Ryan "Woodie" Wood was in the top 5 bay area producers when he was alive. He owned the record label East CoCo Records and produced the majority of the 8 albums that were released. Two of those where his solos, 5 were part of the very dope Northern Expozure series and then you had a solo by one of East CoCos best; Lou-E-Lou.
Yoc Influenced is his debut.
A very solid release, probably due to the fact that it has less than 10 songs (not counting the limited addition with bonus tracks), so the filler here is nonexistent. All the songs on here exibit tremendous effort, and his flow grabs ahold of your attention without letting go until the song is over.
The lyrics have alot of deep meaning & always hit home. He is someone who constantly feels like an outsider based on his skin color (he was a pale-skinned Norteno), and he always felt like he had something to prove. before he turned to the rap gave he lived a life of constant drama & gang-related violence and crimes.
His close friend Carlos "Blackbird" Ramirez was shot to death by local police, which was probably the straw that broke the camels back. Either that or his other friend Snoop being sent to jail for something he didn't do, or even Woodie himself almost being charged with murder.
He had to find a better way & thankfully he went on to create some of the dopest knocks ever heard.
Besides the outro, every song on here shows off Woodies lyrical capabilities. He could say alot in just 2 bars. From the title track letting people know his steez from the jump, to making a bonafied anthem for his hometown of Antioch (Norte Sidin), Wood puts on for his hometown. While the Antioch rap scene is pretty much dead, Wood really made a name for himself from an area now only known for it's methamphetamines.
Anyway, this is a very strong release that's dope all the way through
9.5/10
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