Terror Squad

Smartasses on VH1 have had a great time ripping "Lean Back," the ubiquitous hit single from True Story, Terror Squad's latest CD, but most of them fail to grok its conceptual brilliance. Hell, even the macarena required a certain amount of coordination, albeit of the preschooler-doing-the-Hokey-Pokey variety. "Lean Back," on...

By Michael Roberts

October 14, 2004

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Smartasses on VH1 have had a great time ripping "Lean Back," the ubiquitous hit single from True Story, Terror Squad's latest CD, but most of them fail to grok its conceptual brilliance. Hell, even the macarena required a certain amount of coordination, albeit of the preschooler-doing-the-Hokey-Pokey variety. "Lean Back," on the other hand, is a dance that people as supersized as lead rapper Fat Joe can perform every bit as well as Mikhail Baryshnikov. Back in the day, when Fat Joe teamed with similarly rotund MC Big Pun, Terror Squad focused on hard-core values. But following Big Pun's 2000 death and Fat Joe's subsequent chart success with more airplay-friendly fare, the Squad was remade with accessibility in mind. Witness the addition of hottie-rhymer Remy, who takes up as much space on "Lean Back" as her larger partner. The rest of True Story isn't as distinctive as its best-known track, but the tunes should work well within the context of Crunktoberfest, during which the group will share the stage with Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, Xzibit, Juvenile, Trick Daddy, Lil Flip, Kingdom, Don Blas and Nina Sky. In the meantime, get ready for the inevitable "Lean Back" imitations. My money's on "Roll Over," "Lay Down," "Stand Still" and, of course, "Nod Off." Don't sleep on that last one, dawg.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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