Luni Coleone & Cool Nutz, Every Single Day (Always Hustlin' Records)

[June 13th, 2007] [HIP-HOP] Fifteen years after Dr. Dre dropped his seminal album, The Chronic, the unprecedented success of early-'90s Southern California gangster rap still inspires identity crises in West Coast rappers north of L.A. In Luni Coleone's hometown of Sacramento, the gangster-rap scene—long propelled by Black Market Records—took the G-funk era to its logical, if bleak, next level by unleashing murder-happy horror-rap. In Portland, gangster rap found its way into the heart and mic of Terrance Scott, who combines dark street poetry with his own sense of humor and blunt lyricism as Cool Nutz. Through out-the-trunk hustle and social networking, Scott (who co-founded Jus Family Records) has come to be regarded as the godfather of Portland rap.

From afar, the two MCs' collaborative album, Every Single Day, seems the product of an odd alliance. After all, Coleone and Nutz are vastly different MCs: Coleone barks commanding, violent verses (think of Samuel L. Jackson's line, "I hope they burn in hell!" in A Time to Kill), whereas Cool Nutz's 'hood stories are of the laid-back, medium-pace, spoken-word variety.

On Every Single Day, though, the artists' stylistic divide manifests itself in good cop/bad cop fashion. Coleone shouts reckless and occasionally offensive threats ("I got five killers with me/ No weak links/ And we tighter than the eyes on a newborn chink") as the embittered protagonist, while Nutz provides lush free-associations that function primarily as scene-setters. "No stunt doubles/ We fixed on the block," he raps, laying down a backdrop to "Get That Doe": "The hot red beam/ The infared dot/ Came off the turf from a get-rich plot."

Both of these rappers could be accused of taking themselves too seriously in their solo careers, but Every Single Day is adventurous, even celebratory, despite its overarching "I will kill you if you look at me wrong" theme. The MCs even manage to temper each other, Coleone absorbing some of Nutz's patience, while the latter breaks his long-standing embargo on the B-word and generally loosens up. This allows Every Single Day to rediscover the aforementioned good doctor's cocksure, fuck-the-world prescription—washing it down with the grizzled game narratives of two small-market vets.