Steve 'Flash' JuonIf a Pomona Pimp like Suga Free stepped into a time machine and came out fresh dipped for 2024, people would immediately accuse him of trying to mimic Bruiser Wolf’s “My Story Got Stories” instead of the other way around.
“Cob corn yellow diamonds, my jeweler vegan.”
In fact the only hint you get that Wolf is from Detroit and not SoCal is when he says “We built different… check the engineering, electrical” on “Looney Tunes.” Bruiser Wolf is wildly high pitched and outrageously flamboyant. “I wanna talk my shit” quips Wolf on “Skywalkin'” and he means it. The way he spills game you expect him to be walking around on fish tank platform shoes, wearing a fur coat in 100 degree weather because he’s just that cold, smacking hoes in the ass with a pearl handled cane. I did double takes four or five times thinking I pressed play on a Dejuan Walker album only to be brought back to reality by soulful Greg Zola beats on songs like “Dope Boy.”
If “My Story Got Stories” leaves you feeling as woozy as a 40 ounce bottle or a slap from Vasily the Dumpling, welcome to my world. The good news is that unlike either of those things Bruiser Wolf won’t leave you with permanent brain injuries. I kept trying to think of an apt way to describe Wolf to someone who hasn’t heard him before and this thought came to mind: “He’s like an unnatural hybrid of Danny Brown and Cee-Lo Green.” Well lo and behold, what a coincidence! Danny Brown guest stars on “2 Bad” along with ZelooperZ and they sound like the most pimped out thing Motown could ever do. Is it any surprise that they’re all in the Bruiser Brigade together?
It also shouldn’t come as a surprise that Wolf’s album is being distributed by Bruiser Brigade Records, or that he’s rapping with Fat Ray on “G’z & Hustlaz.” It starts out like it’s going to be a tribute to an old classic from Snoop Doggy Dogg, but he and Ray immediately flip it and make it their own thing. Ray vows they’ll “do that shit for Dilla then” and Raphy’s production seems like a tribute to Mr. Yancey. “It’s the 15th, I’m back again” says Wolf. Don’t be late on the 1st either or the “snub nose will need Mucinex.” The creativity of his wordplay takes these pimp tales to higher plateaus.
I’d be remiss to tell you that these dope dealing tales aren’t borderline ludicrous or some of the misogynistic bars of “My Story Got Stories” aren’t absolutely absurd. ABSURD is the key word. If you heard someone talking shit the way Bruiser Wolf does without his penmanship and showmanship you wouldn’t be impressed, but on this album he and the Bruiser Brigade family elevate absurdity to art. It’s comical and entertaining and nearly impossible to take your ears off of. If Wolf was any less over-the-top this album would be great beats with a bad Suga Free knockoff, but instead it proves that Detroit can pimp just as hard as Pomona if not harder. I highly recommend you check this one out.