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- S O U P - ▓█ ▀█▄ ▀█▄
▀▄ █▓ █▓▓
┌───---─────────────────────────────────────▄▀ ▄█▀─────----------────┐
│ s o u p p r o u d l y p r e s e n t s │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
│ blackalicious-nia
│
│ artist ........ blackalicious
│ title ......... nia
│ release date .. 1999
│ label ......... Mo'Wax
│ cat. no ....... MWR112LPX
│ url ........... www.mowax.com
│
│ rip date ...... 08-28-2003
│ genre ......... hip-hop
│ quality ....... 192kbps / 44.1Hz
│ time .......... 96:30 min
│ size .......... 132,9 MB
│ source ........ vinyl
│
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────[ S O U P ┐
│ RELEASE INFO │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│ │
│ Special, limited edition of Blackalicious' classic first album. │
│ MWR112LPX is a boxed set which contains the original album on │
│ two 12's (tracks 1-22), then the instrumentals from the also │
│ classic A2G EP in a third 12" (tracks 23-29). Good stuff. │
│ │
│ Originally I was just going to release the A2G instrumentals │
│ (really, who the fuck needs another Nia rip? especially a vinyl │
│ one). But hey, now you get names for the interludes on the │
│ album (look at the nerd section for more info... a lot more... │
│ almost too much), and .. another Nia rip! Yay! │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ Nia credits: │
│ │
│ Production: │
│ all by Chief Xcel except: │
│ 03 - Lyrics Born │
│ 07 - DJ Shadow │
│ 12 - Chief Xcel/DJ Shadow │
│ 03 - DJ Ice Water (turntables only) │
│ 15 - DJ Quest (turntables only) │
│ │
│ Vocals: │
│ all by Gift Of Gab except: │
│ 01,20,22 - Gift Of Gab/Erinn Anova │
│ 03 - Gift Of Gab/Lyrics Born │
│ 10 - Erinn Anova │
│ 12 - Gift Of Gab/Erinn Anova/Lateef │
│ 16 - Gift Of Gab/Lateef │
│ │
│ Nikki Giovanni (obviously) wrote the lyrics on 10 │
│ Lateef wrote the lyrics on 22 (but didn't say them) │
│ │
│ A2G EP (instrumental) credits: │
│ │
│ Production: │
│ all by Chief Xcel except: │
│ 29 - Cut Chemist │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ Info for Mo'Wax, Blackalicious, Quannum nerds: │
│ │
│ Ok, so, there are four different versions of this album: │
│ Mo'Wax CD version (MWR112CD) │
│ Mo'Wax 2LP version (MWR112LP) │
│ Mo'Wax 3LP version (MWR112LPX) │
│ Quannum version (QP020) │
│ │
│ MWR112CD has 18 tracks, but the tracklist goes up to 20. This │
│ is because it skips over tracks 5 and 8. I assume what happened │
│ is that, when making the tracklist, someone assumed that the │
│ interludes would be tracked by themselves on the CD (track 5 │
│ being Put It On The Plate, and so on). Instead, they decided to │
│ just include the interludes at the end of the track before (so │
│ Put It On The Plate was tacked onto the end of track 4, A2G). │
│ But, they forgot to correct for the fact that 5 and 8 were │
│ removed, hence 20 tracks on an 18 track CD. What is funny is │
│ that this problem existed on the promo version of the album as │
│ well, but no one caught it. Quality control, Lavelle! │
│ │
│ MWR112LPX (THIS release) suffers from a different problem (I │
│ assume that MWR112LP has the same problem, but since I don't own │
│ it, I won't brand it as fucked up). LPX has the interludes │
│ tracked and marked on their own in the tracklist. But, the │
│ interludes which are at the end of each side in the tracklist │
│ (Nation Time, We Build, Our Interlude), but in acutality are at │
│ the beginning of next side. An example: Track 8, Nation Time, │
│ is marked in the tracklist as being at the end of side A but it │
│ is actually at the beginning of side B. Nice job again, guys. │
│ Also, on the jacket tracklist, each track which on the CD had an │
│ interlude at the end (A2G, Dream Seasons, etc) is subtitled with │
