Breakin' News

Personnel: E-40, Turf Talk, Clipse, DJ Kayslay, Rankin Scroo, Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz, Bone Crusher, David Banner, Doonie, San Quin, Messy Marv, B-Legit, Ea-Ski, Keek Da Sneak, James "Stomp Down" Bailey, The Mossie, Mo Mo
(rap vocals); Goapele (vocals).
Producers include: Rick Rock, Ea-Ski, CMT, Kavior, Ova Dose.
Principally recorded at Right Track, New York, New York & The Cosmic Slop Shop, Sacramento, California.
In the first minutes of BREAKIN' NEWS, E-40 observes how he's "still hungry, still rappin'" like he's "still poor," and the immediacy and the frenetic pace of his raps back up this claim. This hunger is especially evident since BREAKIN' is Earl Stevens' (E-40, A.K.A. Charley Hustle, A.K.A. a multitude of other names) eighth record since 1994's "Captain Save a Hoe," the crossover gangsta-novelty single that introduced the world to his uncompromising lyrics and an inimitable, unrelenting, slow-then-quick rapping style.
With a new hardcore flavor-of-the-month rapper emerging almost every minute, it's easy to overlook E-40, but even a cursory glance at West Coast rap history reveals E-40's influence, and BREAKIN' NEWS reminds the hip-hop world why. The California lyricist references cartoons, raps both playfully and thuggishly (often mixing the two within one verse), gives credit to less-visited soul influences like Clarence Carter and Johnnie Taylor, and even possesses the confident vulnerability to work in an earnest flow about his struggles with his weight. One of the best up-and-coming crews, the Clipse, drop by for the powerful single "Quarterbackin'," and an all-star Dirty South rap line-up (Lil' Jon, Bone Crusher, David Banner) represents on the merciless "Anybody Can Get It."