Against the Grain (Kurupt album)

Against the Grain is the fourth solo studio album by American rapper Kurupt. It was released on August 23, 2005, through Death Row Records, making it his first and, to date, only solo album for the label. Production was handled by Mark Sparks, Doug Mayhem, Sir Jinx, Baby-C-Style, Blaqthoven, Diverse, Joshua Andrews, Ric Rude, Screwface and Tha Row Hitters, with Suge Knight serving as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Eastwood, Tri Star, Young Tone, 2Pac, Dave Hollister, Domination, M.O.P., Potion, Roscoe, Spider Loc, The Dayton Family and Val C.

Against the Grain
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 23, 2005 (2005-08-23)
Recorded2002–2003
Genre
Length68:48
Label
Producer
  • Suge Knight (exec.)
  • Baby-C-Style
  • Blaqthoven
  • Diverse
  • Doug Mayhem
  • Joshua Andrews
  • Mark Sparks
  • Ric Rude
  • Screwface
  • Sir Jinx
  • Tha Row Hitters
Kurupt chronology
Originals
(2004)
Against the Grain
(2005)
Same Day, Different Shit
(2006)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllHipHop2.5/5[1]
AllMusic[2]
Now3/5[3]
PopMatters1/10[4]
RapReviews5.5/10[5]

The album went almost unnoticed due to the lack of promotion by Koch Records, which distributes all of Tha Row's albums. It debuted at number 60 on the Billboard 200 albums and number 20 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States. It also made it to number 146 on the French Albums chart. The cut tracks were later released on a 2007 bootleg compilation titled Against tha Grain E.P.. The album was reissued in February 2010, under the title Down and Dirty with a slightly altered tracklist. The song "Calico" previously appeared on the Dayton Family album Family Feud.

Background

Kurupt was signed with Death Row Records as one-half of Tha Dogg Pound together with Daz Dillinger. The duo released the only studio album for the label, Dogg Food in 1995, before Kurupt left the label in late 1997. In early 2002 he re-aligned with Death Row, which sparked the feud with his former labelmates, such as Daz, Snoop Dogg and Soopafly. The album was delay from its planned 2004 release and was released in August 2005, when Kurupt left Death Row for the second time. It was Death Row's first freshly recorded album in over four years. It was the final original album released by the label during its original run, before being revived with BODR by Snoop Dogg 17 years later.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Intro"  0:54
2."Speak on It" (featuring Val C)
Mark Sparks4:04
3."Anarchy '87"D. WilliamsMark Sparks4:15
4."Throw Back Muzic '86"D. WilliamsMark Sparks4:11
5."Deep Dishes"
  • D. Williams
  • Ricky Lewis
Ric Rude4:52
6."Stalkin'"Sir Jinx3:59
7."Can U Feel It" (featuring Potion)
  • D. Williams
  • Kenton Nix
Doug Mayhem4:48
8."Slide n Slide Out" (featuring Eastwood, Tri Star and Young Tone)
  • D. Williams
  • Deshaun Woodard
  • Eric McKinney
  • T. McKinney
  • Anthony Ransom
Blaqthoven3:42
9."I'm Back"
Tha Row Hitters4:49
10."Jealousy" (featuring Roscoe and M.O.P.)Mark Sparks4:41
11."Tha Past" (featuring Dave Hollister)
  • D. Williams
  • Albert Vernon Hudson
  • Albert Lewis Perkins
  • Cuba Gregory
Doug Mayhem4:46
12."My Homeboys (Back to Back)" (featuring 2Pac and Eastwood)
  • Mark Sparks
  • Diverse
4:16
13."Bullshit & Nonsense" (featuring Spider Loc and Eastwood)
Joshua Andrews3:20
14."Calico" (featuring The Dayton Family)
  • Ira Dorsey
  • Jon Henderson
  • Raheen Peterson
  • D. Sellers
  • E. Austin
Screwface Music4:52
15."Hustlin'" (featuring Tri Star and Young Tone)
Sir Jinx3:45
16."It's a Wrap" Mark Sparks2:58
17."You Fuckin' with the Best" (featuring Domination) Baby-C-Style4:08
18."Outro"  0:21
Total length:1:08:41
Notes
  • Nearly all of Kurupt's songwriting for this album is credited to his brother, David "Roscoe" Williams.
Sample credits
  • Track 6 contains a sample of "Vitamin C" as performed by Can
  • Track 12 contains replayed elements of "Me and My Homies" as performed by Nate Dogg

Charts

Chart performance for Against Tha Grain
Chart (2005) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[6] 146
US Billboard 200[7] 60
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[8] 20

References

  1. "Against Tha Grain". AllHipHop. September 9, 2005. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  2. Jeffries, David. "Kurupt - Against tha Grain Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  3. Richards, Jason (November 17, 2005). "NOW Magazine - Music in Toronto, NOVEMBER 17 - 23, 2005". NOW. Archived from the original on 2006-06-26. Retrieved June 26, 2006 via Wayback Machine.
  4. Holland, Roger (November 2, 2005). "Kurupt: Against Tha Grain, PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  5. Juon, Steve 'Flash' (August 23, 2005). "RapReviews.com Feature for August 23, 2005 - Kurupt's "Against Tha Grain"". www.rapreviews.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  6. "Lescharts.com – Kurupt – Against Tha Grain". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  7. "The Billboard 200". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 37. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 10, 2005. p. 76. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  8. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 37. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 10, 2005. p. 81. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
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