Artist:             Messy Marv
Title:               Turf Politics
Label:             Scalen Entertainment
Year:               2002
Rating:            5 of 5
Review by:     Dead Eye – deadend_rec@hotmail.com

The new effort from Messy Marv is a remarkable one! They say third times a charm and that really goes for Marv (“Death On A Bitch” was a bootleg that doesn’t count as a Messy album!). “Messy Situations” is an underground classic but lacked some really great beats. “Still Explosive” was major step up. The sound he had on that album has been kept and developed to perfection here. The right amount of guests, the perfect balance between mobbing melodies and ballin/playa beats. First up is “What!” featuring West Coast vet C-Bo a really great album opener. It´s a short song so it really do works as an intro in a good way!

On “Fo A Life Time” we find Messy solo. He dedicates the song to all his potnas thuggin, trying to make it. It´s really laid-back on a real life tip. You’re gonna feel this in your head phones, ride or at a BBQ! Rhymes like “Cuzin My childhood/You would never understand/I used to wake up taking money from a one night stand” and “I run from the pain/But never seem to get that far (why?)/The ghetto made a life time scar” is lovely ghetto poetry!
   “Turf Politics” the song is so well done, you get guest spots by Daz Dillinger, JT The Bigga Figga and Levitti. And on top of that a laid back beat with the right amount of funk from Rick Rock! This song is just about as “west coastish” as they come!

“Hoe 4 Me” featuring Rappin 4-Tay is nothing far from being a classic song. Trust me when I say that I´ll bump this 25 years from now – holla at me in 2027 and I´ll prove that to ya! It got a guitar laced beat from Dewayne Wiggins of Tony Toni Tone. The beat allows both 4-tay and Marv to rap rather fast. Might be unusual to hear at first but trust me this is top-notch material! “Who Wudda Known” featuring The Soul Child is another track you wanna bump in the sunshine! It’s about how you can’t predict when you bout to sleep with your boys girlfriend, this is Marvs story!

“Center Of Attention” featuring E-40 and B-Legit got a small flute element to the beat which works in its advance. All three MC´s got their own way of game spitting. 40 wonders what the rap game would be without him, and yeah you can’t help wondering what it would be without Earl! “Twisted” got George Clinton in the end talking some real stuff. I don’t know who did the chorus, but the female handling em did it in a great way! “Dream On” was actually featured on the previous tape “Still Explosive” but under the title “Nubian Queen”. Anyway this song is so damn real and great it deserves to be on both albums. It’s dedicated to all sisters out there. Kind of the same message that Pac had on “Keep Ya Head Up” but this is Marvs own way of a dedication! Sean T did an excellent job on the beat here!

“Nikki” ends the album. Good rhymes and great beat from Young B, and I’m not sure who he done worked before but he sure deserves his props after this one! This album should not be slept on. I’ve been waiting on a 5 points of 5 from Marv since I first heard him in the mid-90´s. Honestly I didn’t except such a mind blowing album already! I knew he had it in him all the way but thought he needed a few more years to grow. But he really grown fast in this game. He should achieve superstar status alongside the big ones like Snoop and Cube but maybe a small secret is best kept a secret. So let Marv bubble in the underworld and let him have the freedom to make any kind of music he want to. Marv is now on top and he’s there to stay – Please Believe It!!