Kottonmouth Kings - Cloud 9 Review

Posted by Mikey MiGo on 11.05.2007

In their 12th outing of the decade, will this be the album to turn one reviewer into a believer? Turn up the beats, spark something up, and take it all in as 411’s Mikey MiGo gives a real time review of KmK’s “Cloud 9”.

WHO ARE THE KOTTONMOUTH KINGS?

Like many people, my first tastes of KmK were “Dog’s Life” and “Bump”. Those two songs were all I heard of them until about 2000 when a lot of friends were really into them. Their genre style is hard to finger point, but they sum it up as “rip-hop” which is a pretty good description of what they do.

Their work ethic is pretty impressive. They’ve released 12 albums in the past decade and seem to always be touring. I saw them myself with Tech N9ne in Mokena, IL a few months back. Their show was very energetic and their fans were really into it. I held to the back of the crowd for most of the performance, but found myself in front at the right of the stage for the last few songs. I wasn’t too into the music, but their performance and energy really drew me to them.

Let’s see if their studio work can do the same…

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THE ALBUM: "CLOUD 9"



Let’s take a look at the track list of "Cloud 9":

1. Controlled Substance
411: The 12th KmK album of the decade starts strong with a blast of sound. The thing about them that I’ve always appreciated is the multiple layers that you hear when you just relax. The rhymes are the better side of what I’ve heard of their work. It’s a very promising start.

2. Livin’ Proof
411: The punk side of KmK comes out big time with this track. This track gives a little background of how to categorize the band. Rip-Hop/Punk Rock is the best ways to describe this song and really the band in general. It’s a positive punk song basically saying be true to yourself and do what you gotta do to live your dreams. Oh yeah, they like weed too.

3. Marijuana
411: Like I said, they like weed. The name of the song is called Marijuana so take a wild guess what it’s about. The programming stands out as the kings flow about their love for the sticky green and how everything is better when you’re high. Legalize and enjoy yourself seems to be the message behind this. Who can argue with that?

4. Think 4 Yourself (Feat. Insane Clown Posse)
411: I’m not a fan of ICP in the least bit. They have my respect, but it’s just not my cup of tea. The beat is very catchy and fun. This song is a huge slap in the face of all the gossip divas and staying true to you. Basically the message is to think for yourself and don’t let pop culture control your brain waves. Surprisingly, I enjoyed Violent J’s flow, but it doesn’t touch anything that KmK spits on this one. So far, so good…

5. No Escape
411: The opening drumming gives it away that it’s a punk song. It’s a lot faster and harder than Livin’ Proof. The speed of the song is complimented by the chorus of “The world keeps on spinnin’” From what I’m getting from this is that it’s about the pressure of the worlds and how we get trapped in it’s fast pace lifestyle. There’s no escape to this according to the lyrics. The song breaks down with a more rip-hop style about half way through. This song makes me want to jump in a pit. Very solid west coast punk track.

6. Litas
411: This track starts off with what sounds like a live introduction and then breaks into a studio track. The spelling of the track made me think about a woman named “Lita”, like from the WWE but it’s not. It tells us to put our lighters up in the sky and then makes mention of the smoky crowds. I can vouch for that one, their crowds somehow get away with partying harder than many crowds I’ve been apart of. This is a good party track that talks about the atmosphere of one of their shows and suggesting we toke it up.

7. One Day
411: This opens with a small innocent girl speaking about everyone living happy. The beats are a slower and the flows are very tight with talks of being a bird and looking down at the world. Walking on water, UFOs, and all of the fantasies one may have will come true “one day”. It’s a definitely a bowl-rocker. The concepts are a bit “out there”, but when one is high and in their own little world, these are the things people think about. Oh course, one of these fantasies is legalization…

8. City 2 City (Feat. Tech N9ne and Kris Kaliko)
411: This is the only track on the album I heard before getting my hands on Cloud 9. In fact, I saw this performed live a few months back. Tech is one of my favorite rappers of all time and this song is just another reason why. The song talks about their journeys and parties across the country in their bus. The main downfall is the whole “whoop whoop” stuff as I’m not a Juggalo and it annoys me. Kris Kaliko’s work on this track is arguably even better than his colabs with Tech. I can’t help but nod my head to this one with the chorus being “Wake up cuz’ the girl’s real pretty/ time to get gritty, city to city”.

9. Pass It Around
411: “Bob Marley gets us super duper high” is what we’re told as the beat represents an reggae song. The song talks about sitting back and zoning out and that’s what I am doing as I listen to this ode to ganja. Roll it, light it, hit it, and pass it around is the theme here.

10. Ridin’ High (Feat. B-Real Of Cypress Hill)
411: This is about the common “weed road trip”, but not so common when we’re talking about KmK. Stoners love their weed road trips, which is more often than a not a short little trip to sit back and enjoy your weed. I almost didn’t realize it was B-Real on the track because he seems a bit subdued. I’m not used to him not being more in your face. I appreciate his different twist on this track and from his normal vocal work.

