So why is The Beatnuts’ Take It Or Squeeze It on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Some have it and some don’t.
This is true for most pursuits save perhaps games that require limited skills, such as tic-tac-toe. And it’s absolutely true for music, and in this case, The Beatnuts’ Take It Or Squeeze It boasts scorching hot and danceable hip-hop beats with high octane rap skills to back it up.
The Beatnuts make no bones about leaning into the naughty and debaucherous, but they always maintain an abiding sense of fun.
And that’s all part of why Take It Or Squeeze It is the greatest collective work of the trio – Psycho Les, Juju, and Al’tariq – who comprise The Beatnuts. There’s also something so inherently East Coast – and specifically New York City – about this rap crew that enhances their greatness.
Whereas the recent best 1,000 albums ever piece on R.E.M.’s Green (#180 of best 1,000 albums ever) tied to very specific memories in my life, with Take It Or Squeeze It, it’s much more about how this album is so much fun and so high quality that it demanded to land this high up the best 1k albums mountain.
Throw on “No Escapin’ This” and it’s immediately obvious that this is expertly produced club banger stuff. And I’m always endlessly impressed with the way the rapping slides into the sample with the sung lyrics: no one’s ready to deal with us.
“Let’s Git Doe” is my favorite Beatnuts song of all. It ingeniously leverages the Latin-flavored guitar strumming of “Gitano,” by Emilio Guerrero & Charro Band, and supercharges it into an incredibly fun party song. Also: lyrics like the following show off the ethos of the group:
Yo, don’t think about work, don’t think about s—
Don’t drink just two shots, drink about six
It’s a party baby get that right
Lotta ladies in the house tonight
I’m f—in drunk and the music is tight
The most popular Beatnuts song by way of Spotify plays (86 million+ as of this writing) is the more laid back, Latin music-flavored “Se Acabo,” featuring Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan fame. M.E.T.H.O.D.’s gruff flow works exceptionally with the Beatnuts crew, and the sample work here is super on point.
“Contact,” featuring Lenny Underwood and Marly Metal, shows off again how well The Beatnuts collaborate with different kinds of artists and leverage their skills to change up their sound.
Some stats & info about The Beatnuts – Take It Or Squeeze It
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? East Coast Rap, Rap, Hip Hop, Underground Hip Hop, Dance Music
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – not rated!
- When was Take It Or Squeeze It released? 2001
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #179 out of 1,000
The Beatnuts’ Take It Or Squeeze It on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Beatnuts’ Take It Or Squeeze It that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Everybody let’s git doe.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.