The Philly jawn with the blowout 'fro and La-Z-Boy flow is one of the most slept-on MCs to demolish a cipher - male or female - and was revered as underground royalty before ever releasing a record. With a delivery so laid-back, it's easy to imagine her gutting a cigar before laying down the tracks for her debut album, Kollage. The album's soulful soundscape -- etched with funk-filled valleys and jazzy peaks -- was constructed by Ski Beatz ("Uknowhowwedu") and fellow Illadelph crew The Roots ("Da Jawn"). On "Innovation" she muses, "Flame combustion / Thrustin' new versions of verses / Over kids heads like halos / Bendin' they brain cells like indon-o-va-shun." Simply scintillating. - Vibe (August, 2008). CMJ added (in June, 1996), "With the simple and supremely funky production of DJ Premier, N.O. Joe and the Beatminerz, Bahamadia raps with a conversational style, relying on poetic, instinctive rhymes, as on the bass-jacked "Word Play" and "Spontaneity." "I Confess" plays off Marvin Gaye's "Lets Get It On" for one of the album's poppiest moments, while "Uknowhowwedu" is a shapely tribute to Philly's hip-hop roots. Speaking of roots, fellow Philly natives the Roots add a dose of live funk on "Da Jawn," while Bahamadia dukes it out with MCs Black Thought and Malik. Packed with easily digestible rhymes and a peerless production, Kollage unquestionably chalks one up for the ladies." Revisit Bahamadia's classic debut album Kollage below...
The review in Vibe + original sticker from 1996 are below...
