Gravity
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Album Summary
Da Bush Babees — the Bronx-bred trio of Babe-B-Love, Y-Tee, and Mr. Man — came through in 1996 with 'Gravity,' dropped on Reprise Records with production that leaned deep into that raw, conscious, Afrocentric New York sound that was keeping the culture alive while the mainstream was pulling in other directions. The album was produced largely in-house with a soulful, boom-bap sensibility that reflected the group's roots in the Native Tongues extended family tree, and it captured a trio at the height of their creative energy — young brothers with something real to say and the beats to back it up.
Reception
- 'Gravity' earned respect in underground and conscious hip-hop circles for its lyrically dense, Afrocentric approach, though it did not break through to mainstream chart dominance in the crowded mid-1990s hip-hop landscape.
- Critics who paid attention recognized the album as a strong entry in the Native Tongues-adjacent tradition, praising the group's wordplay and the cohesion of the project's spiritual and musical vision.
- The album remained a cult favorite among heads who valued substance over style, cementing Da Bush Babees' reputation as one of the more underrated acts to come out of New York in the mid-90s.
Significance
- 'Gravity' stands as a testament to the rich vein of Afrocentric, spiritually-grounded hip-hop that was thriving in New York in the mid-1990s, carrying the torch of the Native Tongues movement with conviction and originality.
- The album's sequencing — from the raw energy of tracks like 'The Beat Down' and 'Wax' to the reflective warmth of 'The Love Song' and 'In Meh Dreams' — showed a group capable of range and emotional depth that went far beyond what the industry was willing to promote at the time.
- Tracks like 'Rock Roots' and 'God Complex' exemplified the group's ability to fuse reggae and Caribbean influences into their hip-hop framework, making 'Gravity' a culturally layered record that spoke to the African diaspora in a way few albums of its era matched.
Tracklist
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A1 Intro 187
2:41
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A2 Gravity 179
3:54
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A3 Wax 94
4:00
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A4 The Beat Down 90
0:59
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A5 Maybe 94
4:04
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A6 3 MC's —
3:58
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A7 S.O.S. 115
4:59
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B1 God Complex 94
4:36
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B2 The Ruler 94
4:10
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B3 The Ninth Presentation 93
1:45
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B4 The Love Song 94
4:40
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B5 Rock Roots 179
0:47
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B6 In Meh Dreams 94
2:50
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B7 Melting Plastic 93
4:05
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B8 Outro 90
1:49
Artist Details
Da Bush Babees were a hip-hop trio out of Brooklyn, New York, coming together in the early 1990s with a sound that was fresh, jazzy, and positively radiant — infused with Rastafarian vibes and a conscious, uplifting spirit that set them apart from the harder-edged rap coming out of that era. Their 1994 debut *Ambushed* and the follow-up *Gravity* showcased a group that could flow with elegance and soul, earning them respect in Native Tongues circles alongside heavyweights like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Though they never quite broke through to mainstream stardom, Da Bush Babees left a legacy as one of hip-hop's most spiritually grounded and musically adventurous acts of the golden age.
