U.G.K.'s 1996 album "Ridin' Dirty" is a great showcase of Texas hip hop that would prove very influential. Rappers Pimp C and Bun B were already two albums deep when they dropped this one, and in my opinion it's the best album they've ever released. "Ridin' Dirty" is an album that's centered around simple yet very appealing production. The laidback grooves are bass-heavy and funky, but without the synths, horns, and extra instrumentation you might see on a g-funk album of this era. They're rolling beats meant for top-down cruising and chilling, and nine of the album's thirteen tracks are five minutes or longer. Most songs are pretty hooky, and the choruses are either rapped or delivered by a female singer, this can add or take away from the given song on "Ridin' Dirty." Former Rap-A-Lot in-house producer N.O. Joe is very involved here, and he's one of the South's finest producers ever. I don't think anyone would ever call Pimp C and Bun B lyrical geniuses, but for the most part what they lack in pure lyricism they make up for in style and character. Their tales of crime, violence, and women or their talk of cars and materialism are not out of the ordinary for a gangsta rap record at all. However, they both have very distinctive deliveries and unique drawls and accents that could not be mistaken for anyone but Texas natives. They have good flows and chemistry, working very well together. "Ridin' Dirty" has a few truly classic cuts, and the rest of the songs are pretty good, there's only a very few that I don't really like, so it's actually a pretty consistent work. I don't believe it's a classic on the level of some of Scarface or Geto Boys' work, but it's one of the finest albums to come from the hot Houston scene of the mid-90s. I highly recommend "Ridin' Dirty" to fans of southern or even west coast rap, it's a great album for the car and the summertime and it's very entertaining.

After the intro comes one of my two favorite songs on the album, "One Day." Using a classic Isley Brothers sample and the album's greatest rolling, bass-heavy beat, Pimp C and Bun B deliver some of their best rhymes in a laidback manner. The depressing subject matter and perfect production make this song a true southern classic. "Murder" is tough and upbeat but still has the heavy riding quality of the slower songs on this album. "Pinky Ring" is fast and funky, it's not my favorite because the flossy lyrics don't really go anywhere and I don't like the hook. "Diamonds and Wood" is a showcase of the excellent slow and funky production at its best, it's great to just let it roll for over five minutes. "3 in the Mornin'" comes next, a solid track but not one of the best, the production is simple and the hook isn't great. The 3-2 collaboration "Touched" is very good, it's got some mid-tempo, catchy funk to make your head nod, and this is the song with the infamous "Now once upon a time not too long ago, a n...a like myself had to strong-arm a h.." verse. "F... My Car" is about deceptive women, some basic gangsta rap. The N.O. Joe aided "That's Why I Carry" is nice, and I also like "Hi-Life," a profile of the crime-ridden life of a successful hustler. The nice but not too memorable "Good Stuff" comes before the absolutely classic title track. I totally love this song, it's one of the most laidback, chilled-out rap songs ever. The production is just awesome, and the lyrics and hook do it perfect justice. The outro is almost ten minutes long and not worth listening to more than once even though it has a nice beat, because it's just spoken shout-outs.

In my opinion, "Ridin' Dirty" is the best album U.G.K. ever put together, and it's a really fun listen. It's not perfect by any means, but it's certainly worth owning for any hip hop fan. The deep grooves, rough styles, and southern drawls will have most listeners coming back for more I'm sure. If you like this album, I might also recommend U.G.K.'s first two albums Too Hard to Swallow and Super Tight..., as well as Scarface's The Diary and E.S.G.'s Sailin' da South.

this is one of ugk's earlier albums and it is tha s***