Young Black Teenagers is the debut album by the American rap group Young Black Teenagers, released in 1991. "Loud & Hard to Hit" peaked at No. 25 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. The album cover art is modeled after the Beatles' With the Beatles. After a negative radio response to the track "Proud to Be Black", MCA Records chose not to use its logo on the packaging. The group supported the album by touring with Public Enemy.

Production

The album was produced by Hank Shocklee and the Bomb Squad and released through Shocklee's S.O.U.L Records label; YBT's Kamron grew up in the same neighborhood as some of the production group's members. "To My Donna" is an answer song directed to Madonna's "Justify My Love", which used a backing rhythm track taken by Lenny Kravitz from a Public Enemy instrumental produced by the Bomb Squad. "Daddy Kalled Me Niga Cause I Likeded to Rhyme" is about dealing with racist parents. "Nobody Knows Kelli" is an ode to Married... with Children's Kelly Bundy.

Critical reception

Q said that "YBT have a enough power, but their songs edge towards monotony." Entertainment Weekly wrote that YBT "rise to the challenge presented by the high-quality production, and rhyme with conviction". Newsday labeled the album "mall rap". The Calgary Herald opined that "the tunes are tighter and tougher than most rap fare". The St. Petersburg Times concluded that YBT "get past racial barriers, smack dab into a clever, creative form of rap that knows neither limits nor boundaries of color."

Track listing

Samples

Personnel