De La Soul Is Dead (May 13, 1991)

On this day in 1991, De La Soul released their sophomore album, 'De La Soul Is Dead,' through Tommy Boy Records. "For up-and-comers and veterans alike, the album’s 1991 arrival marked a truly otherworldly sonic expedition that somehow surpassed even their groundbreaking debut." The album review above is from May '91 in The Source, it says "The peace signs are gone, and the D.A.I.S.Y. is outta here, but the musical and lyrical talent combined with unlimited creativity and an ingenious sense of humor is still in like Flynn ... Still progressing and proud of it, De La has successfully escaped being trapped in the sophomore jinx with grooves that are harder than a brick wall." ATCO adds 'Yo, it's like that Prego commercial: the rhymes that Pos, Dove, and Mase spout to make you shake your head, smile, and go "Oh Shit!" to? It's in there. The hilarious skits that you thought no one would ever do? It's in there. Dope concepts, unique music and overall slammin' production? It's in there." The De La Soul is Dead art above is owned/credited to Andre LeRoy Davis. Props to the amazing Prince Paul & A&R Dante Ross. Mass Appeal's 'De La Soul Is Dead' Documentary is below.

KMD 'Black Bastards' (Hanging In Stores Now!)

From Brian Coleman's 'Check The Technique' Vol.2: There are few releases in hip-hop history with as much mystery behind them as KMD’s second full-length, Black Bastards. After many recording locations, road miles and wild samples, Black Bastards was just about finished when an almost unthinkable tragedy struck. On April 23, 1993, Subroc was killed by an oncoming car as he was trying to cross the Long Island Expressway on foot. He was only 19 years old. In April of ‘94, less than a year after Subroc’s tragic death, the first single, “What A Nigga Know” was released on Elektra. A video for the song was also shot and readied. Unfortunately, the album, whose cover boldly depicted a cartoon “Sambo” being hanged, didn’t even receive the insult of being shelved or pushed back by Elektra Records upon its completion in 1994. Instead, it was outright refused. It wasn't until years later—much like the artist formerly known as Zev Love X, who would shed his old name, image and vocal style and emerged as MF Doom -- the album would be resurrected and released on multiple labels. Doom shares, "Black Bastards was a dope album and it feels right that it finally came out, no matter how that happened. I look at it now and say, ‘OK, I definitely see what we was trying to do.’ I just wish more people would have seen the same thing back then.” MF Doom the character was born out of pain. Real pain. The pain of loss and the pain of rejection. Hiding behind that mask wasn’t a joke, it wasn’t an act. It was an alter-ego wrought out of necessity." Read more in Brian Coleman's book 'Check The Technique' Vol.2. The above interview and editorial give additional backstory, but Coleman's book goes much deeper with a track by track breakdown and commentary from artists, A&R Dante Ross, Pete Nice of 3rd Bass, and a whole lot more. Some extra promo pieces are below...

Ol' Dirty Bastard "Return to the 36 Chambers" (Rap Pages, 1995)

‘Part insane and strangely comical - but unmistakably funky - Ol’ Dirty’s vocal performances were one-of-a-kind.’ That's an on-point description of Ol' Dirty Bastard and his solo debut, 'Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version,' which was released on this day in 1995 on Elektra Records. The line 'there's no father to Dirty's style' rings true every time you give ODB a listen. With RZA at the helm, the album is consistent production-wise with the Wu sound, but it's ODB's off-groove flow & slurred rhymes that make the project so intoxicating. It's been some years since I've revisited the album, but 'Raw Hide,' 'Brooklyn Zoo,' and others do pop-up in playlists every now and again. Even the classic artwork was ill. Dante Ross has said, ‘Dirty designed the cover, basically. I just marched into the art department one day and blew up his welfare card 40 times its size…’ Around 2011, Get On Down (a reissue label) put out the 'Return To The 36 Chambers' box set, which came with a wallet, welfare card, booklet, poster & of course, the album. I wasn't fortunate enough to get my hands on that version, but it did look dope! The album review above is from Rap Pages, May 1995.

Hard 2 Obtain “Heels Without Souls” (12", 1994)

Hard 2 Obtain released a niche-classic with their debut album in 1993, “Ism & Blues,” on Atlantic Records. Largely celebrated by those in the know, the Long-Island hip-hop group was composed of 2 MCs - Taste & DL - as well as their DJ, DJ Six Seven. “L.I. Groove” and “Ghetto Diamond” were the first two singles released in 1993, then the 3rd and final single in support of the album was “Heels Without Souls” in 1994. The 12" features an LP version as well as a remix, both produced by Dante Ross’ production team, The Stimulated Dummies aka SD50, with partners John Gamble and Geeby Dajani. It also has cuts by DJ Nastee and soulful (uncredited) vocals from the Queens songstress Vinia Mojica. On the B-Side is "Hip-Hop Lifestyle," with production and cuts by DJ Nastee. The track was not released on H2O's "Ism & Blues" album. Check out the full 12" below.