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HighBias.com, Michael Toland, January 2004
"The Pacific Northwest is still the heartland of grunge and flannel-clad indie rock in the minds of the masses, but there's a thriving hip-hop scene between the mountains as well. The 100th Monkey works much the same territory as the Roots, with live instrumentation and raps that indicate that life is much more than bitches and benjamins. The interplay between MC Dave Deveraux, singer Miss Loretta and DJ Cladd sits comfortably atop the warm funk of the band, leading to a nice balance between relaxed groove and aggressive proselytizing. Fun and funky."

RapReviews.com, Matt Jost, September 2003
Music Vibes: 7 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 7 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10
"For a hip-hop act, the fact that they're actually a band is without a doubt The 100th Monkey's most prominent feature. However, at a time when the fusion of rock and rap is widely associated with acts like Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock, the Seattle- and Tacoma-based outfit doesn't quite fit the bill. Comprised of rapper Dave Devereaux, drummer Jay D’Lay, bassist Rob, keyboardist Brian Binning, singer Miss Loretta, DJ Cladd and assisted by guitarists Kimo and Mike Rivers, The 100th Monkey aims for a down-to-earth, unadulterated live sound, favoring funk over metal influences. Performing since 2000, the group follows up its 2002 self-titled debut EP with its first longplayer. As the title "Looking at My World" suggests, the songwriter takes center stage in what The 100th Monkey is trying to get across. Other band members might share this particular world being described, but lyrically, this is as individual as any solo rapper's album. With a voice that is hard but not hardened, Deveraux lays out his philosophy in a language that is his own, borrowing from rap's funds but ultimately finding his own style. His approach is very direct, to the point where he will say: "Tacoma's my home, take what I say literal." He depicts his town as a not so happy home in "Ain't Quite the Hills", placing his turf somewhere between ghetto and fabulous: "It ain't quite the ghetto, it ain't quite the hills it ain't quite the projects but it got drug deals it ain't quite the ghetto, it ain't quite the hills it ain't quite the projects but still blood spills" "Honest, happens this way round my way," he asserts, perhaps suspecting that most people don't think of Tacoma, WA as a particularly harsh environment. And despite describing it as a "Lost City" in one song, Devereaux feels at home there: "I'm a leftist, moderately I'm sexist / and even if I had the dough I wouldn't buy no Lexus / I'm happy with my '89 backstreet, beatdown, Southside T-Town Caddy, muthafucka." Even though the last word I just quoted is slightly edited like most of the profane words on this album, "Looking at My World" accumulates the same urban grit and grime we're familiar with from many other rap records. But while he sees himself as just "a small-time hustler, tryin' to make my ends meet / sell my LP on the street," Devereaux realizes that "global drama devastate my habitat" ("Help Me") and tries to "with my rhyme be noble / think global, act local / avoid another Chernobyl / go back in time / find Oppenheimer and Einstein / charge 'em with the crime of the mind." This man-is-his-own-worst-enemy vibe spills over to political songs like the post-911/pre-war "Not Divine But Demonic" and "War", or the title song, which features the chilling chorus "I'm lookin' at my world... and I wonder sometimes, does it look back get pissed off and crack blowin' up a mountain pass to just get us back sparkin' up a hurricane to watch 'em bodies stack?" The band's repertoire isn't limited to pessimistic songs, though. "Bump" is a catchy opener that makes for a smooth entrance, "Wanna Get You High" offers a different, musical high, and "Damn it Feels Good" finally finds the rapper reconciled, happy to be able to live out his dreams: "Damn, it feels good to do exactly what I wanna do not restrained by a 9 to 5 like you other dudes Every single waking moment spent thinkin' 'bout my music If you ask my wife, said she lost me to it" "Looking at My World" is neither musically nor lyrically particularly advanced, but it feels like an honest project where the rapper gets to say what he wants to say and the musicians get to play what they want to play. Heck, DJ Cladd can throw in as many '80s hip-hop samples as he likes, from Flavor Flav's "kick that shit" to Original Concept's "pump that bass," from The Treacherous Three's "The New Rap Language" to Mr. Funky Drummer Clyde Stubblefield. Produced by Seattle's Jack Endino (who hosted legendary Mudhoney and Nirvana studio sessions), The 100th Monkey achieves a sound similar to a good live set. Their best collective effort may be "Can't Let Go", which starts out with Gang Starr's "Take it Personal" beat, before the clear guitars enter an extended dialogue with Devereaux' rugged rhymes. If after this review you're expecting something along the lines of Everlast's Whitey Ford phase, erase that thought. Despite its contemplative name, "Looking at My World" is a rich, vibrant record, uptempo at heart. And call me old school, but more than any singer or rapper wailing about the woes of the world, Dave Devereaux reminds me of Seattle rap legend Sir Mix-A-Lot when he used to talk sense into fools. In that respect, The 100th Monkey has every right to claim: "The West got them gangstas, the South got the bounce / East got them poets, Northwest is now announced."

