What was true of How Ya Like Me Now is certainly true of Kool Moe Dee's third solo album, Knowledge Is King -- the hardcore rapper spends too much time boasting and doesn't devote enough time to his real strength: meaningful storytelling.
Nonetheless, his soulful spirit and considerable technique make this effort worthwhile -- not remarkable, but certainly engaging.
The CD's strongest offerings include "Pump Your Fist," an angry denunciation of social injustice; "The Avenue," a description of a day in the hood; and the controversial attack on materialistic women "They Want Money." The latter was accused of being sexist, but Dee rightly countered that criticizing women who judge men by the size of their wallets rather than the size of their hearts or their brains isn't sexist -- it's honest.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | They Want MoneyMoe Dewese, Teddy Riley | Kool Moe Dee | Play | 03:54 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 2 | The AvenueMoe Dewese | Kool Moe Dee | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 3 | I Go to WorkMoe Dewese | Kool Moe Dee | Play | 04:42 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 4 | All Night LongMoe Dewese | Kool Moe Dee | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 5 | Knowledge Is KingMoe Dewese | Kool Moe Dee | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 6 | Get the PictureMoe Dewese | Kool Moe Dee | Play | 05:23 | 12 MB | 33 MB |
| 7 | The DonMoe Dewese | Kool Moe Dee | Play | 05:03 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | Pump Your FistMoe Dewese | Kool Moe Dee | Play | 04:27 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | I'm Hittin' Hard | Kool Moe Dee | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 10 | I'm Blowin' Up | Kool Moe Dee | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 44 mins | 102 MB | |||||
| 44 mins | 263 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pietro Alfieri | Art Direction, Design |
| 2 | Josh Chervokas | Assistant Engineer |
| 3 | Moe Dewese | Composer, Producer |
| 4 | Pete Harris | Producer |
| 5 | George Karras | Engineer, Mixing |
| 6 | Kool Moe Dee | Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 7 | Lavaba | Mixing, Producer |
| 8 | Teddy Riley | Composer, Producer |
| 9 | Douglas Rowell | Photography |
| 10 | Chris Trevett | Assistant Engineer |
| 11 | Ralph Wernli | Photo Enhancement |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |