Ever since the “Eric B. For President” single featuring a young Long Islander named Rakim Allah was released in the summer of ’86 (which was produced by Marley Marl), the fans were feigning for more of the God with the slow flow, so the two were scooped up by Russell Simmons and the genesis of Paid In Full began.
As the prototype album of Hip Hop’s “Golden Era”, everything from song arrangement, album artwork, and even their wardrobe on the album cover became iconic items of that time period. Manufactured and distributed by indie label Zakia/4th and Broadway Records, the album’s anticipation and the response was so unprecedented, it earned the duo a new contract with Uni Records for the sophomore project.
A few of the ten-track classic’s stand out songs include “Move The Crowd”, “I Ain’t No Joke”, “I Know You Got Soul” and the classic title track, “Paid In Full”.
Even though Eric B. and Rakim just reunited as a group in 2018, this album solidified them as one of the greatest Hip Hop duo’s in the culture’s history and we here at The Source salute them for that. Peace!
Our love for The The Notorious B.I.G. will always be just that — big! Who would’ve thought that 25 years ago, a guy self-described as “Black and ugly as ever” would go on to become one of the most revered emcees to ever touch a mic by kicking off his career with a debut album we all know and love as Ready To Die. The LP was universally acclaimed from jump — we even had to bump it up from our original 4.5 rating in ’94 to a perfect Five Mics score back in ’02! — and the appreciation hasn’t faltered in the time since its release.
Now, Amazon Music is taking time to show Biggie’s arrival album its proper dues with a mini doc that you can watch right now.
The doc includes words and recollections from those who were there from the beginning, including Mister Cee who submitted BIG’s first mixtape to The Source‘s former “Unsigned Hype” editor Matty C. The rest is of course history, leading to a feature in our March 1992 publication (Issue #30) that would go on to officially put him on the rap map and, well, a legend was born!
The Birth of Biggie: 25 Years of Ready To Die is narrated in part by the slain rapper himself, and even comes with an extra Amazon Music component that you can activate by saying “Alexa, play ‘The Birth of Biggie.’” Technology, man!
Watch The Birth of Biggie: 25 Years of Ready To Die by Amazon Music above. R.I.P forever, B.I.G.!
After unveiling the cover art and release date for his debut studio album The Big Day last week, Chance the Rapper has finally release the highly-anticipated project to much fanfare amongst critics and followers alike. To assist the LP rollout, young Chano has also dropped some cool album merch for fans to rock as well.
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) July 26, 2019
This extensive set has all the key essentials to everyone’s wardrobe this summer, including T-shirts, caps, long-sleeved shirts and hoodies for the cooler days ahead. There’s also a small range of accessories too, included a sticker pack and lighter for those that want that smoke. Every item comes with a digital copy of The Big Day, which is delivered to your email address immediately after purchase. Those that still enjoy a physical CD copy can cop those as well, which also come with a digital version as well. Chance is also selling pre-sale access to future shows and raffle tickets for fan experiences and exclusive prizes, both retailing for $10 USD and benefitting the non-profit organization SocialWorks in his hometown of Chicago.
Cop Chance The Rapper’s ‘The Big Day‘ album merch collection right now over on ChanceRaps.com. All items will ship in four weeks, with some items on pre-order until Fall 2019. See the full set below:
Say that phrase to any longtime rap fan, and the response will either be “East Side!” if you’re anywhere near New York, “West Side!” if Cali vibes are your wave, “South Side!” for the ATLiens out there or “North Side!” if you’re, well, Drake. All jokes aside though, the term will forever be burned in our collective Hip-Hop conscience thanks to Wayne Hardnett Jr., better known to the world as Atlanta-bred rapper Bone Crusher.
Today we decided to take it back to 2003, as the early ’00s Hip-Hop star released his debut album AttenCHUN! 16 years ago today.
