My homeboy and I used to mob out to FYE, Circuit City (yeah I know, wayyyy back), Best Buy and a few other major record stores back in high school when we first came across this. Typically, we'd look up artists and/ or songs that we would later search on Limewire. But once in a while we'd buy an album if it was that dope or if we just couldn't find otherwise. This was the early 2000s, or mid (depending on how consider 2005). The cover art was really appealing, it wasn't that chafa Photoshop shit that was starting to pick up in Chicano Rap. Peep game, I'm about to teach you some clecha: the cover has a "Chīmalli" (Aztec shield), obscured in the background is a painting of Tlaxcaltecas against Aztecas (mural by artist Desiderio Xochitiotzin). Over that mural is an image of the metropolitan cathedral in Mexico City. On the right side of the cover is an image of José Doroteo Arango Arámbula (aka Pancho Villa). The symbolism of the battle for what would become both the nation and the identity of our people.
Anyway, we got back to his pad and we played the album. Since then, bits and pieces of it have been resting in my library and now, I decided to buy it. In my excitement, I didn't realize I copped the reprint which differs slightly from the original (I fucking hate this trend with reprints in Chicano Rap). A track was switched out, so I had to get this replaced and ended up with multiple copies. It starts of with the titular track "Como Pancho Villa" by Slush The Villain. In all my years, Slush never appealed to me and I don't know why. To his defense, he is an animated emcee, voice stands out and the homie is from SD. Still, I just never paid him any mind and this song doesn't do much for me either, however I'll say to it's strength the production is solid. Now, as far as C-4 goes, dude's hella underrated. Granted I've only heard a handful of his songs but his chemistry on a track ("Es Mi Vida") with production from Dyablo is absolute fire. Rapping in Spanish is not an easy task for Chicanos, we're not properly educated in Spanish sentence structures, conjugations and idioms, let alone pronunciation so I marvel at rappers that can pull it off right. Someone had mentioned to me that he is related to Dyablo, I don't know if this is fact so I'll let some of your educate me on that. Flipping the mic in 2 languages without resulting in an over abundance of Spanglish tends to be a challenge to most, but few can articulate themselves like Mr. Shadow. "Donde Y Cuando" emanates a killer production from Dyablo (the beat fucking slaps) and Shadow's natural flow is menacing. Dude has bars in Spanish.
The reprint has a track that originally did not appear in the first press, "Cough Up" by Greedy and Hampz as opposed to "Falcedades" by Tres Coronas. I like both of them, the reprint's version slaps with that eminent 619 funk whereas the original has a track by some East Coast Colombian cats who do a decent job getting down in Spanish. Probably the first time I heard "You're No Good" by Frost was on this compilation. The song is majestic, and hits on every point of growing up in the hood, "Up to no good / I'm looking at the older fools in my hood / I wanna walk like 'em / I wanna talk like 'em / I wanna be a little G and hold a Glock like 'em / I wear my dickies creased, I wanna sag / I wanna inhale some paint out of paper bags". Everything about this song resonates, not to mention the G-Funk vibes. One of Frost's best performances. It goes without saying but I'll say it either way: Dyablo's production is fucking magic, and "Stranger" (track six) is a bass bumping and thumping masterpiece. The only thing missing was Dyablo's guest appearance on this track, otherwise Boogie (Tha Big Man) and his features do an alright job. El Padrino's flow on "Los Vientos" doesn't stand out and the instrumental isn't much support either. Even more disappointing was the collaboration between Slush, Shadow and Knightowl. For starters the beat is too distracting and the raps lack that engaging flow that typically captivates the listener.
01. Slush The Villain - Como Pancho Villa
02. C-4 - Es Mi Vida
03. Mr. Shadow - Donde Y Cuando
04. Greedy - Cough Up
05. Frost - You're No Good
06. Boogi - Stranger (feat. Hampz, Dos Karas)
07. El Padrino - Los Vientos
08. Slush The Villain - For My Thugz [REMIX] (feat. Knightowl, Mr. Shadow)
09. Stranger - Vale Madre
10. D-Lux - Back On The Block
11. Manu - Living Tha Life
12. Los Intocables - Quien Sigue
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