October 07, 2014

Genovese "Genovese's Thesis" (12", 1997) + The Source


Genovese is a Yonkers native. His first single was released on Die Hard Records in 1997; it featured Styles P and was called "Genovese's Thesis." The song received heavy support from DJ Clue on his mixtape, "Show Me The Money," & instantly became a gem in the underground. The original vinyl pressing had the name & title spelled wrong as Genovesee, but for those of us that came up in NYC, we remember that Genovese was a household name due to the drugstore business that had stores all over the 5 boroughs and Long Island. I believe his Great-Grandfather founded the business back in the 1920s. We could call this time in Hip-Hop, the Bad Boy Era & Genovese had artists like Biggie, Jermaine Dupri, Nas and more eager to put him on. That included potential rumors of him joining Junior M.A.F.I.A., which unfortunately never happened due to the death of The Notorious B.I.G. on March 9, 1997. The original connection to Styles P of The LOX, along with Kasino & Richie Thumbs, is how he got put on to Die Hard Records, but when Genovese became the first Italian-American hip-hop artist to sign a major record label (Universal Records) in 1999, Universal bought "Genovese's Thesis" from Die Hard Records to put on his debut solo album, "My America." Another case of misfortune, Genovese was released from Universal less than a month before his album was set to be released. It's only due to the internet that "My America" surfaced on P2P platforms and message boards (before blogs) and the album had more buzz than ever. Aside from "Genovese's Thesis," other 12" releases you can dig up include "Fuck Y'All" and "My Life," which came out around 2000. Beyond that, tracks with Nature, Half-A-Mil (R.I.P.), Lord Tariq, and more recent material with his cousin, Gustapo, as the group "First Cousins," which picked up some steam in the late 2000s, featuring tracks with Joell Ortiz, Ali Vegas, Cormega and others. Revisit the first single below, then - as always - follow the breadcrumbs to find that My America LP on the net, and more.