I HAVE TO HONESTLY SAY THESE GUYS ROCK FOR A RAP TRIO I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY ARENT THEY RELEASING ANOTHER ALBUM BECAUSE THIS ONE DEFINATELY KNOWS HOW TO MAKE A GOOD LISTENER LISTEN. IM A HUGE REDMAN FAN I THINK THESE GUYS DESERVE A GOLD TROPHY FOR THIS ALBUM MY FAVORITE JOINT IS TRACK 5 THE SONG FEAT TOO SHORT,RIDE WITH US, I AGAIN WISH TO SEE ICARUS AND SOC JOIN DEF SQUAD THE COMBINATION WOULD BE UNSTOPPABLE.FUNK DOC HIT SQUAD IS SERIOUSLY IN THE HOUSE

This album is not one of my favorites...but I truly love it to death, for a number of reasons:

I have been following the careers of "The Funk-Lord / MC Grand Royal / Green-Eyed Bandit" Erick Sermon, "The Philles Blunt King" Keith Murray & "Funk Doctor Spot" Redman under a microscope from day one. Each brings a unique style & attitude to the mic, but there is and will never be, another trio as great as this one. With E-Double producing the entire album (execpt "You Do, I Do" by Red), the entire LP is bursting at the seams with funky-ass beats.

Erick Sermon, as we all know (or at least all should know), started his hip-hop tenure paired w/ Parrish Smith (PMD) in the classic & hugely influential duo, EPMD. Everyone knows that Sermon had all the talent, as it was evident in his production and superior rhymes w/ his classic lisp. As soon as the duo temporarily broke apart in 1992, Sermon simply blew up but didn't go pop. He took understudies, Redman & Keith Murray and turned them each into Hip-Hop icons, via practically producing and guiding both of their entire careers. He also released two solo albums, "No Pressure" in 1993 & "Double or Nothing" in 1995, both are amazing.

The first time the world heard Redman on the mic was on EPMD's 1992 LP, "Business as Usual" on the tracks, "Headbanger" & "Brothers on my Jock." Soon after, Redman released his debut album "Whut? Thee Album," later that year (entirely produced by E-Dub) and it went gold. Ever since then, Redman has become a huge staple in east-coast hip-hop. Sermon and Redman were good buddies and Sermon (I'm guessing) just figured that Red could rap over his beats, and it'd be ill. I have a feeling (not officialy confirmed) that Sermon's growing friendship with Redman & Murray played a part in EPMD's break-up.

Keith Murray is a completely different story, sort of. He was brought to Sermon's legendary basement one night by fellow "Hit Squad" member, K-Solo. Murray was homeless and broke, but he could rap like nobody had ever heard, (it's true I read this in an interview w/ Murray). The hip-hop world was first introduced to Keith Murray on Sermon's first solo album, "No Pressure" in 1993 on the tracks "Hostile" & "Swing it Over Here." The latter is to my expert knowledge, the first track the trio ever collaborated on, and it's dope. The next year in 1994, Murray released his debut LP "The Most Beautifullest Thing in This World," produced entirely by Sermon, and everybody loved it.

Dating from 1993, up to "El Nino" in 1998, each member of Def Squad had released at least 2 albums apiece. The beauty of it is, each solo album had at least one track that featured all three members. This is why I love this album so much...for years I had been getting tastes of what Sermon, Redman & Murray sound like when they all surround a mic, and I could never get enough. This album is a full 16 tracks (minus interludes and intros) of all three members. It's truly a beautiful thing that serious hip-hop heads had been waiting for, for years.

Now, don't expect much from this album by means of insight, emotion or even tracks that make you think. That's not their style. What these three heavyweights represent is pure funky, sh*t-talking hip-hop. It's all in good fun. They rhyme to entertain - not change lives. What's funny about Def Squad, is that not one of the tracks on the album have anything that seperates one from another. They all just rhyme about how dope they are, but the beats change from track to track and it couldn't sound better. My friends and I always joke that this album is like one big track. It's perfect, if that's what you're in the mood for.

Bottom Line: Those of us who know, know that this album was a long time coming. In an odd way, it's history in the making. The beats are incredible and the rhymes suit them perfectly. This is the perfect definition of a fun album. Any fan of Erick Sermon, EPMD, Redman, or Keith Murray will love this. 5 funky stars. Peace.

All that is needed to be said about this album is the collaboration that took place in the late 1990's. Keith Murray, Eric Sermon (a common and great duo) along with a more commercial rapper in redman. The collaboration was smart and needed.

This album is way beyond funky. Whilst the skits are a waste of time, pretty much every track totally rocks! Redman kills it throughout, like on "Check'n Me Out" where he declares "when its time to go out, Im going 'Full Metal Jacket' style, reverse suicide". Murray is tight and Erick comes with the beats and a couple of decent bars. This kinda sounds ok at first, but you listen a couple of times and it'll turn you out!

Okay, first I would like to say that this album could definitely be better. There are two things wrong with this album. First, there are too many needless radio skits that take away from the flow of the album. Secondly, there is no standout track which makes alot of the album seem repetitive. However, these are still three of the game's greatest MC's. There are a lot of great tracks on this album, and these three work really well together. If you are a fan of any of the three, then this CD is a worthwhile purchase.