Rarely an album has opened with such a motivating, miraculous track. The Ugly Duckling accomplish a first hit homerun with "Introduckling". Whoever recognizes this sample, get at the tadah, please, that record has to be in his collection. This is just plain butter. Naw, actually it's by far not plain, this is some cholesterol bomb, some 'I can't believe you asked for fake' butter, this is a whole butterama of butter, this .... well, you get the point. You should also get the point of this not riding the old day's dick on some bonanza tip. Naw, you can tell the love and respect within their words, beats and action....aaahhh.....

Anyways, this praising is getting somewhat outta hand. There's more on this album too, so let's check that out now. And so we are putting our ears to "I Did It Like This", that opens with the quotable "I used to produce hip hop / pound the rhythms with my hands on my school desk top/ until my teacher would make me stop / and I'd wait for recess then I'd beat box at a pop lock contest". Taking you in with the lyrics, the strings, the plucked guitar and the 'scha-na-nas', we then go from funky to night aerial on "Journey To Anywhere", that's complete with the necessary drum and playful rhyming by Dizzy and Andy. Yes, hip hop does not always have to be serious and angry. That's why this is the smile a little, ride your bike a little and brush your real teeth a little track.

Cause fronting is not allowed. Sure the beat on "Friday Night" can't live up the previous tracks, but the story told, makes up for it. As does the scratching, done by Young Einstein, who seems to get a bigger enjoyment outta those, than outta scratching his balls and ass in the morning. Not the right track for the morning is "A Little Samba", where the Ducklers actually accomplish to do a little samba (hence the title, d'oh), without it sounding too corny, well, maybe apart from the chorus. It's also funny how they crush ego's with their 'no you don'ts'. An organ operates as the backbone for "The Pike". This is probably as serious as a Duckling can get. And that's very not serious really. But the track can't hold us back like that, because we wanna check out "If You Wanna Know", a story telling cut of gangsters with waterguns and lollypops, it's for the wedgies knuckle heads, the hit but too stupid to run hustlers and contains a little Roots like organ break in the middle.

How entertaining rhymes about jewelry can be, proofs the slightly uptempo "Eye On The Gold Chain". This is about Einstein's preferred kind of hanging dangling, meaning "he wore the dookie when we met Queen Elizabeth / asked her was she jealous, she said 'a little bit' / I guess a crown jewel never compares / to the rope that Einstein wears". And in true Pharcyde fashion, mocking girls that get offended when complemented, "Pick Up Lines" is a charming kind of sports game, of sugar soaked bakery and wide open eyes, sparkling for a little tender loving care. After such a cool track, that should be played at every party, "Rock On Top" does motivate our head to nod along, with the jazzy relaxation, and at the same time, we are listening to the mic cuddlers expressing their freshness. "Oasis" is maybe the only track that sounds somewhat dated, but with "Dizzy", the guitar is bringing our approval back again, and we watch for booties to be shaken, not stirred.

Never missing a chance to mock themselves, a gas bubble fountain like beat, always completed with Einstein's precise scratching, makes up "Down The Road". We are then carried to the piano heavy "Lay It On Ya", a track with a coolie bare drum and some hopping sound effects. What gives us the chance to conclude how fresh this album is. The confidence in being funny, being simple, the way these cats rock it, like back in the days, without blatantly Xeroxing what has been done back in the days. And the only reason why so many people doubt this here is, because people in general doubt happy people. Think: when you see someone walking down the street, smiling contently for no apparent reason, this will be suspicious to you. Now how messed up is that?