REVIEW: "Even In Darkness"

The Dungeon Family
Even In Darkness
© 2001 Arista Records

Atlanta-based Hip-Hop collective The Dungeon Family includes some of the city’s heaviest hitters, such as Outkast and Goodie Mob (extending to Cee-Lo as a solo artist), and are noted for blending strong elements of soul, funk, and R&B into their music. In 2001—possibly spurred by the success of Outkast’s Stankonia—The Dungeon Family came together for their first and only collaborative album Even In Darkness. The result not only contains some hot tracks, but provides an interesting snapshot of the Atlanta Hip-Hop scene at the time.

Including at least twenty-one individual artists, from Bubba Sparxxx to Andre 3000, the album packs a lot into its fifty-eight minutes. Most songs feature several MCs—up to nine on “Six Minutes (Dungeon Family It's On)”—with most of them getting at least a verse in. It is a true testament to the skill of producers Organized Noise and Earthtone III that the album not only avoids becoming a complete mess, but provides some genuinely entertaining tracks.

Doubtless, the showpiece of the album is the “Trans DF Express.” Featuring some of the Family’s biggest talents, as well as some of the biggest beats, what the album lacks in originality it makes up for in sexy hooks and lyrics that are far cleverer than the typical party-type song.

“Trans DF Express” (feat Cee-Lo, Andre 3000, Big Gipp, Backbone, Big Boi)


Musically, one of the most notable tracks is “Crooked Booty” a dance-song a lá Digital Underground’s "The Humpty Dance." The song uses a bouncing, syncopated beat and sci-fi FX that illicit dancing as silly as that described in the song.

“Crooked Booty” (no video) (feat. Cee-Lo, Andre 3000, Sleepy Brown, Khujo Goodie)


Which brings me to a good point: In general, this album is strongest where it is clear that the artists are enjoying themselves. The album contains a lot of the wit tongue-in-cheek humor associated with many of the component artists and it serves the album well.

Not every song demonstrates this and these tracks often falter under the lack of a clear voice. For example, “They Comin’…” is fairly straightforward, both musically and lyrically, with a fairly general anti-authority message. It is nothing we haven’t heard before and comes across as redundant and derivative.

“They Comin’…” (no video) (feat. T-Mo, Khujo Goodie)


That is not to say that every serious song fails. The notable exception is the dirge-like “Excalibur.” Where “They comin’…” faltered under somewhat derivative message, “Excalibur” bypasses this through the use of stream-of-consciousness style rhymes, allowing each of the four featured MCs to flex their muscles and show their strenghts.

“Excalibur” (no lyrics) (feat. Big Gipp, Big Rube, Khujo Goodie, Cee-Lo)


Albums by super-groups and collectives are always a crapshoot. For every Cream or Wu-Tang Clan, whose whole is greater than its parts, there are several who fail to cohere into anything meaningful. While the talent of the artists may be evident, the result fails to use that in any notable way. As the only unified album from The Dungeon Family Even in Darkness falls closer to the later, though it is well produced and frequently entertaining, nothing new is brought into play by any of the component members and the album as a whole comes across more as a sampler. But it is a very good sampler; the talent is strong and a few excellent songs make this album worth a look for any Hip-Hop fan.

RECCOMENDED IF… you are interested in Southern Hip-Hop. The strong presence of the widely appreciated Cee-Lo and Outkast help make this a very accessible album; it is an excellent place to start learning more about the scene. Those who already have a strong representation of Dungeon Family members in their collection should give the album a preview listen, while they may not find much new, it is a surprisingly tight, fun album..

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