Fire in the Hole
Studio album by
Brand Nubian
ReleasedAugust 10, 2004
Recorded2003–04
StudioState Street Studios (Brooklyn, NY)
GenreHip hop
Length56:25
LabelBabygrande
Producer
Brand Nubian chronology
Foundation
(1998)		 Fire in the Hole
(2004)		 Time's Runnin' Out
(2007)
Singles from Fire in the Hole
  1. "Whatever Happened...?"
    Released: 2004
  2. "Who Wanna Be a Star? (It's Brand Nu Baby!)"
    Released: 2004
  3. "Young Son"
    Released: 2004

Fire in the Hole is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Brand Nubian. It was released on August 10, 2004 via Babygrande Records. Recording sessions took place at State Street Studios in Brooklyn. Production was handled by members DJ Alamo, Grand Puba, Sadat X, and Lord Jamar, who also served as executive producer together with Chuck Wilson. It features guest appearances from Starr and Aisha Mike. The album made it to No. 57 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic68/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
HipHopDX4/5[3]
Pitchfork6.5/10[4]
RapReviews8/10[5]
SpinB−[6]
Stylus MagazineC[7]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]

Fire in the Hole was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 68, based on seven reviews.[1]

Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews.com praised the album, saying: "may be one of 2004's most important rap records".[5] Spin reviewer called it "a snappier comeback than 1998's Foundation".[6] Writing for Pitchfork, Jamin Warren stated: "unfortunately, Fire in the Hole fails to invoke any effective nostalgia as it phlegmatically wanders through 12 solid but unexciting tracks".[4]

In mixed reviews, AllMusic's Andy Kellman wrote: "few will ever refer to this as a classic, though even fewer will ever think of this as a poor showing".[2] Gabe Gloden of Stylus Magazine found: "unfortunately, even when they attempt to paint a serious social commentary, they can’t seem to suppress their sophomoric potty humor".[7]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Who Wanna Be a Star? (It's Brand Nu Baby!)"
Lord Jamar4:13
2."Young Son"
  • Dixon
  • Dechalus
  • Murphy
Lord Jamar4:31
3."Where Are You Now?" (featuring Starr)
  • Murphy
  • Dixon
  • Dechalus
4:18
4."Just Don't Learn"
  • Dechalus
  • Murphy
  • Dixon
  • K. Jones
  • DJ Alamo
  • Lord Jamar
5:14
5."Still Livin' in the Ghetto" (featuring Starr)
  • Dechalus
  • Dixon
  • Murphy
Lord Jamar5:44
6."Momma"
  • Dechalus
  • Murphy
  • Dixon
  • Jones
DJ Alamo5:06
7."Got a Knot"
  • Dixon
  • Murphy
  • Dechalus
4:27
8."Coming Years"
  • Dixon
  • Dechalus
  • Murphy
Lord Jamar4:19
9."Whatever Happened...?"
  • Dechalus
  • Murphy
  • Dixon
Lord Jamar4:06
10."Always Mine"
  • Murphy
  • Dechalus
  • Dixon
Lord Jamar4:03
11."Ooh Child" (featuring Aisha Mike)
  • Murphy
  • Dixon
  • Dechalus
  • Grand Puba
  • Lord Jamar
4:46
12."Soldier's Story"
  • Dechalus
  • Murphy
  • Dixon
Lord Jamar5:38
Total length:56:25

Personnel

  • Lorenzo "Lord Jamar" DeChalus – vocals, producer (tracks: 1-5, 8-12), additional producer (track 7), recording, executive producer
  • Maxwell "Grand Puba" Dixon – vocals, producer (tracks: 7, 11)
  • Derek "Sadat X" Murphy – vocals, producer (track 3)
  • K. "DJ Alamo" Jones – producer (tracks: 4, 6)
  • Starr – vocals (tracks: 3, 5)
  • Aisha Mike – vocals (track 11)
  • Bernard Grobman – guitar (track 5)
  • Chris Conway – mixing
  • Emily Lazar – mastering
  • Sarah Register – additional mastering
  • Charles "Chuck" Wilson, Jr. – executive producer
  • Jeff Chenault – art direction, design
  • Dennis Edwards – photography
  • Seth Kushner – photography
  • Jesse Stone – marketing

Charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[9] 57

References

  1. 1 2 "Critic Reviews for Fire In The Hole - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Kellman, Andy. "Brand Nubian - Fire in the Hole Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  3. ↑ Kennith B., Tindal (August 30, 2004). "Brand Nubian - Fire In The Hole". HipHopDX. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Warren, Jamin (August 12, 2004). "Brand Nubian: Fire in the Hole". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Juon, Steve 'Flash' (August 31, 2004). "Brand Nubian :: Fire in the Hole – RapReviews". www.rapreviews.com. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Breakdown". SPIN. Vol. 20, no. 9. SPIN Media LLC. September 2004. p. 120. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved August 6, 2023 – via Google Books.
  7. 1 2 Gloden, Gabe (September 9, 2004). "Brand Nubian - Fire In The Hole - Babygrande - Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on January 28, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). {The New} Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon and Schuster. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "Brand Nubian Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard.
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