The process of recording a rap album for a record label has often been fraught with artistic compromise, clueless A&R’s and misguided promotional campaigns. While what goes on behind the scenes has often remained a mystery, the arrival of the ‘Advance Promotional Cassettes’ in the early nineties offered a glimpse into ‘what might have been’ for a number of albums. I can recall reading reviews of several albums, only for some of the tracks mentioned to have mysteriously vanished by the time the album was released. A prime example of this was Show & AG‘s Goodfellas album, which had six of the tracks from the advance copy either replaced or remixed before it hit the shelves, while the sampler tape for Mobb Deep‘s Hell On Earth was largley comprised of songs destined for other peoples releases (‘Recognize and Realize,’ ‘Live Nigga Rap’) or soundtracks.
As a result, it’s difficult not to imagine how much better or worse these records would have been in their original form. The Ready To Die [OG Edition] put together in 2012 offered a possible glimpse of how Biggie Smalls first album might have sounded if Puffy hadn’t proved to be as convincing as he was in regards to expanding the sound. Surprisingly, with the exception of ‘Come On MF’s’ getting cut, most of the retail versions are actually better (including the new version of ‘Me and My Bitch,’ which completely crushes the breezy sound of the Minnie Ripperton version). Big L’s Lifestyle Ov Da Poor And Dangerous was the victim of delays, which saw four tracks getting cut because they were considered to be ‘musical dated’ by the time it dropped two years later and added ‘M.V.P,’ ‘Street Struck’ and the title track. It’s safe to say that in this case the album would have come off better if it had dropped in it’s original form with more of the offensive content that made Big L so beloved amongst rap fantics.
There’s also the category of artists who were dropped before they even got an LP out, making the advance tapes the only way to properly hear what we missed out on in the pre-internet era, such as Bas Blasta, 8-Off The Assassin and Crustified Dibbs, and stuff that was straight bootlegged to CD which resulted in the track listing getting a major overhaul, as was the case with Murda Muzik and Nas’ I Am…The Autobiography (which has yet to have it’s planned track list confirmed but made up a lot of The Lost Tapes). There’s extensive comparisons between the two versions of both albums but for my money the original version of the Mobb LP was stronger, while the Nas was never going to be CRC-approved regardless of the sequence.
Outside of sample clearance problems (stand up Madd Skillz debut and Black Rob‘s sophomore) and the obligitory ballad/new jack swing/dirty south song tacked on, more often than not it’s the artists themselves who decide to scrap tracks and freshen up their material – more often than not because they were drowning in paperwork or kept seeing their release date pushed back to accommodate tax write-off requirements. I’m just glad that Large Professor managed to release The LP eventually…
What’s an album that you think was ruined by record label meddling as opposed to the artist just wanting to refresh their material?
Funk Your Head Up.
@Al: TR and Moe told me the label didn’t force the R&B stuff on them though.
Do you have a copy of that Goodfellas advance, Robbie? I would love to hear it.
I got my hands on one of the factory-pressed promo CD copies of The LP and it’s one of the few CDs I intend to keep. Forever.
Sample clearance really fucked up Bulletproof Wallets too…
8OFF must have really pissed someone at the label off cause didn’t he get unsigned hype or hip-hop quotable before the album was supposed to drop??
Ghetto Girls was a pretty wack track though and a poor crossover attempt by the label. .
Can’t forget about the mother of em all Black Bastards..
Was Mysterme properly released? I don’t remember seeing it on shelves
1N1 Center of Attention too…sorry for the triple post
@Ross: No but I have both the bootlegs with the original tracks. Was there a real ‘LP’ promo? I got the HipHopSite version with ‘1st Class’ and then the Paul Sea release.
@Robbie – I assume it is because it looks legit and the sound quality is far superior to the bootleg tat. I’ll take some pictures tonight.
This one? http://www.discogs.com/Large-Professor-The-The-LP/release/1035353
@Robbie Someone once showed me an apparently official CD promo of The LP – the cover was the same as The Mad Scientist but it said The LP written backwards.
That me and my bitch demo version was far superior than the album version, one of the reasons i fell in love with the album ! Those puffy remixes are not my thing man.
Cellar dwellers had a nice demo too, as heard on stretch and bobito show back in the day.