So So Def/Arista
The aforementioned Avery Johnson-produced lead single “Never Scared” is still a staple in locker rooms across the nation as a classic get-hype pregame song — the “Football Remix” was even featured in Madden 2004. It eventually would become a Top 4 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (#26), as well as a top 10 hit on the Rap chart at #6. The album has other gems featured on it as well though, including the equally hyphy “Lock & Load” intro, head-thumping “Sound The Horn” and the smooth deep cut “Peaches & Cream” among other tracks. The album, released under So So Def/Arista and produced entirely by Jermaine Dupri, also has a heavy list of heavy hitters featured throughout, including T.I., Killer Mike, David Banner, Goodie Mob and JD on an intro for the obvious standout song. Speaking of “Never Scared” (again), there’s also the fire “Takeover Remix” featuring an all-star roundup that includes Cam’ron, Jadakiss and Busta Rhymes — in that order — representing for the “EAST SIDE!!!”
The album proved to be a major success in 2003, peaking in the top 20 on the Billboard 200 charts at #11 and topping the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as well. Although many felt that the album was weighed down with too many interludes or that the production started to get repetitive — i.e. an album full of “Never Scared”-sounding b-sides — the album as a whole seamed together perfectly to make for one truly energy-inducing LP.
While AttenCHUN! proved to be Bone Crusher’s only hit album, releasing just two more albums before going silent in 2007, The Source along with everyone who’s ever played Def Jam: Fight for NY will always remember the guy who helped define crunk rap. Salute to the king!
Happy 16th anniversary to AttenCHUN! by Bone Crusher! Stream it today for a good ’03 throwback, and watch the classic music video for “Never scared” below:
Whether you’re hanging in Coachella Valley or simply mourning the loss of Crenshaw’s fallen hero Nipsey Hussle like the rest of us, West Coast Rap is definitely being bumped at high volumes this weekend. That’s why we had to show some love to the Hayward homie Spice 1 on this lovely Sunday, which happens to fall on the 27th anniversary of his debut self-titled album.
Jive
Two years before appearing alongside MC Eiht and Scarface on our June ’94 cover (Issue #57), the rapper born Robert Lee Green Jr. delivered this banger for the Bay Area, which went on to reach way beyond his hood. The album was a big label follow-up to his well-received street EP Let It Be Known, which sold almost 100K in pure sales as an independent release. Once Jive came into the picture, the seven-song project was re-released and retitled as Spice 1, including five songs from the original project in addition to nine new ones. The switch up paid off, with the revamped version giving us the classic cut “Welcome to the Ghetto” and going on to sell almost half a million records.
The tracks on Spice 1 sound like quintessential G-Funk, translated through singles like “187 Proof” and the reggae-tinged “East Bay Gangster,” all the way to deep cuts like “Peace to My Nine” and the low-rider classic “City Streets.” It’s clear to see his style & delivery is inspired by the rap icon that discovered him — Spice 1 hails from Oakland’s The Dangerous Crew created by Too $hort — but the connection is less “flow biting” and more “of the same kin.” At the end of the day, it all just sounds like good gangsta rap.
The initial success of the album helped it rank in the top 20 of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at #14, later achieving gold certification by RIAA. “Welcome to the Ghetto” proved to be a hit as well, rising to #39 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart and also appearing on the Hot Rap Singles where it faired the best at #5. It ultimately marked a good start to a career that would go on to produce 12 studio albums and more than a handful of compilation LPs and collab albums, the latest being as recent as 2015 with his Bossolo-assisted project Thug Therapy.
We crowned him as one of the 115 greatest MCs from 1988 to 2003 for our 15th anniversary (Issue #167), and we stand by that sentiment as he rings in 27 years of his debut project. The Bay Area is home to an important sound and time in Hip-Hop, and Spice 1 helped cultivate that. Salute, king!
Happy 27th anniversary to Spice 1’s debut album! Let us know which tracks you’re bumping today by hitting us on Facebook and Twitter, and read the Spice 1 review we penned back in June 1992 for The Source Issue #33 below:
You wouldn’t be blamed for thinking Mobb Deep’s near-perfect album The Infamous… was their debut project, especially given it’s well-deserved critical acclaim over the years. However, the East Coast rap duo actually popped up on the scene a whole two years prior with Juvenile Hell on April 13, 1993, and today we’re looking back on the rookie rap offering on the LP’s 26th anniversary.
