Webster's defines "crew" as "a group of people associated together In a common activity or by common traits or interests." Although quite vague, a "crew" could be applied to almost any group of people gathered for any reason. In musical terms, however, Cru represents hip hop originality in its finest and simpilist form. Cru equals music without the marketing generated images, music without the contrived angry back alley poses, music without a time frame and with no expiration date.

"Crew is just the essence of what hip hop is," explains Cru vocalist/ producer Yogi. "That's what it's all about. Back in the days, you went into the parks, had a jam and it was your crew's jam. If you was dancing, you had a crew. If you was rhymin',you had a crew. If you was Djing, you had a crew. That's it, we come from that simplistic place, the foundation of hip hop. It's all about getting back to the basics."

Composed of raspy music maestro Yogi, lyrical co-leader Chadio and the illified operatic interjections of demented genius The Mighty Ha, Cru's roots stem from the Lafayette Housing Projects in the South Bronx where the three friends grew up. Rhyming, Djing and writing graffitit were the triad's adolescent apprenticeship inductions into their beloved artform; a shared experience that's evident from their debut's wholly creative approach entitled Da Dirty 30.

"We aren't afraid to do things that distincts us from a lot of people," says Chadio. "Sometimes our music will sound happy, sometimes it sounds disastrous and crazy. We just don't throw our marbles into one bucket. This music is our life, our feelings and emotions and this is carried out right through our music."

The title is prompted by the infamous New York City corrupt-cop scandal at the 30th precinct. Da Dirty 30 is an inspired collection of thirty songs, interludes and skits that run the gamut of assorted flavors in a fashion reminiscent of fellow programming innovators De La Soul and Redman. "Bubblin'" finds The Rhythm Blunt Cru (as the group was originally known) spitting verbal game over a simple and staccatto-ed headnodding groove. On "Up North," Kool G Rap's "Ryker's Island" meet Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise" for a sonically surreal exploration into the travails of serving debts to society. Meamwhile, Chadio's "Goines Tale," an impressive exercise in literary wordplay, weaves the characters and story titles of Black author Donald Goines into a thrilling narrative.

The LP's first single, "Another Case," teams Cru with Bronx Legend Slick Rick for a memorable cautionary tale that borrows its refrain from the Ruler's classic "Children's Story," "This ain't funny so don't you dare laugh/ Just another case about the wrong path." Once again, Yogi's production here- in the guise of somber guitar stums- is destined to place permanent creases in the mental Lee's of any rap fan.

Also timely interest is the LP's penultimate selection, "Armageddon," which addresses the issue of escalated hostility in hip hop and details a situation in which the rap community obliterates itself. "We wanted to do a cut relating to all this beef in hip hop community," says Chadio. "Not even just the supposed East-West situation, but there's beef internally in New York City and in L.A. We just took it to an exaggerated level where everybody murdered each other. There's a significant message in that song that kids don't realize that all this is killing the hip hop game in essence. This whole community and culture could go up in smoke if we keep acting stupid and not considering the long-term effects." Sentiments like these are one obvious manifestation of Cru's dedication to hip hop. The dynamic vocal interplay and chemistry between Yogi, Chadio and Ha, sadly missing from so many contemporary groups is another manifestation of Cru's philosophy- their devotion.

"Musically, it's like a puzzle," articulates Chadio. "We click so perfectly because we are all on the same page. We all know what we want. I could hear tracks and I'll know which one is for us. If Yogi listens to the tracks, he'll pick the same one I picked. It's ill like that."

"It's a simple thing," concludes Yogi, "it's beats and rhymes. It's not rocket science. A lot of times, cats try to make their cuts sound like rocket science, but it's not. All it is is extreme love for music and our culture. We got love so deep that we don't want to abuse it. We don't want to pimp it out. We want kids to say, cYo, that album they did, they put their heart into it. Behind every rhyme, every track, every concept, there was a lot of thought and they put their soul into it."