GetUnderground.com, Maurice Downes, September 2003
3.5 / 5.0 Headz
"Seattle hip-hop collective 100th Monkey definitely has something on their hands with the release of Looking At My World. Of the live instrumentals school of hip-hop, there are going to be the obvious comparisons to lords of the movement, The Roots. What’s more telling is that a comparison is also necessary due to the high quality of this recording. A professional sheen is lent to the production on “Looking At My World” and no part of 100th Monkey’s work seems to be going through the learning pains associated with much indie hip-hop. The tracks are affecting and well put together and the vocals are strong as well; 100th Monkey is very positive hip-hop oriented, by the way, so you can feel good about what you’re listening to. The only real sticking points with this one are 1) it’d be nice to see MC Devereaux’s flow become a bit more fluid on later releases, and 2) DJ Cladd to gain more confidence on the scratches. Otherwise, there’s no reason to write off 100th Monkey as just another entry in the book of indie hip-hop bands. Yeah, I said it: hip-hop bands."

West Coast Performer Magazine, July 2003
"Seattle and Tacoma don’t exactly invoke the image of being hip-hop meccas. However, The 100th Monkey has arrived to break this mindset. As MC Dave Devereaux prounounces, “The West got them Gangstas / The South got the Bounce / The East got the Poets / Northwest is now announced...” The 100th Monkey is a hip-hop group that plays with a live band. The band played its first show in January of 2000 and has been going strong ever since. In addition to Devereaux, the line-up consists of Miss Loretta on vocals, Brian Binning on keys and samples, DJ Cladd on the wheels of steel, and Rob on electric bass. Jay D’Lay keeps the beat.

The 100th Monkey’s name is a reference to the book and ideological thought of Ken Keyes Jr. Simplistically, The 100th Monkey postulates a theory of social change; that “once a certain critical number of people achieve an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind.” In other words, once that number is hit, the awareness no longer needs to be taught, every individual will be aware.

The social consciousness undertoned in The 100th Monkey’s name is further evidenced by their lyricism. On their debut album Looking At My World, songs such as “War,” “Help Me,” and “Not Divine But Demonic,” ask for the listeners’ political and humanitarian ear. In “Not From The Projects” Devereaux rhymes, “I’m not from the project / I’m not from the hills / But where I’m from, still blood spills...” It’s not all politics though, 100th Monkey can be whimsical as well. In “Damn It Feels Good” Devereaux strikes with, “damn it feels good to do what I wanna do / Not chained to some 9 to 5 like you other dudes...” and on “Lost City” he comes out with “Fed you some vocab, it’s leaking out your ass / stone you with my lyric like a drug enforcement task...” Looking At My World combines the old school flavor of high-powered and well-timed scratches with the new school production of club-worthy beats. Further dimensions are added by live instrumentation, drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitar, keys, and even sax and the soulfully sweet voice of Miss Loretta. Looking At My World was also produced by legendary Seattle-based producer Jack Endino.

The close to perfected mixing of sampled beats and scratches with the personality of live instrumentation and the distinct yet well blended voices of Devereaux and Miss Loretta sets The 100th Monkey apart. This blend, coupled with a litany of catchy chorus lines that will resonate in the listeners’ head for hours insures that the 100th Monkey won’t have much difficulty placing the Northwest on the hip-hop map and passing their message along - they just need one more listener to reach that awareness."