11. Ptb
411: The PTown Ballers is mentioned here. It starts off a bit mellow and builds up to a harder punk track. I liked this track a lot, but it was just too short at a minute forty three.

12. Riddled (Interlude)
411: It’s a weird trippy interlude with a man giving a speech about how you shouldn’t conform and how weed should be one of the governments last worries.

13. Drunk With Power
411: The interlude leads into this one pretty good. This song is obviously about someone/something/some government being drunk with power. It talks about being hassled by the cops about smoking and how we should resist and pursue the life of liberty. It’s hard to think of KmK as a protest band, but in retrospect they have always been, It took me long enough to figure that one out. They made the point that alcohol takes lives but pot takes no one’s life. That’s a point of view that I’ve had for years.

14. It Ain’t Easy
411: The opening guitar reminds me of an 80’s ballad type of song and really it is, in a KmK kind of way. This one is about how people get locked up for a victimless crime concerning weed when the rest of society is a let down such as Bush in office and still being in Iraq. People don’t give them enough credit for their educated opinions and singing(rapping is apparent) skills. It’s got a good “Tangerine Sky” feel to it, which is my favorite track by the Kings.

15. Loadies
411: Punk. It has a really good guitar riff to kick if off. It’s the best “rock” song so far on the album. My head starts to slightly bang to the track. B-Real’s fingerprints are all over this one. I thought I knew of all stoner aliases, but apparently “loadie” is a new one. I’m not sure how I feel about the terminology, but the actual song is so far my favorite of the entire album.

16. Don’t Make Me Beg
411: Don’t make me beg for the sex is basically what this one is about. It’s really vulgar and heard by the wrong ears sexist like a motherf**ker. I know that’s not their intent, but basically this is the standard sex song that I’ve grown used to hearing from their catalogue. This is a very dirty song which makes a bit relieved to listen to it on headphones rather than on open speakers. It’s really blunt with their sexual descriptions, but the flow is very well done.

17. Everyday Thang
411: “Too many bong hits and not enough time/A couple vicodins and bottle of wine” kicks off this old school feeling rap track. The lyrics flow about their everyday life. The background music is a resounding and throbbing sound mixed with a tight snap track. There is a LaDiDaDi shout out in the middle and I don’t care who it is, I will always smile for that. The beats and music for this are tight and some of the best I’ve heard in a long time. I’m debating if Loadies or this one is my favorite on the album.

18. All Or Nothin’
411: The same little girl from “One Day” opens this punk track up. This track again talks about going against the grain, being you, and going with the flow. It’s another song that goes from a heavy punk song to a rip hop song. The background music and layers of vocals is almost too much to take in at once. Things start to make sense at the end, but I think this is why most of my friends who are die hard KmK fans wear their CDs out.

19. Darkside (Feat. Sen Dog Of Cypress Hill)
411: It’s a more sinister beat with some help from Sen Dog of Cypress. This one is about a person’s dark side and how everyone has their own yang to their ying. The beats sorta remind me of older Korn, but not blatantly or anything like that. It’s just a good darker and trippy track to compliment the rest of the tracks thus far.

20. Free Willy
411: HA! This song is an ode to Willie Nelson’s crime records. It talks about how Willie was caught with his weed and shrooms a little while ago. It’s not a joke song as you’d think it was, they really do show their respect for the path he cleared and his mentality and life style. They tell the world to leave Willie alone, which really they should. Who is he hurting?

21. Time To Get High
411: The first thing that sticks with me is the beat on this one. It makes my head dance a little. This song is obviously about getting high. When things are down and out, it’s time to break your weed out and get high is the moral of this story…

22. Proud To Be A Stoner
411: Acoustic guitars open this one as we hear a song about how they just live free and live their lives how they want. This song is about being a good person and still being a stoner. It gives a background of their career and how the entire time they smoked. The music has a really different and unique folk song type of feel to it as they flow over it. It’s a very cool contrast and a great ending to the album.

The 411: I’ve heard plenty of KmK’s music in my life and I have to admit that I didn’t really give them the respect they deserved. It’s easy to just look at their CD in a store and say, “I get it, they like weed…” but there is much more to it. They do love their weed, but they are talented musicians and vocalists. Their opinions are educated and well versed. This album stands out to me as a great example of how they’ve grown as artists and marijuana advocates. The only lows to the album are that it’s sometimes repetitive with their structure and beats. The contrasts of punk, hip hop, trip hop, and rock make up for that. If you’ve ever had any prior opinion about the Kottonmouth Kings, go pick up this album. Agree with their point of views or not (why wouldn’t you?), they have a very solid album with “Cloud 9”. I was opening reluctant about them, but with this one they’ve made a believer out of me.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]