Big Pokey – Stone Hard to the Bone Yard
Mob Style Music Group
By Robert Gabriel
18 months removed from Big Pokey’s fatal heart attack, we are gifted with a posthumous album. Fellow Houston rap luminaries including Lil Keke, Z-Ro, Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Lil O and Mike D contribute to the project, unironically titled Stone Hard to the Bone Yard: 13 songs to help us celebrate the life and talents of the man known as “the hardest pit in the litter”, the sensei, or to his many admirers across Texas and beyond, just plain Poyo.
Speaking of just plain him, Pokey’s solo track “Brick City” jumps out immediately as a standout on this album. No hooks or gimmicks, just two and a half minutes of savage punchlines. “It’s like nachos in the pan when I turn cheese, stripes, you can’t be all hype, you got to earn these.” An original member of the Screwed Up Click, dating back to the early 90’s, Pokey’s lyrical pedigree transcends time.
“Another day, another sale, thumbing through them honey bun, working from the highest, blowing squares and making money run.” Pokey’s impeccable rhyme patterns are what make him a classic. The slight hoarseness of his voice, the realness of his everyman street hustle and that he physically resembled a shark standing on his tail, that all went into his mystique as well. But ultimately, it’s Pokey’s ability to craft seemingly endless flows of well punctuated fire that keeps him as relevant today as he was back in the day rocking Screw tapes.
The song “Screwed Up Click” sees Z-Ro masterfully resurrect a Big Moe hook from DJ Screw’s 1997 tape “Plots and Schemes”, so the leaned-out vibe certainly continues to carry weight nearly 30 years beyond its inception. Further evidence would be how fresh Lil Keke sounds across his 3 appearances on this album, most notably trading verses with Pokey and Mike D on the catchy “By Any Means.”
But it’s not all old man styles on Stone Hard. Consecutive songs “Gorilla Bizzness” and “Fork Talk” succeed at updating the H-Town formula for the modern trap era. But really nothing gets too gratuitous in any direction. Pokey wasn’t trying to be anything but himself, a tough and determined man with a sharp tongue. Consider this album as a fitting addition to the catalog of a true legend.
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