Tag: Hip-Hop
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De La Soul, Clear Lake Auditorium, 1994 on Tommy Boy
I love De La Soul, especially the first three albums – 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul is Dead, and Buhloone Mindstate. This EP was a promotional only release in 1994, which was widely bootlegged over the years, and includes 4 tracks from Buloone Mindstate plus two non-album tracks, one of which features…
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Public Enemy, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, 1987 on Def Jam
Debut studio album from Public Enemy, recorded at Spectrum City Studios and produced by Bill Stephney (of The Bomb Squad, with co-producers Carl Ryder and Hank Shocklee) with Rick Rubin credited as Executive Producer. Still looking for a good vinyl copy of It Takes a Nation of Millions. Def Jam was distributed by CBS/Columbia (thus…
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Boogie Down Productions, By All Means Necessary, 1988 on Jive
Second album from KRS-One under the Boogie Down Productions moniker, after the 1987 killing of Scott La Rock. Arguably the birth of socially conscious hip-hop, undeniably a key album in it. So, you’re a philosopher? Yes, I think very deeply In about four seconds, a teacher will begin to speak Let us begin, what, where,…
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DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, He’s the DJ, I’m The Rapper, 1988 on Jive
Second album from the duo of Jeffrey Townes (aka DJ Jazzy Jeff) and Will Smith (aka The Fresh Prince), including “Parents Just Don’t Understand” which won the first Best Rap Performance Grammy in 1989. Not sure I even realized this at the time, but their first two albums came out before The Fresh Prince of…
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Run D.M.C., Run D.M.C., 1984 on Profile
Run D.M.C.‘s debut album on Profile, a NY area hip-hop label that was distributed by Arista, who would later reissue it. It was produced by Russell SImmons and Larry Smith, and recorded at Greene St. Recording in Soho. Note the credit on the rear jacket to “Music by Orange Krush” – that’s Larry Smith and…
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A Tribe Called Quest, The Love Movement, 1998 on Jive
Fifth studio album from Tribe, and the last released before Phife Dawg died in 2016 from complications related to diabetes. Tribe announced they were disbanding a month before the album was released. Guests include Busta Rhymes, Redman, Mos Def, Leaders of the New School and Kid Hood. Production by The Ummah (which included Q-Tip and…
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Erykah Badu, Worldwide Underground, 2003 on Motown
This was Badu’s third album, following Baduizm (1997) and Mama’s Gun (2000). It was produced by Freakquency (Badu along with Rashad Smith, James Poyser, and RC Williams) and features dead prez (Stic Man and M1) on “The Grind.” Lenny Kravitz guests on guitar, Roy Hargrove on trumpet and vocals, and Queen Latifah, Angie Stone, and…