10,000 Cadillacs – Be My Guide (2000)

May 7, 2013

This is solo hip hop effort by Mushroomhead’s drummer Skinny and ex-vocalist J Mann. Being a fan of all things Mushroomhead in my early teens, I naturally began hunting down physical copies of side-project albums when I found out about the existence of Discogs a few years back. I started with 10,000 Cadillacs because I love J Mann and also have quite the penchant for rap music, as I’m sure some of you are aware.

What I actually make of this record however, I’m not sure. Be My Guide is 90s hip hop to the max. The production is all bass and treble with no middle, and the gospel-esque female vocals are nothing short of terrifyingly awful. The record starts off on a bum note; “Ruggish n’ Raw” is useless, and I can’t for the life of me make out a goddamn word J Mann is saying. It doesn’t get much better, but I think you gotta take a lot of rap music with a pinch of salt, and with that thinking, Be My Guide becomes one of those albums that is so bad that it is just brilliant.

“Exercize In True Love” first comes on as a cringe-worthy serious-fest amongst all the other tracks, but when you actually pick the track apart and see what Mann is on about, it’s a goddamn good song. This was self-released by the group back in the day. After many years of inactivity, 10,000 Cadillacs is once again active today. I just hope they bring out another record! (Oh, and by the way, rap belongs on vinyl folks!) Get Gone!!! – 07/05/2013