Mos Def

Re-Issues are always fun, and as time goes by, some of the newer classics are beginning to garner re-issue status with remastered tracks, extended liner-notes, b-sides and more.  Last week Nirvana and U2 both made re-issue news, which followed previous re-releases from 90’s staples such as Pearl Jam.  Going back into my own collection of LPs, I put together this list of re-issues I’d like to see, and some that have already happened that you may not know about.  Hit the jump to see what classic albums I feel need to get some new shine, new stories, and a new marketing campaign.

Mos Def Black on Both Sides

Mos Def: Black on Both Sides

Mos Def’s debut album, Black on Both Sides, was released on October 12, 1999 on the infamous and legendary Rawkus Records.  This was when the Razor Blade meant something, when “Lyricist’s Lounge” was part of our weekly viewing routine, and when lyrical content was more than just something grumpy backpackers lamented about.  The hopes were high for Black On Both Sides given Mos Def’s performance on the Blackstar LP (one that could also easily make this list), as well as several underground classics such as “Fortified Live”, “Universal Magnetic”, and “Body Rock” off Lyricist Lounge Vol. 1.  Mos Def was of utmost importance to Hip Hop during this time as well.  He was Hip Hop walking, and breathing.  He personified the beats and rhymes, and was a lens into the larger culture that gave birth to what has become a universal movement.  He was effortlessly cool, and simultaneously supremely smart, something he even noted on another one of his classics “Oh No” when he said, “Harder than y’all, cause I’m smarter than y’all.”  Black On Both Sides had everything.  Clever Boastfulness and lyrical dexterity abound on “Speed Law” and “Know That”, fluid storytelling categorizes “Ms. Fat Booty”, biting social critiques on “Mr. N***a”, “Do It Now”, and “Mathematics”, as well as new-era gospels like “Umi Says” and “Climb”.  The album was one you could play on a road trip with your friends, or even with your parents.  It was hard, yet deep and thoughtful, with quotable, after quotable, after quotable.  And to me, it brings back vivid pictures of a time and space that I’ll never forget, and can’t ever relive.  Black On Both Sides paved the way for so many other artists, and (hopefully) the success of artists like J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Vic Mensa and others, who no doubt picked up a little something from Pretty Flaco.  Black on Both Sides was unapologetic, and allowed Mos Def to succeed and become a star without compromising his art.  You may hate some of his live performances these days, the ones where he seems to sing bits and pieces of incomplete songs, but you can’t hate that he does what he feels.  With production from Ali Shaheed Muhammad and DJ Premier, to The Beatnuts and Ge-ology, the album explores different sounds, but always comes back to a classic style that is often imitated but not duplicated in the music of today.  A re-issue of Black on Both Sides with commentary from Mos Def, some reworked tracks, and the alternate versions we hear about but haven’t heard, would be something great for music, and culture right about now.  I’m always amazed that this isn’t in the conversation for the best album ever. Yes, I said it.  This really should be placed right up with the Illmatic’s and Reasonable Doubts.  As far debuts go, it doesn’t get much better.  A timely re-issue would easily prove my case.

 

Dilated Peoples

Dilated Peoples: The Platform

Let’s take it to the West Coast for The Platform, the debut LP from Los Angeles’ Dilated Peoples crew.  Just as Mos Def and Rawkus records played a defining role on Hip Hop out East, Dilated Peoples held up that end of the Hip Hop stick out in Cali, taking the torch from groups such as the Pharcyde, Souls of Mischief, and other more elements based Hip Hop acts that were run out of the spotlight from the hardcore Gangsta Rap coming from L.A. in the mid 90’s.  Dilated Peoples were part of a resurgence of L.A.’s underground scene, one that also birthed Jurassic 5, Blackilicious, Project Blowed, Freestyle Fellowship, Swollen Members, and other acts that put a heavy emphasis on Hip Hop’s non-verbal elements such as breaking, graffiti, and turntablism.  Dilated was also one of the few groups that included a DJ as an integral piece of the puzzle as Evidence would later say on his solo record “The Things You Do”, “How you pushed Babu, to the front of the stage, to the front of your group.”  Each of Dilated’s albums contain an all out scratch record, and this album turned many on to the whole scratch movement that was bubbling for years.  Through Dilated Peoples Hip Hop traveled, and it traveled far.  The album was like an almanac, with every feature serving as a gateway into the musical worlds of other L.A. cats such as Defari, Planet Asia, and Phil Da Agony.  Dilated was a true squad with Ev, Rakaa, and Babu, each of whom played a role on and off the stage.  Even to this day the trio get endless love for their contributions to music, and were another one of those groups that were able to take an independent movement worldwide.  I’m forever indebted to Dilated Peoples, and The Platform, which I purchased just days after my 18 birthday, set everything off. It’s also the LP that sparked the Eminem vs. Everlast beef, and contains some of Alchemist’s best work.  I’d love to see it get a re-issue complete with full profiles on all the players, and a detailed look at how L.A.’s graffiti, turntable, and battle scenes all converged to create a movement.


Green Day

Green Day: Dookie

I know a lot of people who bought Dookie with their allowance money, breaking the proverbial “buying music on my own” cherry on Green Day’s major label debut.  While technically it was not the first album I bought saving my pennies, it might as well have been, cause the others I don’t speak of, and this one still gets rotation from time to time.  It was also one of the few albums that I could listen to with all of my friends, regardless of race or musical backgrounds.  “When I Come Around”, “Basket Case”, “Longview” were hits.  Big hits.  And we would tune in every week to watch Daisy Fuentes play them all on the Top 20 Countdown.  Green Day ushered in a new sound of pop meets punk, but did it in an authentic way before pop-punk became all about dudes crying about girls that didn’t like them.  Green Day said f**ked you and they meant it, while their “sons” said it more like, “f**k you… uh, if that’s OK.”  Dookie represents a musical generation coming of age, and even the artwork is the s**t.   This album is a historic one, and deserves its own re-up.  If it were released tomorrow as something new, it would still be better than most of the alternative and rock music coming out these days.

