Happy 25th Anniversary to Sadat X’s debut solo album Wild Cowboys, originally released July 16, 1996.
When Brand Nubian’s debut album One For All (1990) dropped, Grand Puba Maxwell earned most of the attention, which made sense. Puba was the seasoned emcee with a career before Brand Nubian became an entity. He had a slick, laid-back rhyme style and a ton of charisma. Puba gave a star-making performance that merited any and all of the superlatives that were given after the album’s arrival.
Me, personally, I was a huge fan of Puba’s fellow emcee originally known as Derek X on One For All. Oh, I knew Puba was fierce, but there was something about Sadat X’s infectious style that drew me to his verses on the group tracks and his solo track on the album. He was a little more left of center, but still had undeniable rapping skills.
Shortly after One For All’s release, Mr. Murphy gave himself the “righteous name” of Sadat X. When Puba left Brand Nubian to purse his solo career, Sadat was integral to the group’s continued success, remaining with Lord Jamar to craft two more albums—1993’s In God We Trust and 1994’s Everything Is Everything—in fairly close succession. He established himself as a dynamic lyricist as a member of Brand Nubian and as a guest on tracks by artists like Diamond D and Kurious.
After cultivating his craft, Sadat released his debut solo album Wild Cowboys in 1996. It was one of the best albums released that year, exceptionally executed on both the lyrical and musical end. The album’s imagery, if not its content, is heavily steeped in Wild West iconography, presenting Sadat as a formidable gunslinger of an artist, confident and unpredictable. Not for nothing, I personally prefer the project to both of Puba’s (very dope) solo albums he’d released in the preceding years.
The Great Dot X has always fascinated me as an emcee. He possesses one of the most unique voices in hip-hop, kicking rhymes with a gravelly bray. He often utilizes a conversational rhyming style, but at times exhibits a seemingly boundless energy on the mic. His presence is infectious, as he has an eccentric charisma that draws the listener in to his verses.
But Sadat X’s most distinctive quality as a rapper is his flow. It’s an absolute treat to follow his complicated and innovative rhyme structures throughout the album. His raps turn and twist, often ending and starting in unexpected places. Some of his lines rhyme internally. Sometimes lines don’t rhyme at all.
The album’s title track is the best and most highly entertaining example of Sadat’s unconventional approach to rapping. He’s in full “rap as conversation mode,” letting loose streams of thought over a mellow vibraphone sample put together by Diamond D. Basking in his coolness, he raps, “When the O.K. Corral bell rings for the winter / Imma flash back to ’79 with Thelma drinking wine.” Some of Sadat’s best lines during the song come across as non-sequiturs, almost startling in how he works them into the flow of the verse. Him proclaiming “I like crisp, green, money, and a lot of it, and big bills” and “Dance to the light of the silvery moon” are two of my favorite Sadat X moments on record.
Diamond D gives Sadat X plenty of heat on Wild Cowboys, but the rapper also enlists a murderer’s row of some of the most gifted East Coast producers working in the mid-’90s. He blesses the beats contributed by top-tier beatmakers like Pete Rock, Showbiz, Buckwild, and Da Beatminerz. He also works with homies like Alamo, the former DJ for Brand Nubian, as well as up-and-coming beatsmiths working to make a name for themselves, like DJ Ogee and Minnesota.
Sadat really brings out some of the best with many of these production wizards on Wild Cowboys. Buckwild hooks Sadat up with one of his best concoctions on “The Lump Lump,” a fun, bouncy track where Sadat runs down the type of schemes both men and women use in the pursuit of affection and sexual satisfaction. “Stages and Lights” is also one of the best beats that Showbiz ever crafted, as Sadat explains his ability to stay grounded and not get caught up in the hype. “At first, I'll take a little leap then lead the whole world,” he boasts. “Jump and make the earth shake and expose the fake.”
Sadat gives his mission statement as a solo artist on the Beatminerz produced “The Interview.” He engages in a mock discussion with Regina Hall, his girlfriend at the time, a few years before she’d become a very successful actress. The two do a good job at allowing the song to unfold like a conversation, as he breaks down his history and some of the Wild Cowboy lore. “I done made up some more shit that I’m sure will hit,” he raps. “It’s been a long time coming and I’m sure that I’m due.”
