90 MPH – Mackframalama (CD) (1994) (FLAC + 320 kbps)

In the ’60s and ’70s, Motown was on the cutting edge of African-American music. No R&B collection is complete — or even close to it — without a lot of Motown recordings. But Motown’s cutting-edge reputation suffered in the ’80s, when hip-hop exploded commercially and the label was slow to embrace it.

It was in the ’90s that Motown focused on rap with the Mad Sounds label; one of Mad Sounds’ releases was Ninety MPH’s debut album, Mackframalama. Although Ninety MPH was from Atlanta, the little-known trio didn’t get into the fast, hyper, Florida-style bass music that a lot of Georgia rappers took up in the ’90s. The grooves are slow and funky, and musically none of the tunes inspire comparisons to 95 South or Tag Team.

However, one thing 90 MPH does have in common with bass artists is a knack for sexual lyrics. “Heidi’s a Ho,” “Satisfied,” and other selections aren’t X-rated, but they’re definitely R-rated and merit an explicit lyrics disclaimer. Much of the group’s rhymes are quite relevant to what came to be known as the Dirty South school of hardcore rap in the ’90s.

Mackframalama didn’t establish Mad Sounds as a major force in hip-hop, and it didn’t make 90 MPH well-known; in 1994, a lot of serious rap fans didn’t even know that the CD existed. Nonetheless, this isn’t a bad album. While Mackframalama isn’t exceptional, it’s a generally decent and often entertaining effort that deserved more attention than it received.

Tracklist:

01. Mackframalama
02. Heidi’s A Ho
03. Atta Dark
04. Weakness
05. Loop It
06. Satisfied
07. Whata Blessing
08. Fly (I’m Loaded)
09. Oh What A Night
10. Hang Around (feat. Andre Wilson)
11. Peace To Atlanta (Interlude)

Download:

FLAC – Wayshare

320 kbps – Wayshare