Yo Yo
Reviewed on this page:
Make Way For The Motherlode - Black Pearl - You Better Ask
Somebody - Total Control
Back at the start of the 90s, the paradoxical Ice Cube, who had
done as much as anyone to give hip-hop a reputation for sexist
"bitch 'n ho" mentality, did an about-face, promoting feminist
rapper Yo-Yo. Since then she's gone her own way, while staying
closely associated with Ice Cube. Her voice is high-pitched and
grating, without the presence of MC Lyte
or Salt, or the flow of Queen Latifah, but her inventive rhyming
puts her over more often than not. Yo-Yo's not in the first rank of
rappers, but her earlier discs are still worth a listen. (DBW)
 Make Way For The Motherlode (1991)
Here Yo Yo drops some of the hardest pro-woman lines I've ever
heard. Most of the tunes are directed at women, and "Put
A Lid On It," "Sisterland" and "Don't Be No Fool" are standouts.
She also indulges in more than a couple of pure bragging numbers
("Stompin' To Tha 90s," "Ain't Nobody Better," title track). The
music is densely layered, sometimes too close to the horn-heavy
Latifah sound, with samples coming from 70s funk (P-Funk, Stevie
Wonder, Rufus, Betty Wright, even
Sister Sledge) and early 80s hip hop (Run-
DMC, Public Enemy), but usually
used in a subtle, creative way. Co-produced by Sir Jinx "with the
funky hip-hop punch from Del, the Funkee Homo-Sapien."
(DBW)
 Black Pearl (1992)
Yo Yo trims the fat, eliminating the superfluous bragging in favor
of solid social statements, including several women's empowerment
numbers: "You Should Have Listened" warns against loving too much;
on "Woman To Woman" she upbraids a woman for atacking her instead
of her straying man; "I Can't Take No More" is the story of a woman
who manages to leave an abusive relationship; "Hoes" just plain
disses men. She also espouses black consciousness on "Cleopatra,"
"A Few Good Men," and the title track. But all the preaching
doesn't sound condescending, because her rhyming is so clever and
focused. The instrumental backing is simpler than before, often
relying on one 60s or 70s soul sample (sources include Otis Redding, Isaac
Hayes, the Bar-Kays and Donnie Hathaway), but still seriously
grooving -- the best is "Home Girl Don't Play That," where the
mixture of sampled licks recalls the
Bomb Squad. A variety of producers, but mostly by Sir Jinx or
DJ Pooh. (DBW)
 You Better Ask Somebody (1993)
Ice Cube produced this time, and it sounds very much like one of
his records: completely reliant on P-Funk
samples, packed with gangsta references to guns ("Girls Got A Gun")
and blunts ("Pass It On"). Cube turns up on "The Bonnie and Clyde
Theme," and writes several other boring tunes, including "They Shit
Don't Stink" with a homophobic reference. Meanwhile, Yo Yo has
almost given up on preaching feminism: the closest she comes is
"Mackstress," where she advises women to do the same fucked-up
things to men that men are trying to do to them. Otherwise, there's
more of the tired boasting that nobody needs to hear anymore ("Can
You Handle It?," title track). Martin Lawrence pops up on "Letter
To The Pen," in his usual bad taste. This one's strictly for Ice
Cube fans. (DBW)
 Total Control (1996)
Yo Yo exec produced, and she's discovered G-funk: every track is
mellow and keyboard-centric, with one 70s sample each (including
Patrice Rushen's "Feels So Real").
It's nothing new or exciting, and lyrically it's punchless, just
more about how great she is ("Yo Yo's Night," "Same Ol' Thang
(Everyday)"), what a great lover she is ("One For The Cuties," a
duet with MC Lyte), or what a great
gangsta she is ("Bonnie And Clyde II," again with Ice Cube).
Throughout she's laidback and listless -- her earlier anger is
gone, but she doesn't have anything to replace it -- and her rhymes
lack any sharpness. Maybe it's Prozac. (DBW)
It's a long way home...
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