 

Fugees The Score

The Fugees: The Score

Nowadays, when you see interludes and skits on an album it usually just means somebody was lazy.  When The Fugees did it on The Score, it actually meant something and almost stole the show.  I mean, who hasn’t gone into a Chinese restaurant after listening to the sophomore album from The Fugees and ordered “beef to eat, we ain’t go no beef.”?  If you were around when this came out, bumped it everyday, and say you never did that, you’re lying or you have no soul.  Straight up.  This album introduced Wyclef, Lauryn Hill, and Pras to the mainstream, and picked up every accolade along the way.  It was a triumph for a crew written off after their lackluster debut and is almost it’s own genre of Hip Hop, not quite boom bap, not quite Native Tongues, a little bit mainstream, and all the way dope.  It was also produced countless arguments over which Fugee was the dopest, and while maybe now everyone would say Lauryn Hill was the true star, back when this was released in 1996, Pras and Wyclef were picking up more than a few votes.  “Too many emcees, not enough mics”, “I add a motherf**ker so you ignorant n***as hear me,” and “we used to be number 10, now we permanent one,” are  quotables amongst quotables, and Jewish kids everywhere bugged out that Wylcef was yelling Mazel Tov in Crown Heights during off days.  The album is even more special considering they could never do it again.  The Score is a moment in time, and something that at the time, felt like it would live forever.  Remastering the LP, and putting it in the context of what happened since, would make for a great re-issue.

 

Beck

Beck: Odelay

On his previously release, Beck declared that he was a loser (in two languages) and with deadpan emotions, invited his own extinction.  On Odelay, his fifth album, released in 1996, Beck was winning.  His mish mash of styles and influences ranged from folk, to alternative rock, to grunge, funk, and Hip Hop.  Odelay proved that rap meets rock didn’t have to suck just as Limp Bizkit, Korn, and other really really s**ty bands were proving otherwise.  Beck had sensibilities that everyone loved, and the music was catchy as f**k.  Intricate rhythms, rare samples, and amazing production by The Dust Brothers make Odelay something that contains new discoveries on every listen.  The LP actually was already re-issued in 2008. So if you missed it the first time, you can get familiar and it’s so dope I had to bring it up again here.

 

Black Sunday

Cypress Hill:  Black Sunday

Black Sunday is an album that my brother stole from one of his ex-girlfriends, left at our apartment while he was home from college, and never saw again. Why? Because I found it, listened to it, memorized every song, and never gave it back.  B-Real, Sen Dog, Muggs, and Bobo delivered a gem of a sophomore album, following their classic self-titled debut.  Muggs’ production continued to be funky, yet got darker and even more distinct from the rest of the Hip Hop that was out at that time.  They went from “How I Could Just Kill A Man” to “Insane In The Membrane” and their fans went with them.  This LP set up the Smokin’ Groves Tour, and really set the table for all the stoner rap that exists today.  It was also Cypress Hill’s last really, really dope album. And I don’t mean that in any disrespectful way.  But it’s true.  I loved Temple of Boom, and played the hell out of that s**t at the time it came out, but it doesn’t stick or hold a candle to the Hill’s first two records.  The magic on Black Sunday will never be duplicated.  I actually got an email today about a vinyl re-issue for this album, and I hope it also comes with unique stories behind the LP, including the one B-Real shared with me about his thoughts of forming a super group with Adrock and Q-Tip.  Now that would have been fresh.

 

Styles of Beyond

Never heard of Styles of Beyond? That’s a damn shame cause these dudes were fresh.  I found this record during a trip to Dr. Wax as Thaione Davis had it playing on the loud speakers.  It didn’t take much more than one or two tracks before I added it to my collection.  Styles of Beyond are a crew that I really thought would blow up, but it just didn’t happen.  They should have been included with the resurgence of West Coast indie Hip Hop that launched Dilated Peoples, and J5, but for one reason or another it didn’t happen for Ryu, Tak, and DJ Cheapshot.  The album was released in 1998, and for a long time was out of print.  In 2007, it was made available again as a CD, but has never fully gotten the shine it deserves.  I always make a case for Ryu to be counted as one of the best white emcees, and this album is amongst my favorites. Ever.  It also has production from a young Mike Shinoda, who went back and got SOB’s when it was time for his solo Fort Miner album.  These dudes can flat out spit, as Ryu has quotable lines like “tunnel rats rummage through the ashes of what rap was before trapped it, locked in a box about as big as this cage, but you can’t keep Hip Hop captive.”  The production carried hints of Wu-Tang, while remaining West Coast, and was really like nothing else out.  I’d love to see this get a proper release, it still s**ts on much of today’s best-sellers.

Other Honorable Mentions (you could really fill a book with these though):

The Roots: Illadelph Halflife

A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders

Sublime: Sublime

Common: Can I Borrow A Dollar?

DJ Shadow: Entroducing

Big Pun: Capital Punishment

Wu-Tang Clan: Enter The 36 Chambers

Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Colline and The Infinite Sadness

De La Soul: De La Soul Is Dead

Dr. Dre: The Chronic … and other countless classics…

*One last thing. I purposefully left off some classic albums that will get re-issued at some point down the road, and others that already have been.  The list really includes LP’s from my childhood and musical experience, but ones that were also important to music culture at large.  Please suggest your own albums in the comment section.