The Beatnuts is the self-titled full-length debut album by American hip hop trio the Beatnuts. It was released on June 21, 1994, via Violator/Relativity Records.[1] The recording sessions took place at LGK Studios in Leonia, New Jersey, at Soundtrack Studios and Greene St. Recording in New York. The album was produced by the Beatnuts, except for one song produced by Lucien. It features guest appearances from Gab Gotcha of Triflicts, Grand Puba and Miss Jones. The album reached number 182 on the Billboard 200 and number 28 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums in the United States. Two singles were released: "Props Over Here", which peaked at number 39 on the US Hot Rap Singles, and "Hit Me with That". The music video for "Props Over Here" was directed by Abraham Lincoln Lim.
| The Beatnuts | ||||
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| Released | June 21, 1994 | |||
| Recorded | May 1993 – March 1994 | |||
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| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 58:21 | |||
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| Producer |
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| The Beatnuts chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Beatnuts | ||||
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The album's title is sometimes mistakenly referred to as Street Level, because those words appear on the album cover; however, the words "Street Level" do not appear anywhere else on the CD (in the liner notes or on the CD spine label). The song "Psycho Dwarf" previously appeared on the 1993 Intoxicated Demons: The EP. It is the last Beatnuts album to include Fashion, who left the group to pursue a solo career under the alias Al' Tariq.
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B[3] |
| RapReviews | 8/10[4] |
| (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide | [5] |
| The Source | |
The Washington Post noted that "the Beatnuts stance is hard but not impenetrable, though the laid-back geniality of the first single, 'Props Over Here', seems a little forced and radio-friendly."[6]
In 2012, the album was listed at No. 23 on Complex magazine's "The 50 Greatest Debut Albums in Hip-Hop History".[7] In 2014, the album was listed at No. 19 on Vibe's "The 50 Best Rap Albums of 1994" list.[8]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Intro" | Jerry Tineo | The Beatnuts | 1:47 |
| 2. | "Ya Don't Stop" |
| Lucien | 3:06 |
| 3. | "Props Over Here" |
| The Beatnuts | 3:59 |
| 4. | "Hellraiser" |
| The Beatnuts | 3:10 |
| 5. | "Are You Ready" (featuring Grand Puba) |
| V.I.C. | 3:14 |
| 6. | "Superbad" |
| The Beatnuts | 3:57 |
| 7. | "Straight Jacket" |
| The Beatnuts | 3:57 |
| 8. | "Let Off a Couple" |
| The Beatnuts | 1:43 |
| 9. | "Rik's Joint" (featuring Miss Jones) |
| The Beatnuts | 4:01 |
| 10. | "Fried Chicken" |
| The Beatnuts | 3:57 |
| 11. | "Yeah You Get Props" |
| The Beatnuts | 3:29 |
| 12. | "Get Funky" |
| The Beatnuts | 3:37 |
| 13. | "Hit Me with That" |
| The Beatnuts | 3:36 |
| 14. | "2-3 Break" (featuring Gab Gotcha) |
| The Beatnuts | 3:17 |
| 15. | "Lick the Pussy" |
| The Beatnuts | 4:18 |
| 16. | "Sandwiches" |
| The Beatnuts | 1:33 |
| 17. | "Psycho Dwarf" |
| The Beatnuts | 5:25 |
| Total length: | 58:21 | |||
Personnel
edit- Lester "Psycho Les" Fernandez – vocals, producer
- Jerry "JuJu" Tineo – vocals, producer
- Berntony "Fashion" Smalls – vocals
- Victor "V.I.C." Padilla – producer
- Lenny Underwood – keyboards (track 3)
- Joel "Mista Sinista" Wright – additional scratches (track 5), scratches (track 6)
- Maxwell "Grand Puba" Dixon – vocals (track 5)
- Tarsha Nicole Jones – vocals (track 9)
- Gabriel "Gab Gotcha" Velasquez – vocals (track 14)
- Lucien M'Baïdem – producer (track 2)
- Troy Hightower – recording, mixing
- Kirk Yano – recording, mixing
- Rich Keller – recording
- Andy Blakelock – assistant recording & mixing engineer
- Chris Curran – assistant recording & mixing engineer
- Matt Tuffi – assistant recording & mixing engineer
- Danny Madorsky – assistant recording engineer
- Emerson Mykoo – assistant recording engineer
- Djinji Brown – assistant recording engineer
- Steve Souder – assistant mixing engineer
- Jack Hersca – assistant mixing engineer
- Chris Gehringer – mastering
- Chris Lighty – executive producer
- Peter Kang – executive producer
- David Bett – art direction
- Danny Clinch – photography
Charts
edit| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[9] | 182 |
| US Top R&B Albums (Billboard) | 28 |
References
edit- ^ Hess, Mickey (November 25, 2009). Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313343216.
- ^ Valdivia, Victor W. "The Beatnuts Street Level". AllMusic. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ Ehrlich, Dimitri (July 29, 1994). "The Beatnuts". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ Jost, Matt (December 20, 2005). "The Beatnuts The Beatnuts". www.rapreviews.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2005. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (May 25, 2004). (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 54–55. ISBN 9780743201698. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Harrington, Richard (Aug 26, 1994). "Classic Beatnuts Still Cracked". The Washington Post. p. N14.
- ^ "The 50 Greatest Debut Albums in Hip-Hop History". Complex. November 27, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ Weinstein, Max (September 17, 2014). "'94 Week: The 50 Best Rap Albums of 1994". Vibe. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ "Billboard 200 Chart: Week of July 9, 1994". Billboard. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
External links
edit- The Beatnuts at Discogs (list of releases)