v/a – rap essentials vol. 1 (1996)

v/a – rap essentials vol. 1
(1996, beatfactory)

download.

track list:

a1 – rascalz – fitnredi
a2 – concrete mob – boiling point
a3 – down to erf – learn to earn
b1 – kardinal offishal – naughty dread
b2 – black-i – no lawz
b3 – wio-k – sunlight
c1 – red life – who’s talking weight? (remix)
c2 – dan-e-o – dear hip hop
c3 – scales empire – bright lights, big city
d1 – choclair – twenty one years
d2 – citizen kane – structure, foundation (what’s the plan?)
d3 – ghetto concept – u.l.

this was supposed to the album to start it all. ivan berry’s beatfactory productions scores the big distribution deal with emi, sets up a swanky office in downtown toronto, hires a staff of toronto hip-hop veterans, and launches with this, the first in a series of “rap essentials” compilations…

i could write about company overspending, a backwards creative a&r vision, and a complete misunderstanding of what it would take to establish something new in hip-hop in canada (originality kid, not mobb deep-wannabes…), but i won’t.

a decade later, this album is worth checking out. it’s not great. it wasn’t great back then, but i suppose a bit of nostalgia gives it a certain aged appeal.

enjoy.

-fritz tha cat