4th & B’way/Island/PolyGram Records
Way before blessing us with “Shook Ones” and “Survival of the Fittest,” Kejuan Muchita and Albert Johnson — you may known them better as Havoc and Prodigy, respectively — were just two teens from NYC trying to make their mark in the rap game. The group had just changed their name to Mobb Deep after spending the prior year as “Poetical Prophets,” the name they’d get their first taste of fame under in our own Unsigned Hype section circa July 1991 for The Source #22 (see below). The album was distributed through 4th & B’way Records, the label Eric B. & Rakim saw success with five years prior on their classic debut Paid in Full, and was supported by the singles “Peer Pressure” and “Hit It from the Back.” Although the album didn’t take off with either single, it set the guys up with a rugged sound they could perfect & make a blueprint out of to come back and dominate just a few years later.
Mobb Deep’s first appearance in The Source, back when the 16-year-old duo went by “Poetical Prophets.” (Issue #22; July 1991)
Even without critical or fan-supported success, Juvenile Hell still had its gems. From the Big Noyd-assisted “Stomp Em Out,” with its jazzy sample and call-out style chorus, to “Flavor for the Non Believes,” which recalls their Poetical Prophets days demo tape Flavor for the Nonbelievers, each track is a sonically-authentic product of the boom bap era at its peak. The sole charting single, “Hit It from the Back,” even made it to #18 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles. Above everything though, this was Prodigy and Havoc’s first time showing the world that they could produce just as well as they rap, which of course we’d see them show off on an even greater scale later in the group’s career.
Overall, Juvenile Hell will always be remembered as the start of a Hip-Hop legacy that will continue on even in the absence of Prodigy, who sadly passed away a few years ago on June 20, 2017 due to complications from his lifelong battle with sickle cell. Through albums like this one, as well as The Infamous…, Hell On Earth and Infamy among others, his legacy will continue to live on and the group will always be seen as legends to the game.
Celebrate the 26th anniversary of Mobb Deep’s debut album Juvenile Hell by giving it a spin today, and let us know some of your favorite tracks by hitting us on Facebook and Twitter! Also, read the original review from The Source Issue #45 (June 1993) below:
April 5 is an interesting day in Hip-Hop music. Rarely is a rap record released on this day — we did the research, but feel free to prove us wrong! — but there was one influential LP that jumpstarted the careers of two Brownsville natives and competely shook the game up in 1994. Yes, we’re talking about the Mash Out Posse, who you may know better as M.O.P., and today we show them love as their debut album To The Death turns 25.
Select Street Records
Released on April 5, 1994, To The Death was yet another milestone in the domination that New York had on the rap game, with Lil’ Fame and Billy Danze both representing Brooklyn with the ruggedness and street appeal that shaped the attitude, look and overall sound of Hip-Hop at this time. The album itself was a precursor for rappers like Nas (Illmatic), Outkast (Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik), Da Brat (Funkdafied) and The Notorious B.I.G. (Ready to Die) amongst others that also debuted in 1994, with M.O.P. coming out swinging with three singles and a modest peak at #68 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
The album was produced entirely by legendary East Coast rap producer and fellow Brownsville native DR Period, aside from the closing track “Guns N Roses” which was handled by Silver D and executive producer creds going to silent M.O.P. member Laze E Laze. The musical themes highlight the climate of life in hoods throughout America in the ’90s — gang violence, “fake ass gangstas,” staying fresh and just surviving the “rugged neva smoove” streets of New York City.
Of all the singles released off this shining debut, the highlight would of course be the anthem cut “How About Some Hardcore.” It was the most successful performance on the charts and amongst the hardest of Hip-Hop fans, peaking in the Top 40 on the US Hot Rap Songs chart at #36. For those that liked it raw, M.O.P. provided that effortlessly on this record with impressive lyricism, dope production and a tenacity to make it big that we’d see the duo accomplish even greater on the DJ Premier-produced follow up album and the 2001 smash hit “Ante Up (Remix).” And to think: all of this originated from a chance standout appearance on the soundtrack to House Party 3!
Happy 25th anniversary to M.O.P.’s debut album To The Death! Tell us your favorite tracks over on Facebook and Twitter after reading the original album review featured in The Source Magazine Issue No. 56 (May 1994) below:
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