Luniz Operation Stackola CD

Samples include "What You Won't Do For Love" (as performed by Bobby Caldwell).

In the tradition of artists like Too $hort, Dru Down and E-40 who have raised Oakland's rap scene, Luniz are another of California's "light it up and smoke it" crews. On OPERATION STACKOLA, Knumskull and Yukmouth beef up their region's catalog with a new-school type of gangsta/playa hip-hop.

OPERATION STACKOLA correctly represents its West Coast family on "Put This Lead On Ya," which features the mack of the year, Dru Down, and uses the vocals of the late Eazy-E. "Broke Niggaz" also salutes their left coast forefathers by using material performed by Ice Cube. The topics might be typical of a gangsta rap act (only a little less graphic), but their sound is more funk-oriented, with production courtesy of N.O. Joe, E-A-Ski and Digital Underground's Shock G.

For their debut, Luniz dig deep in the crates for the basis of their music. "I Got 5 On It" is a close relative of Club Nouveau's "Why You Treat Me So Bad," and "Playa Hata" takes its track directly from Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do For Love." "Broke Hos" oddly reverses the role of Gwen Guthrie's "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent" and supports the theory that a gold digger can be of either sex.

Luniz bring forth a combination of rhythmic funk, laid-back rhymes and a whole new vocabulary. OPERATION STACKOLA takes their playa-infested city of Oakland another step forward in the hip-hop game.

The Luniz's Operation Stackola is the group's most accomplished and best-selling LP. Featuring the Oakland-based duo's only major hit, "I Got Five on It," the album drew attention and admiration from other hip-hop artists, but never crossed over into the pop mainstream. The woofer-shaking bassline and eerie bell-like keyboards of "I Got Five on It" made it a hip-hop anthem of the mid-'90s. Since that time, it's been the subject of dozens of covers, the first of which was a reprise on Operation Stackola itself. Nothing else on the album quite lives up to the promise of that hit track, but a number of tracks reveal the group's songwriting potential. Few songs exceed 100 beats per minute, as is true to the Luniz's laid-back, West Coast roots. "Playa Hata" intertwines their drug-laced, gangster trash talking with a soulful R&B feel. The chorus of "Pimps, Playas, and Hustlers" (noticing a trend?) takes a page out of Cypress Hill's nasally vocal repertoire. And the title track starts off with a reggae speed rap, à la Shaggy or Shabba Ranks. There's plenty of filler, but it's still loaded with enough juice to keep the head noddin' for a good half-hour. ~ Kieran McCarthy

Recorded at Pajama Studios and Infinite Studios, Oakland, California.

Producers: DJ Fuse (tracks 1, 7, 10); Tone Capone (tracks 2-3, 15); Shock G. (tracks 4, 9); N.O. Joe (tracks 5, 8, 11); E-A-Ski, CMT (track 6); Terry T. (track 12); Gino Blackwell (track 13); DJ Darryl (track 14).

Engineers: Michael Denton, Darrin Harris, D Wiz.

Personnel: Shock-G (rap vocals).

Recording information: Infinite Studios, Oakland, CA; Pajama Studios, Oakland, CA.

Photographers: Victor Hall; Keba Konte.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Knucklehead; Michael Marshall; Richie Rich; Teddy; Eclipse.

Luniz: Yukmouth, Knumskull.

Additional personnel: Piano Man (keyboards), Nik Nack, Knucklehead, Eclipse, Michael Marshall.

The Source (8/95, p.79) - 3.5 Mics - Dope - "...The Luniz...take the typical Oakland sound to another level...a combination of insane lyrics and street-core knowledge....tight lyrics and tight tracks...a must to compete in this diverse rap game..."
Melody Maker (3/23/96, p.38) - Recommended - "...Luniz aren't gangstas, but playas....The lifestyle depicted on OPERATION STACKOLA involves claiming Welfare and carrying a bus pass so that you can still afford to smoke Indo and drink Tanqueray and wear the latest Phat Farm....A moral cesspool..."
Rap Pages (9/95, p.26) - 7 (out of 10) - "...1995 is the year of OPERATION STACKOLA....a balanced attack of Yukmouth's laid-back delivery and Knumskull's pinched vocal pitch....the Luniz do mental atomic pile drivers on ears and heads while ripping up microphones..."