Sadat leans heaviest into the album’s cowboy theme on “Hang ’Em High,” Wild Cowboys’ first single. Bay Area based producer Ali Malek hooks up a track that borrows liberally from Ennio Morricone’s theme from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Sadat kicks a bevy of cowboy-related rhymes, turning skirmishes with wack rappers into old west shootouts. DV Alias Khrist, then known for his association with Brooklyn hard rocks Smoothe Da Hustler and Trigga Da Gambla, provides vocals on the track’s chorus. His deep baritone tone resonates powerfully, further adding to the Western atmosphere.
Though Sadat X speaks extensively about the Wild Cowboys camp throughout the album, it’s mostly represented by just him and cohort Shawn Black. Sadat has solid chemistry with Shawn, with the latter’s slightly high-pitched voice and hyped delivery meshing well with Sadat’s style. The pair collaborate four times throughout Wild Cowboys, including the laid-back lyric-fest “Sauce For Birdheads” and conceptual track “Petty People.”
The other members of the Wild Cowboys camp, Tec and Cool Chuck, join Sadat and Shawn Black on the jazzy posse cut, “The Hashout.” Neither Tec nor Chuck were really heard on the mic again after this album. “Game’s Sober,” an even better posse cut, features Sadat rhyming with the Money Boss Players over a slowed-down guitar sample from Melba Moore’s “Standing Right There.” The Bronx-based crew, who’s lineup included Lord Tariq (of Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz fame) recorded a good number of independent 12”s throughout the early 1990s. Sadat would continue to record with the crew throughout the coming years.
“Open Bar” features a tag-team exhibition between Sadat X and Grand Puba. The exact nature of Puba’s departure from Brand Nubian has always been a bit unclear, beyond that he wanted to record albums on his own. There were rumors of beef between Puba and Sadat & Jamar, owing to the fact that Puba was, by his own admission, pretty difficult to deal with in the early 1990s. Things appeared to be on the mend in 1995, when Sadat X teamed with Grand Puba on “Play It Kool” and the latter’s sophomore solo album, 2000, opening the gate for the members of the group to continue recording together again.
The Alamo-produced “Open Bar” plays like a mellow celebration, with Puba in particular basking in memories of their earlier efforts, and ready to enjoy further triumphs together. “Me and Sadat go back to the days of the sandbox,” he raps. “Now we much bigger, still love ya, n***a / We used to chase honeys back then / Now all we chasing is decimals, Range Rovers, and Mercedes Benz.” This would be the first Brand Nubian reunion associated with Wild Cowboys, as both Puba and Lord Jamar would appear on “The Lump Lump” remix.
The Pete Rock-produced “Escape From New York” is both one of the strongest entries on Wild Cowboys and an example of some wish fulfillment for hip-hop heads. Pete Rock’s albums with CL Smooth are filled with brief interludes that feature beats so dope that they’re just screaming to be transformed into a full song. At long last, Pete Rock grants these wishes on “Escape From New York.” The beat was originally featured as an interlude on The Main Ingredient (1994), with Dedi Baby Pa rapping a quick eight bars before segueing into the next song.
On Wild Cowboys, Sadat joins Dedi on a full-length version of track, trading verses over a vibraphone loop of Modern Jazz Quintet’s “Ralph New Blues.” Sadat sounds particularly inspired, rapping, “All hail, the Great X has turned to king! / Let the caged birds sing and let the gauge take the stage.” Meanwhile, Dedi uses a similarly unorthodox style, rapping, “The bona fide budding, mic mugging, steady bugging / Breaking backs with stacks and no fear.” Pete Rock even adds ad-libs and perform the song’s chorus is his charmingly detached manner.
Sadat X isn’t usually associated with recording particularly introspective material, but he does an excellent job on “Move On.” Over a smooth Diamond D track, he reflects on his grind and the obstacles he had to navigate to become a successful artist, and expounds on progressing to the next phase of his career as a solo artist. “This solo thing I’m doing here is real to me,” he raps. “The most serious thing in my life, I can say up to this point / My reputation is at stake, this where the men are made / Separate me from the sons put me with the big guns.”
Sadat X has gone on to have a lengthy and distinguished solo career, becoming one of the most respected emcees of his era. He’s built a solid catalogue of albums and has recorded dozens of amazing guest verses. Wild Cowboys definitely demonstrated that he had greatness in him, and when given the chance to shine, he would definitely flourish.
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