the album's lyrics and vocal punchlines inside-out and back outside-in again. Even most of the skits retain their come drum breaks high up in the mix, and jazzy stylings and guitar lines adding a sophisticatedly seductive value to many of the mid-tempo numbers, and some killer bass keeping the groove heavy.


The production is high value, and the album is undoubtedly a longplayer in the proper sense of the word, working brilliantly as a complete entity. And then there is the intricate and inspired lyrical wordplay, dominated of course by Dres, but with remarkably good support from Mr Lawnge. Dres' lyrics on this album are among the best I have ever heard, with a perfect mix between sensitive and socially aware messages, metaphorical madness, the afore-mentioned comedic timing, alliterative inspiration, and all tied together with a smooth, smooth flow and arrogance that somehow serves to ingratiate rather than grate.

And of course there are the bizarre vocabulary inventions, from the brilliant exclamations throughout of "Van Daaaam" to "sexual chocolate", "c'est la poo poo" and even the title of the standout "Similak Child" is itself a worthy addition to any lexicon. Come to mention it, how many rap tunes could pull off a beat built on a sample of a dog barking, indeed how many people would even think to attempt it. And let us not forget that the album also spawned some absolute dance floor killers, some as remixes, from the huge "The Choice Is Yours", to the perennial favourite "Stobelight Honey" and "Flavour of the Month".


Follow-up, 1994's "Non-Fiction" despite some real highlights, could perhaps never live up to the expectations raised by their debut, and I have never been able to find Dres' 1999 solo offering "Sure Shot Redemption" or Mr Lawnge's own 2006 offering "Class of '89", or their final collaboration "8WM/Novakane". The two have now disbanded, apparently amicably, and so what the future holds is unclear, though there is hope in the myspace world of distribution that future works could still be forthcoming.



Whether new work is relevant to the modern scene or not is pretty much an irrelevance in itself, because Black Sheep will always, like fellow classic album creators and comedic frontrunners The Pharcyde, have a place deep in the hearts of fans everywhere. So if you are looking for a route back to when hip-hop actually made you smile as well as nod your head, pull out the Black Sheep of the family. I know that's what I'm off to do. I said...latah man.