In God We Trust

iTunes Editors’ Notes

Grand Puba was such an integral part of Brand Nubian’s debut that there was some question as to what would become of the group when he exited in 1991. Rather than cower from the hole Puba left in the trio, Sadat X and Lord Jamar assumed full control of their vision, and their redoubled determination is immediately felt on In God We Trust. This is a leaner, meaner and in many ways superior album to its predecessor. Sadat and Jamar’s commitment to militant Afrocentrism gives In God We Trust a limitless fuel, and the flames in this record fly high. The album opens with a Muslim call to prayer — a solemn, audacious symbol of the group’s priorities. The rainbow colors of All for One are here incinerated by the gangster theology of “Pass the Gat,” “Black and Blue,” and “Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down”— the last of which remains one of the hip-hop’s great riot-starters. Even when they are in the more laid-back mode of “Steal Ya ‘Ho,” “The Travel Jam” and “Love Me Or Leave Me Alone,” the lean, two-man chemistry between Sadat and Jamar keeps the music crackling like grease in a pan.