The Furry Crew - Ride With The Furry Crew

Hear The Track Here

First review up for June is in fact a track scheduled for May. To make matters even more confusing, it's by an artist who technically doesn't exist any more. V. Dogg is the artist in question and AFAIK, he is no longer making music. Nonetheless, the link is active and the track is downloadable, so let's get to it. I've come across the Dogg many times in the past and have liked some of his stuff and not others. I'm not even sure why exactly he is retiring (as it were) because I always thought the folks over at MP3 Unsigned had a soft spot for the boy. Part of the problem with V Doog in the past has been his material and it's genre. Even in the best of circumstances rap/hip hop is a genre that - to me - has to be done right or not at all. The Dogg has pressed the button a couple of times with this reviewer and that's more than I can say for the majority of tracks in the genre.

Only trouble was it was all a bit up and down, know what I mean?

Freaky Young Tenders (March 2006) was the last track I reviewed of his and I gave it a must have recommendation, so from there to being retired seems like a big jump. To be completely fair, the backing track came from me old mate Mezzer and his Worlds Apart wotsit so there isn't much chance of me not liking it. As a rapper, V Dogg has always caught me, despite what the music underneath is doing. No matter what I have had to say about the music, I have never really found much fault in what the Dogg does - except singing but we won't go there. Another MP3 Unsigned stalwart provides the music and beats that underpin this solid vocal performance, and a slamming track it is too even if it is a bit retro-stylee... Minus 13 is responsible for this and I highly recommend you also seek out his own material while you are at it.

Its the rap wot counts though, and again the Dogg puts in a very commendable performance in terms of flow and authority aided by his furry mates The Lonesome One, Hot Fox, Shizzle Nizzle, Joshua Koolkat, and DaBird. All also, like V Dogg himself, officially inactive. So why would you download a track with so much confusion sown in its midst? Because it's a damn fine, inventive track that packages V Dogg and friends in the best possible way. While it's true that again the Dogg has picked a particularly strong backing track (excellent work from Minus 13, giving it a De La Soul feel), if the rap didn't step up to the task, the music would have slaughtered it. It's a sign of how far Dogg has come over the past year because he has learned confidence, throw and setting better than anyone else I know. Now is not the time to retire. Now is the time to step up for round two.

Highly Recommended.