Steve 'Flash' JuonIf you’re the one person reading this who has heard of Menajahtwa (a not so clever play on the term ménage à trois) or their debut album “Cha-licious,” stand up and be counted. I’d like to personally congratulate you on knowing the most obscure female rap group in history. It’s sad because it didn’t have to be that way — they were signed to Ruthless Records, had DJ Yella and Rhythum D on the beats, and Eazy-E was their executive producer. I’m not going to front and say I wasn’t amused by the crass sexuality of the title track right off the bat, telling men they need to up their tongue game and lick that cat until a bitch cums, and I was even impressed they did over the same Donny Hathaway sample Geto Boys did for the posse song “Bring It On.” If the words “Life is too short, well so is your dick!” don’t sound like a veiled diss at Todd Shaw, well, it’s still a funny snap regardless.
I did mention Eazy-E though and I think that’s the problem here. Even though Eric Wright was clearly excited enough about Spice and Royal T to include them on his hilariously irreverent “Merry Muthafuckin’ Xmas,” his health was in decline by the time “Cha-licious” came out and he’d depart from this mortal plane just seven months later. I’m sure had he lived he would have pushed Relativity Records to promote his fledgling female duo, but Menajahtwa wasn’t getting any help without him. They didn’t understand two ladies dropping hard gangsta tracks like “Just Tha Bitch N Me” with their friend Licey Loc. This was N.W.A from the female side and they weren’t trying to hide it, even sampling Ice Cube saying “crazy motherfucker from around the way” on the hook.
While Mr. Wright was still alive “La La La” was the closest we got to actual promotion of the group or their album. The bass heavy single got a music video and a cameo that I believe is from Rhythum D himself (citation needed) doing his best impression of Humpty Hump. The group plays up their version of female empowerment in the song by dogging out men the same way the men had been women for so many years, including parading around a man on a leash for the ladies to ogle him and score his physique. If you’re not a sensitive snowflake you should be able to handle it, but some might think it veers a little too close to “plantation” territory. I get it. I don’t think the imagery was enough to break them into the mainstream but they may have hoped a little notoriety wouldn’t hurt.
It didn’t hurt… but it also didn’t help. Even though I was already familiar with both rappers from their seasonal Christmas carol, this album went completely under the radar of a hardcore rap fan in 1994 and stayed that way until this very day. There was clearly a concerted effort going into “Cha-licious” to launch this female duo, including having “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s” rappers B.G. Knocc Out (“Kickin Azz”) and Gangsta Dresta (“Kuz Itz Like Dat” and “Da Laz Shit”) make guest appearances. Even E himself found time to drop a verse for “Back 2 Da OG,” a song which very purposefully and artfully samples from his rap classic “Boyz-N-The-Hood.” His fans should check this song out even if they take a pass on the rest of the CD.
Despite no single from this album charting, nor the album itself, the rappers would still hang around long enough to appear on E’s first posthumous album and do a song with legendary freak Adina Howard (yo pardon she’s been on my mind all week). I can’t say “Cha-licious” is a certified hood classic, but for an album that only two people have heard of before this review (me and that one person from the opening paragraph) it’s better than you think. Menajahtwa were victims of unfortunate timing and a music industry that embraced Bo$$ yet treated her like a one hit wonder. They just weren’t ready for more bad gangsta bitches even if E had the foresight to see the possibility.