Van Full of Pakistans is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Y'all So Stupid. It was released in 1993 via Rowdy Records. The recording sessions took place at DARP Studios, Doppler Studios, and Bosstown Recording Studios, in Atlanta. The album was produced by member Spearhead X, who plays the narrating prank caller on every skit, Da King & I, Sylvan Sargeant, co-producers the Soul Merchants, with Dallas Austin serving as executive producer.

Van Full of Pakistans
Studio album by
Released1993
Recorded1992–93
Studio
GenreHip hop
Length1:05:12
LabelRowdy
Producer
  • Da King & I
  • Spearhead X
  • Sylvan Sargeant
  • The Soul Merchants (co.)
Singles from Van Full of Pakistans
  1. "85 South"
    Released: October 30, 1992
  2. "Van Full Of Pakistans"
    Released: 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert Christgau(neither)[2]
Spin(mixed)[3]

The album's title track peaked at No. 23 on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[4] Chris Applebaum directed the music video for Little Caesar Productions.[5]

Background and reception

edit

The group was formed in 1991 when rapper H2O moved from Brooklyn to Atlanta, where he met members Unkle Buk, Sha Boogie, Spearhead X, and Logic. They were signed to Rowdy Records in late 1992. Roni Sarig, in Third Coast: Outkast, Timbaland, and How Hip-hop Became a Southern Thing, called the album "a less political, more fun-loving take on the upwardly mobile alt-rap being created by Arrested Development."[6]

The title track was ranked #96 on Complex's list of "The 100 Best Hip-Hop One Hit Wonders," in 2012.[7] LA Weekly included the album on its list of "The 5 Best Summer Rap Albums You've Probably Never Heard."[8] Fact, in its article on the most overlooked hip hop albums of the 1990s, wrote: "This is a rap album that was widely rediscovered in the early 2000s and began changing hands for impressive sums, perhaps because it’s a perfect teleportation device to a period when the music was about having fun and experimenting."[9]

Track listing

edit
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Introduce Me"
Spearhead X3:25
2."85 South"
Spearhead X3:49
3."Interlude"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X0:10
4."Van Full of Pakistans"
Spearhead X4:51
5."Interlude"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X1:15
6."Bowl of Soul"
Spearhead X3:49
7."Interlude"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X0:48
8."The Plant"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Roderick Wiggins
  • Guy Draper
Da King & I4:51
9."Interlude"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X0:24
10."Bootleg Beatdown"
Da King & I5:15
11."Interlude"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X0:35
12."Family Tree"
  • Spearhead X
  • The Soul Merchants (co.)
4:00
13."Dirt Road White Girl"
Spearhead X4:06
14."Interlude"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X0:22
15."Monkey Off My Back"
  • Spearhead X
  • The Soul Merchants (co.)
3:48
16."Interlude"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X0:14
17."Super Nigga"
Spearhead X4:05
18."Y'all"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X5:02
19."On & On"
Sylvan Sargeant4:41
20."Interlude"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X1:41
21."You Wouldn't Understand"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X3:35
22."85 South (Remix)"
  • Senhouse
  • Days
  • Bailey
  • Hargrove
Spearhead X4:26
Total length:1:05:12
Sample credits

Personnel

edit
  • Shawne "H2o" Bailey – vocals, sleeve notes
  • Logic – vocals, sleeve notes
  • Unkle Buk – vocals, sleeve notes
  • Sha Boogie – vocals
  • Xavier "Spearhead X" Hargrove – producer, mixing
  • Roderick "DJ Majesty" Wiggins – producer, mixing
  • Sylvan Sargeant – producer
  • The Soul Merchants – co-producer
  • Tomi Martin – guitar (track 4)
  • Amy Lee Schwartzberg – saxophone (track 12)
  • Debra Killings – bass (tracks: 13, 19, 21)
  • Darin Prindle – recording, mixing
  • Thom Kidd – recording
  • Ted Sabety – mixing
  • Brett Richardson – engineering assistant
  • Jason Shablik – engineering assistant
  • Paul Rankin – engineering assistant
  • Phil Tan – engineering assistant
  • Tom Coyne – mastering
  • Dallas Austin – executive producer
  • Kim Lumpkin – coordinator
  • Claude Austin – A&R direction
  • Glen E. Friedman – art direction, photography

References

edit
  1. ^ "Y'All So Stupid Van Full of Pakistans". AllMusic. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  2. ^ "Yall So Stupid". Robert Christgau.
  3. ^ Sutton, Terri (1993-07-01). "Van Full of Pakistanis Review". Spin. Vol. 9, no. 4. pp. 82–3.
  4. ^ "Y'all So Stupid Chart History". Billboard.
  5. ^ "Production Notes". Billboard. Vol. 105, no. 10. 1993-03-06. p. 42.
  6. ^ Sarig, Roni (September 7, 2007). Third Coast: Outkast, Timbaland, and How Hip-hop Became a Southern Thing. Hachette Books. ISBN 9780306816475 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Cantor, Paul (15 May 2012). "The 100 Best Hip-Hop One-Hit Wonders". Complex.
  8. ^ "The 5 Best Summer Rap Albums You've Probably Never Heard". LA Weekly. July 7, 2016.
  9. ^ "The Most Overlooked Hip-Hop LPs of the 90s: Part 2 - Page 11 of 11". August 24, 2012.
edit