The Daily, University of Washington
"Scrit-scrit-scratch starts the track. While most DJs start a cut running the vinyl under the needle, Cladd, of The 100th Monkey, keeps at it. Cladd, operating the turntables while Dave Devereaux emcees, brings forth a lost art in modern hip-hop. Scratching — the fine art of filling the interim and adding spice by taking from others beats, drum and bass riffs and clever little phrases, and adding a little wiggidy-wiggidy wack — is falling to the wayside as samples, the replacement plagiarism, takes over. Romanticism is lost. The image of the serious, concentrating DJ with two sets of headphones massaging out of the 45s a rhythm, a theme and a feel is lost to hitting sample buttons on a keyboard. The 100th Monkey brings it back with its new album, Looking At My World. With the great feel of old-school, classic hip-hop — rather than polished bling-bling — the Seattle group, started in 2000, will make it. The Monkey can follow Black-eyed Peas and Jurassic 5 into the kind of mainstream where it can be appreciated, where people buy the beats for the art, not the image. Where people buy the tunes and see the shows for the live instruments rather than the boxed and manicured product. The 100th Monkey has no image, giving the lyrics — flowing fresh from Devereaux — an authenticity lost on Jay-Z and (gasp) 50 Cent. Devereaux isn’t trying to pose as a thug. He lets loose about reading about war in the paper, getting stoned, making music, sleeping late and getting high. He sings about what he knows. When he says, “It’s all about the music,” believe him; he’s just “fighting for what he believes.” Jay D’Lay on drums, Rob on bass, Miss Loretta backing up Devereaux and Brian Binning on the piano all provide a smooth product that pulls off the chill-mode without any of the market-tested feel. For the sake of hip-hop, let the 100th Monkey live up to its name. When a critical number achieves awareness — when the 100th monkey learns to wash his fruit before eating it — it can be transmitted telepathically. Give the group a few more fans and maybe, hopefully, all of hip-hop will learn to scratch, not sample."

The Tablet
"The show is also a record release party for the Tacoma band 100th Monkey, who do a pretty live job of mixing their hip-hop influences with a live band. Their new album Lookin' At My World is sure to open some eyes. They take some influences from groups like The Roots and Source of Labor and do their own thing with it. One thing I dig is they talk about relevant content, like their lead single 'War.'"

Michele Myers, KEXP 90.3
"Local artists The 100th Monkey slam the scene with politically conscious hip hop. Soul, jazz, funk and rock flavas add to the strong surprises from this innovative local band."

Technopunkmusic.com
"This is hip-hop at its most versatile. The 100th Monkey have the advantage of not being artistically limited...or conveniently pigeonholed in any one style. This is hip-hop infused jazz, rock-based urban sounds, professional instrumentation edged over with vocal poetics, lounge music roughed up for the streets and young cockiness surrounded by mature professionalism. It all combines to make The 100th Monkey a completely unique entity of potent, pleasing and fully rounded brilliance."

TheSouthSound.com
"When I think about hip hop music, I usually think of drum machines, sampled loops, bling bling, and clouds of chronic smoke. While dank references never get old, sometimes the other stuff gets a bit redundant. With few well known rappers willing to risk their TRL success for innovation, a resourceful hip hop fan is forced to look outside the world of mainstream rap to find the quality their looking for. Saturday February 9th, they need look no farther than Rustons Shoboat, and the grassroots hip hop styling of the 100th Monkey. Following the release of their self-titled CD, recorded at Bobs Garage with the aid of Kelly Gray, 100th Monkey has earned the respect of fans and critics alike. Bringing acoustic guitars and saxophones into the normally restrictive genre of hip hop, 100th Monkey is the exception to the rule, and the kind of band that makes underground hip hop so damn appealing. With Organic Produce also on the bill, the show should be well worth checking out. "

Splendid E-zine
"...Dave Devereaux's dynamic vocals end up stealing the show. Also known as Dave the Dopeman, Devereaux has a knack for raising and lowering his voice to be either lighthearted ('Dave the Dopeman') or serious and persuasive ('License to Kill'). As he does so, clever rhymes and addictive melodies give everything a natural flow."