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October 14, 2024 6:39 AM Subscribe
Black on Both Sides is the best Rawkus Records album ever (OkayPlayer, archive.is).
The indie hip-hop label, founded in 1995, would release albums by, among others, Company Flow, Reflection Eternal, and Jurassic 5. Black on Both Sides, the solo debut from Yasiin Bey (pka Mos Def), following his work with Talib Kweli as Black Star, released 25 years ago this week. The singles were 'Umi Says' and 'Ms. Fat Booty'/'Mathematics.'
The indie hip-hop label, founded in 1995, would release albums by, among others, Company Flow, Reflection Eternal, and Jurassic 5. Black on Both Sides, the solo debut from Yasiin Bey (pka Mos Def), following his work with Talib Kweli as Black Star, released 25 years ago this week. The singles were 'Umi Says' and 'Ms. Fat Booty'/'Mathematics.'
Bankrolling Rawkus must be the only thing Rupert Murdoch ever did in his life that was a net benefit to humanity.
posted by Kattullus at 8:51 AM on October 14
posted by Kattullus at 8:51 AM on October 14
holding down my square
posted by praemunire at 9:00 AM on October 14
posted by praemunire at 9:00 AM on October 14
I first heard the spine-shivering One Step Ahead by Aretha Franklin in graduate school, thanks to a group of music blogs that paired deep cuts with personal writing. I couldn’t believe I’d never heard it before - it is sublime.
When Ms. Fat Booty sampled it, I was both delighted and dismayed. I imagine so many people have found the song because of that sample! But the experience of hearing for the first time all its negative spaces, the spare guitar in the background, Aretha’s killer phrasing and aching delivery… love at first sight, one of the best audio experiences of my life.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:53 AM on October 14 [1 favorite]
When Ms. Fat Booty sampled it, I was both delighted and dismayed. I imagine so many people have found the song because of that sample! But the experience of hearing for the first time all its negative spaces, the spare guitar in the background, Aretha’s killer phrasing and aching delivery… love at first sight, one of the best audio experiences of my life.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:53 AM on October 14 [1 favorite]
>
Bankrolling Rawkus must be the only thing Rupert Murdoch ever did in his life that was a net benefit to humanity.
Wait whaaaaaaat
posted by rossmeissl at 11:56 AM on October 14
Bankrolling Rawkus must be the only thing Rupert Murdoch ever did in his life that was a net benefit to humanity.
Wait whaaaaaaat
posted by rossmeissl at 11:56 AM on October 14
Love this record, not one bad song on it. Hate Talib's antics since, though, social media and elsewhere.
posted by enfa at 12:21 PM on October 14
posted by enfa at 12:21 PM on October 14
Bankrolling Rawkus must be the only thing Rupert Murdoch ever did
Rupert Murdoch's son James knew the founders of Rawkus from high school, and he (James) provided financial backing in the early days of the label. Not too long after, Rupert bought a majority interest.
At the time, this led a lot of underground-rapper types (e.g. Sole) to speculate that Murdoch was using his money to give artists on the label an unfair advantage in the marketplace.
This is... hard to disprove, and Rawkus certainly seemed to have more money to do things like print stickers and mail out promo copies to reviewers (it was a different time) than some of its competitors, but also a)the two non-Murdoch label heads had great ears, and they signed a lot of great rappers, and b)the thought of international media mogul Rupert Murdoch spending the late '90s personally giving a shit about the day-to-day operations of his twentysomething son's little indie record label seems like a stretch.
posted by box at 2:00 PM on October 14 [1 favorite]
Rupert Murdoch's son James knew the founders of Rawkus from high school, and he (James) provided financial backing in the early days of the label. Not too long after, Rupert bought a majority interest.
At the time, this led a lot of underground-rapper types (e.g. Sole) to speculate that Murdoch was using his money to give artists on the label an unfair advantage in the marketplace.
This is... hard to disprove, and Rawkus certainly seemed to have more money to do things like print stickers and mail out promo copies to reviewers (it was a different time) than some of its competitors, but also a)the two non-Murdoch label heads had great ears, and they signed a lot of great rappers, and b)the thought of international media mogul Rupert Murdoch spending the late '90s personally giving a shit about the day-to-day operations of his twentysomething son's little indie record label seems like a stretch.
posted by box at 2:00 PM on October 14 [1 favorite]
Also, Rawkus put out a lot of compilations featuring unsigned artists (I'm guessing they depended heavily on their existing artists' networks to find these rappers), and they had a strategy where the most promising of these artists would get a 12", and the most successful of them might get a full-length release.
They didn't invent this strategy, and a lot of small labels were doing similar things, but it seemed to work out well for them.
posted by box at 2:58 PM on October 14
They didn't invent this strategy, and a lot of small labels were doing similar things, but it seemed to work out well for them.
posted by box at 2:58 PM on October 14
As box sez -Rawkus Comp Soundbombing 2 is just head-spinningly good and filled with amazing cameos.
posted by djseafood at 7:08 PM on October 14
posted by djseafood at 7:08 PM on October 14
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posted by djseafood at 6:43 AM on October 14 [3 favorites]