│ (EDIT). Originally I thought they edited the songs somehow, but │
│ no, they just edited the interludes out and tracked them │
│ separately. And shit, they didn't even manage to get all the │
│ interludes. What the fuck? Boo Mo'Wax for fucking this up AND │
│ for making it confusing regardless. │
│ │
│ QP020 (the version which most people have) was released in 2000, │
│ a few months after the 1999 Mo'Wax versions, and included an │
│ extra track, Reanimation. The interludes are at the end of the │
│ tracks (as on the Mo'Wax CD), but Quannum got the tracklist │
│ right. Reanimation is on the If I May single, MWR126, for you │
│ Mo'Wax heads. │
│ │
│ Ok? Ok. │
│ │
│ │
│ Added blather: │
│ │
│ "Let me tell you something about this 'rap' music created and │
│ issued solely by hooligans and miscreants. Not only is it │
│ infecting the malleable minds of our youth with its curse words │
│ and butchery of grammar, but it clearly goes against the Lord's │
│ gospel ("And upon hearing Bone Thugs 'N' Harmony, the Lord did │
│ proclaim 'What is this? I certainly didn't create it. It must │
│ have been that scoundrel Satan!'" Luke 3:26). I truly wonder why │
│ so many kids can endorse this Ol' Dirty Rascal and Mr. Bursting │
│ with Rhymes when they obviously engage in nefarious behavior. │
│ And don't get me started on this Dre person, who claims to be a │
│ doctor of some sort. I wouldn't trust that man to open a tube of │
│ Preparation H. │
│ │
│ Don't get me wrong; not too long ago I was quite the "Boomin' │
│ Granny." When visiting with my grandson Billy, I have been known │
│ to beatbox while he lays down Bible verse. During heated Bingo │
│ matches, I have 'battled' Vera and Ethel freestyle on a number │
│ of occasions. I'm no 'wack mother-bleeper.' Thus, I can make │
│ exceptions for positive artists like those nice young Jewish │
│ lads, the Beastly Boys. That's why I'm so pleased to have │
│ stumbled across Blackalicious' Nia, a nice little compilation of │
│ ditties by a very polite African-American fellow. │
│ │
│ I couldn't possibly stress how relieved I am that a gifted │
│ lyricist has taken it upon himself to resist the fast money, │
│ loose women, and other such pernicious bait used by the Devil │
│ himself to tempt the weak. One of the best things about Nia is │
│ that it's so unfunky that I can easily listen to it while │
│ knitting without having the urge to 'shake my booty,' and │
│ possibly miss a stitch in the ensuing melee. │
│ │
│ The primary allure of Blackalicious is really their lyricist, │
│ Gift of Gab, since the musical backdrop is not even almost │
│ innovative. To be honest, Gift of Gab sounds like Young MC │
│ reincarnated as a white poindexter who cares more about │
│ theatrical enunciation than varied rhythmic delivery. Gift of │
│ Gab has incredible diction, though, assembling tongue-twisting │
│ lines as clever as they are humorous. Over the whole five │
│ minutes of "Do This My Way" I think he may only pause to take a │
│ breath a total of four times, which takes a considerable talent. │
│ Maybe the Lord wanted him to be a scuba diver! On "A to G," Gab │
│ leads us on a fun (and quite educational!) journey through the │
│ first seven letters of the alphabet. Believe me, I'll use quite │
│ a few of those words to battle Vera and Ethel! │
│ │
│ Of course, the reason so much attention was paid to │
│ Blackalicious in the first place was their involvement with │
│ everyone's favorite DJ savior, DJ Shadow. Well, Shadow has │
│ produced "Cliff Hanger" on Nia, and boy, does he ever make │
│ abundant use of an 808. I haven't been this disappointed since │
│ the summer of 1941. "Cliff Hanger" resembles Shadow's previous │
│ work very little and is rather dull, especially behind Gift of │
