August 16, 2020

Organized Konfusion "Stress: The Extinction Agenda" (8/16/94)


The title ["Stress--The Extinction Agenda"] explains their album in two ways... The first part of the title, "stress", represents the time frame from before they finished their debut LP up until now and simply reflects all of the different ups and downs the group went through. Stress in the form of five deaths in their crew, disappointing sales from their first album resulting in money being short, disappointing listeners who did not want to figure out and appreciate their music. Prince explains the second part of the title, "Extinction Agenda" -- "extinction means to put something out permanently and we're trying to tell people that whatever's stopping you from getting ahead you gotta make them extinct, put them on the side, make them stay there, let them be dead. It also means Organized is gonna go all out, and do whatever we gotta do to get where we gotta go". "Stress--The Extinction Agenda" is as much about struggle as it is about how to deal with it. The two songs that best exemplify the dichotomy of their title would be "Stress" and "Black Sunday". In "Stress" they energetically shout in the chorus the directive to "Krush, Kill, Destroy Stress". In "Black Sunday", the group reflects on what they had to do to get where they are and being thankful for it, but still realizing they have a way to go to get where they want to be. Other key conceptual songs that fulfill the albums meaning are "Fight for Life", "Maintain", "Stray Bullet", and "Why". "Fight for Life" and "Maintain" tell people to do just that. "Stray Bullet" is about the unfortunate growing incidences of innocent bystanders, young and old, being struck and murdered by bullets that have missed their criminal targets. "Why", which is a sureshot anthem, is about as Prince explains "some girl shit where girls try to play n!@@-- out who have their shit on point!" 


....But of course it wouldn't be Organized Konfusion without the confusion and the rest of the album is a testament to why they are considered pioneers on the cutting edge at lyrical mastery and innovation. On "Bring It On", Monch rips a phoenetical freestyle frenzy with a pronounced stuttering style for the duration of three lines on his verse (warning: this should not be tried at home!) On "Extinction Agenda", Prince flexes a boast rap but takes it to the extreme where wack MCs fall off in a "scenario of a barren land... and you see limbs and body and he's corroded". The album rounds off with two pleasant surprises -- "Thirteen" which is a Monch solo and "Bounce" which is Prince's solo. "Bounce" features quick cameos from their boys OCee and Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest on the chorus. ... In a time where most Hip-Hop artist have big singles but disappointing albums Organized Konfusion offer a refreshingly complete package and show the sum can and should be greater than its parts. In a time also where most Hip-Hop artists depend heavily on gimmicks and/or portraying gangsters or politicians that they are not, Organized Konfusion show that you can draw from within and still be accepted. "We put our hearts and souls in it. While we gettin' payed at the same time we want to be real." - Bio, 1994. Also, check out 2DBZ's great look back at the album in 2015. One of my favorite projects [ever], read the full biography of O.K. below. As of today, the LP is not available on streaming platforms, but I trust they are working on it! MORE.