This Is... 24-7 Spyz! (1991)

Like Living Colour, 24-7 Spyz come out of New York City's groundbreaking Black Rock Coalition. The Spyz's road to stardom, however, has been a little rockier. Under leader Jimi Hazel, whose first name is an homage to the man who most influenced his guitar playing, 24-7 Spyz put out two unfocused independent albums before half of Hazel's band quit, citing artistic differences. Now the group has rebounded with beaucoup attitude on this five-song EP. This Is... 24-7 Spyz! starts off with ''Tick, Tick, Tick,'' a brief in-your-face recapitulation of the band's recent history, before barging into funked-up metallic stew on ''Stuntman,'' a life-in-the-record-biz howl of protest: ''Record company motherf---ers/Pullin' stunts like chicken pluckers/Tell me what the flavor is today.'' For the rest of the record, 24-7 Spyz demonstrate their prowess in a broad mixture of pop, soul, rap, and metal — with fairly impressive results, considering the band's recent artistic and personnel problems. B