Penicillin on Wax

Penicillin on Wax is the debut studio album by American New York-based rapper Tim Dog. It was released on November 12, 1991 via Ruffhouse Records. Production was handled by several record producers, including Ced-Gee, TR Love and Moe Love from Ultramagnetic MC's, Bobby Crawford, Louis Flores, and Tim Dog himself. Fellow rapper Kool Keith made guest appearances on two tracks.

Penicillin on Wax
Studio album by Tim Dog
Released	November 12, 1991
Recorded	1991
Genre	East Coast hip hop hardcore rap
Length	1:01:44
Label	Ruffhouse Columbia
Producer	Tim Dog TR Love Ced-Gee Moe Love Bobby Crawford Louis Flores
Tim Dog chronology
Penicillin on Wax (1991) Do or Die (1993)
Singles from Penicillin on Wax
"Fuck Compton" Released: 1991 "Step To Me" Released: 1991 "Bronx Nigga" Released: 1992

The album spawned three singles, the infamous underground hit "Fuck Compton" (which disses the West Coast hip hop), "Step To Me" and "Bronx Nigga". The album peaked at number 155 on the US Billboard 200 chart, number 34 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, number 4 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.

Background

• The intro used the same beat as N.W.A's "efil4zaggin" album intro. Tim taunted "I stole your beat and made it better, to show the whole world that you ain't nothing but a bunch of pussies" before a number of disparaging answering machine messages supported Tim's position. Tim rapped: "Wearing all that black, driving them cars, but you still look wack!"
• A skit called "DJ Quik Beat Down" was a forty-second audio snippet of Tim Dog physically assaulting DJ Quik.
• The track "Step To Me" taunted Compton rappers and included the line "DJ Quik he can suck my dick".
• "Michel'le Conversation" was a skit where a Michel'le soundalike called Tim Dog to complain about Tim's Compton diss, but then ended up admitting she was "tired of him (Dre) beating down on me" and for Tim to "Call me when you're in town".
• The track "Goin Wild in the Penile" included an intro whereby Tim had recently been released from prison for shooting a "Compton kid".

The lyrical insults were arguably the opening salvo in what would later become the East Coast versus West Coast hip hop conflict which would ultimately lead to the "beef" between Bad Boy Records and Death Row Records.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[2]
RapReviews	7/10[3]
The Village Voice	[4]

AllMusic's Ron Wynn gave Penicillin on Wax an "Album Pick" tag, saying "Bronx rapper Tim Dog informed the world what he thought of West Coast types with the single "F--- Compton." It was the definitive composition on his debut album, setting the stage for a series of angry, often vicious and sneering taunts, challenges, boasts and putdowns."[1] Entertainment Weekly writer James Bernard commended Tim's "deep and ominous" vocals for delivering "attention-grabbing moments" at times but felt the album gets weighted down with Tim's lyrical tirades against N.W.A over unspectacular beats, concluding that "Yes, "dissing" is a proud rap tradition, but such one-note obsession gets pretty boring. Move on, Tim Dog, move on."[2] Robert Christgau cited "Fuck Compton" as a "choice cut",[4] indicating a good song on "an album that isn't worth your time or money."[5] In a retrospective review, DJ Fatboy of RapReviews praised the overall production throughout the album, Tim's "forceful" delivery of his absurd lyricism despite wishing he craft better lyrics and Kool Keith's guest contributions on "I Ain't Havin' It" and "Secret Fantasies", concluding that, "Great production values, utter craziness. Although it's debatable whether or not it was Tim's intent to be that fuckin out there, it's no question this was one of the most entertaining albums to come out of the early 90s, point blank."[3]

Track listing

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Tim Dog TR Love	2:49
2.	"Low Down Nigga"	Tim Dog Moe Love	2:07
3.	"Robin Harris Shit" (Skit)		0:17
4.	"Fuck Compton"	Tim Dog Ced-Gee	4:10
5.	"DJ Quick Beat Down" (Skit)		0:20
6.	"Step to Me"	Tim Dog Bobby Crawford	4:46
7.	"Phone Conversation With Reporter" (Skit)		0:23
8.	"Bronx Nigga"	Tim Dog TR Love	4:16
9.	"You Ain't Shit"	Tim Dog Ced-Gee	4:20
10.	"I Ain't Takin' No Shorts"	Tim Dog Moe Love TR Love	3:37
11.	"NFL Shit" (Skit)		0:18
12.	"I'll Wax Anybody"	Tim Dog Moe Love	5:05
13.	"Michel'le Conversation" (Skit)		1:22
14.	"Can't Fuck Around"	Tim Dog Ced-Gee	3:43
15.	"Dog's Gonna Getcha"	Tim Dog Bobby Crawford	3:03
16.	"Goin Wild in the Penile"	Tim Dog Ced-Gee	4:09
17.	"Get off the Dick"	Tim Dog Louis Flores	3:11
18.	"I Ain't Havin' It" (featuring Kool Keith)	Tim Dog Moe Love	3:34
19.	"Patriotic Pimp"	Tim Dog Ced-Gee	3:51
20.	"Secret Fantasies" (featuring Kool Keith)	Tim Dog TR Love	6:21
Total length:			1:01:25

Personnel

• Timothy Blair – main artist, producer
• Keith Matthew Thornton – featured artist (tracks: 18, 20)
• Michael Joseph Tyler – guitar
• Jay Davidson – saxophone
• Andy "Funky Drummer" Kravitz – drums
• Cedric Ulmont Miller – producer (tracks: 4, 9, 14, 16, 19)
• Trevor Randolph – producer (tracks: 1, 8, 10, 20)
• Maurice Russell Smith – producer (tracks: 2, 10, 12, 18)
• Bobby Crawford – producer (tracks: 6, 15)
• Louis Flores – producer (track 17)
• Joseph Mario Nicolo – mixing
• Yuval Kossovsky – assistant engineering
• Francesca Restrepo – art direction & design
• Jesse Frohman – photography

Charts

Chart (1991)	Peak position
scope="row"	US Billboard 200[6]	155
scope="row"	US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[7]	34
scope="row"	US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[8]	4

References

1. Wynn, Ron. "Penicillin on Wax – Tim Dog". AllMusic. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
2. Bernard, James (November 29, 1991). "Penicillin on Wax". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
3. Fatboy, DJ (June 12, 2000). "Tim Dog :: Penicillin on Wax :: Ruffhouse". RapReviews. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
4. Christgau, Robert (January 28, 1992). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
5. Christgau, Robert. "Key to Icons". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
6. "Tim Dog Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
7. "Tim Dog Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard.
8. "Tim Dog Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard.

External links

Penicillin On Wax at Discogs (list of releases)