@Robbie – Possibly. I’ll check tonight. Is that one the ‘Paul Sea’ one of which you speak?
@357NYC Mysterme came out, barely. I’ve never actually seen it in a store though.
Those promo cassettes are collectors items. That Showbiz and AG costs $475 on discogs!!
I recently bought Young Zee Musical Meltdown on CD, made from the promo tape that also costs a fortune. Great album even though it only got 2 mics in the Source for reasons unbeknownst to everybody.
@Ross: I have this one too: http://www.discogs.com/Large-Professor-The-The-LP/release/1896200
Apparently it’s worth $90 now…guess they didn’t press many.
@kapikak: The album version is more in tune with the eerie tone of the lyrics though.
I dunno about major labels ruining albums, but I do know about artists that end up going the independent route after being on a label and there music ends up being trash.
It’s funny cause they usually make all the claims in the world that their independent album will be a return to form. A return to the real shit. A more pure and street oriented focus cause they don’t have to adhere to any label bullshit.
…and what always happens nearly 100% of the time?
The independent album ends up being even more watered down, and damn near every song is weak and horrible attempt at doing pop corny crossover shit, weak attempts at doing current fad styles, or just plain bad music.
For the most part, almost every artist has their best music associated with a label, and their worst when they go independent.
Moral of the story: When an artist goes independent after being signed to a major don’t believe any shit they say in regards to post-label music. Take whatever they say and turn that shit backwards. It’s going to be the worst album of their career and further from the “streets” or their core audiences expectations than ever before!
Now a days I’d say labels don’t help but I agree with @GotDatSauce that most rappers in the 80’s and 90’s made there best music on major labels. Most the newer rap I’ve liked has been either free or released on an independent label. Also it completely off topic but I am I the only person who thinks The Lost Tapes is an overrated snooze fest.
Is this what happened to Deck’s ‘Controlled Substances’ or was that lost in the Great Flood? Because I thought Common Denominator was supposed to be on it:
https://youtu.be/Je9D6GvLU5Y
Whatever happened to Bas Blasta??? That would be a good interview, CRC prez…
Wow….nbody said freddie foxxx’s official first album “Crazy Like a Foxxx”. The DITC version and the Original version was both dope and both unreleased. Which if it came out (in 1994), might have caused some tremors.
@Robbie – yeah, I’ve got http://www.discogs.com/Large-Professor-The-The-LP/release/1035353 then.
Someone on DWG said there definitely wasn’t an official promo pressed as they asked LP himself: http://forum.diggerswithgratitude.com/showthread.php?1017-Large-Pro-The-LP&p=12953&viewfull=1#post12953
The pressing I have looks professional enough and the sounds quality is good (although there’s a bit of distortion on the bass) so I wonder if it wasn’t properly mastered but someone with access got a small number pressed.
I’d like to propose a recommendation for a Zippyshare of the best tracks NOT featured on an official album but leaked on a promo. You can label it the Classic That Never Was..
@GotDatSauce always felt the same way…if you independent than why are you using auto tunes and trap beats and you a new york 90’s rapper…smh
@lex I second that
also gotta be honest and say I liked 8 off’s ghetto girl..
“Ghetto Girl” is an abysmal track.
The only thing worse than Ghetto Girl is 8off’s dancing in the video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EbCMwpH5fsY
Those LP promo cd´s are bootlegs, plus they were pressed on vinyl as well. I got one of those for about $10,- years ago. Still the OG ‘Queens Lounge’ and ‘For My People Pt. 2’ have yet to be released in proper quality.
@Al, ‘Funk Your Head Up’, indeed. And, if TR and Moe said it wasn’t the label’s doing as to why that LP came out the way it did, that is especially disappointing.
@The Funkologist: ‘Queens Lounge’ is on the 2009 pressing.
@LEX: Good idea.
How about most of the albums Def Jam dropped during the LA Reid era? You can always count on Chrisette Michelle, Ne-Yo or The Dream being on the first or second single of their Hip-Hop releases. Some would play Hov but LA was his boss (and had absolutely no business even being at that label but that’s another topic…) What about The LOX’ Money, Power and Respect? Imagine if Puff would have kept the shiny shit to a minimum and let them do their numbers doing them??? Their careers would definitely be different…
Marlon fucked up Kamakaze and World Renown…