│ Gab's curious science-fiction storytelling. One unexpected │
│ rainbow which appears shortly after the drizzle of "Cliff │
│ Hanger" is "Ego Trip by Nikki Giovanni," an intelligent, │
│ self-aggrandizing rant in which Giovanni states, "I am so hip, │
│ even my errors are correct." You go, girl! │
│ │
│ Thanks to Blackalicious' Nia, I no longer feel that I have to │
│ cross myself whenever speaking of the 'hip-hop.' Blackalicious │
│ are so prolific and astute that they had to narrow the 18 songs │
│ featured on Nia from the 45 they recorded. Wow! Although the │
│ compositions on this album are often wacky and overproduced, │
│ they are always intriguing and-- thank God-- G-rated. While not │
│ suited for those who demand a whole lot of soul from their MCs, │
│ this one will certainly be bumpin' in the Oldsmobile for at │
│ least a little while because of its lyrical creativity and │
│ refusal to communicate a negative message. I just hope this is │
│ all okay with the Lord!" │
│ │
│ --Pitchfork Media (Grandmaster Flash ?) │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ Nia means purpose. │
│ │
│ I really don't like Ego Trip. │
│ │
│ And shit, go buy the new Lyrics Born album from Hiphopsite, they │
│ are supposed to pack some good bonus shit. │
│ │
│ They better. │
│ │
│ And the album is hot. │
│ │
│ Next year might see a new Blackalicious LP and a Gab solo album. │
│ Those dudes are all about taking their time, but hey, anything │
│ is possible........ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────[ S O U P ┤
│ TRACK LIST │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│ A │
│ 01 searching 01:47 │
│ 02 the fabulous ones 02:59 │
│ 03 do this my way 04:49 │
│ 04 deception 04:28 │
│ 05 put it on the plate 00:50 │
│ 06 a2g 02:24 │
│ 07 cliff hanger 05:14 │
│ B │
│ 08 nation time 01:06 │
│ 09 shallow days 04:20 │
│ 10 ego trip by nikki giovani 01:45 │
│ 11 you didn't know that though 04:34 │
│ 12 if i may 03:45 │
│ 13 dream seasons 04:17 │
│ C │
│ 14 we build 00:33 │
│ 15 trouble (eve of destruction) 04:28 │
│ 16 smithzonian institute of rhyme 05:27 │
│ 17 beyonder 03:36 │
│ D │
│ 18 our interlude 00:29 │
│ 19 making progress 03:11 │
│ 20 as the world turns 04:42 │
│ 21 sleep 03:21 │
│ 22 finding 01:50 │
│ E │
│ 23 a2g (instrumental) 01:53 │
│ 24 clockwork (instrumental) 04:29 │
│ 25 rock the spot (instrumental) 05:19 │
│ F │
│ 26 back to the essence (instrumental) 03:52 │
│ 27 deception (instrumental) 05:42 │
│ 28 making progress (instrumental) 03:11 │
│ 29 alphabet aerobics (instrumental) 02:09 │
│ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────[ S O U P ┤
│ TEAM INFO / CONTACTS │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
│ soup was founded in early 2002, with the intention of releasing
│ the hip-hop, trip-hop, lo-fi and turntablism that has been slept
│ on by other groups. We're a small, friendly group with a real
│ passion for our music, who're fed up of the overly competitive,
│ elitist and aggressive attitude of certain groups.
│
│ .............................
│
│ GROUP NEWS:
│ As of July 2003, soup have merged with CQi. We have joined forces
│ with the intention of releasing a wider range of musical styles
│ and to make soup stronger. We are proud to have CQi rippers
│ releasing under the name of soup.
│
│ .............................
│
│ We are currently looking for:-
│ - Suppliers
│ - Rippers
│ - Affil on 100mbit+ sites
│
│ If you think you have something we need, drop us an email.
│
│ soup extend greetings and thanks to everyone at NuHS, and anyone
│ else who has helped us get where we are today.
│
│
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────[ S O U P ┐
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