The man who gave us PhillyHipHop.com's 2001 Album Of The Year with By Design, the Grand man has finally unleashed his follow up with Fish Outta Water. While not on the same level as By Design the album is solid if not spectacular and is still superior to ninety nine percent of the sounds emanating from the 215... or from Germany where Grand Agent now lives with pure Illadelph blood flowing through his veins.

For any album to succeed it needs good singles and Fish Outta Water has its share of them. The DJ Revolution produced Skillz Philly is already a hit in all corners of the globe. For further evidence, witness The Jig Is Up with its underground lyrical dexterity display laid over minimalistic instrumentation and a memorable and catchy hook. While these cuts are phaaaaaaaaaat I believe the Pete Rock collabo This Is What They Meant to be the highlight of the album with its free flowing jazz infused groove colliding head on with the organized storm of accomplished emcees spilling effortless funk with definite staying power.

The remainder of the album, while quite reaching the extremely higher echelon as the aforementioned songs delivers the goods nonetheless with no dud in sight. Cuts such as What I Want, I Need A Girl and the thumbs up G-Funk of Who Programmed Us Anyway are major league, entertaining pieces from of Philly's premiere wordsmiths and live performers.

Simply stated, there is no reason not to add this album to your collection. That means going to a store and paying for a copy...

grandagent.net

soulspazm.com

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Review by Funk Wizard Snow
Editor- PhillyHipHop.com
July, 2003