| Product Summary | | Label: Wea/rhino | | UPC: 00081227676728 | | Release Date: 3/20/2001 | | Buy.com Sku: 60464012 | | Item#: MHJTK5 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
Disc 1
| | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Bonafied Funk - (featuring Main Source) ~ The Brand New Heavies |  | | 2. It's Gettin Hectic - (featuring Gang Starr) ~ The Brand New Heavies | | | 3. Who Makes The Loot? - (featuring Grand Puba) ~ The Brand New Heavies | | | 4. Wake Me When I'm Dead - (featuring Wake Me When I'm Dead) ~ The Brand New Heavies | | | 5. Jump N' Move - (featuring Jamal-Ski) ~ The Brand New Heavies | | | 6. Death Threat - (featuring Kool G. Rap) ~ The Brand New Heavies | | | 7. State Of Yo - (featuring Black Sheep) ~ The Brand New Heavies | | | 8. Do Whatta I Gotta Do - (featuring Ed O.G.) ~ The Brand New Heavies | | | 9. Whatgabouthat - (featuring Tiger) ~ The Brand New Heavies | | | 10. Soul Flower - (featuring The Pharcyde) ~ The Brand New Heavies | |
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| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | The Brand New Heavies: Simon Bartholomew (guitar); Andrew Levy (bass); Jan Kincaid (drums). | | Additional personnel includes: Gang Starr, Main Source, Grand Puba, Masta Ace, Ed O.G., Black Sheep, Kool G. Rap, Tiger, Pharcyde, Jamalski (vocals); Mike Smith (saxophone); Martin Shaw (trumpet); Paul Daley (percussion). | | Producers include: The Brand New Heavies, Orlando Aguillen. | | Engineers include: Tim Orford, Joe Primeau, Jay Lean. | | Includes liner notes by James Bernard. | | "Brand New Heavies play the sh*t that/People used to listen to in '70s Chevys." With that succinct and flawless couplet from the awesome opening track, "Bonafide Funk," Large Professor helped to explain why there was a certain herd of influential rappers who were enthralled by the Brand New Heavies' sleek (some would say slick) and urbanely stylish Anglo take on classic American funk and soul after the quartet released its eponymous debut in 1991: They were pulling the very same vintage-groove LPs from their crates for inspiration. When the Heavies made their first trip to American shores, both Q-Tip and 3rd Bass' MC Serch were quick to show their respect by hopping on-stage with the band (likely the event that planted the seed for Heavy Rhyme Experience), and the latter rapper even predicted that The Brand New Heavies would be the source material for a decade's worth of loops and samples for rap producers. Serch's enthusiastic forecast never quite materialized, but it is hard to argue with his logic after you hear this landmark collaborative experiment. A live hip-hop band wasn't a complete novelty at the time -- proto-rapper Gil Scott-Heron utilized jazz backing, Tackhead was the house band for Sugarhill Records all the way back in the late '70s, and the self-proclaimed "world's one and only hip-hop band," Stetsasonic had been fully live for several years by that point -- but never before had rap taken such an on-the-fly, jam-like approach. Spontaneous combustion resulted. Never before (and perhaps never since) had the Heavies managed to sound this deliciously in-the-pocket and playful, and the MCs beautifully follow their lead. Guru sounds looser and more whimsical on "It's Gettin Hectic" than on any Gang Starr track. Simon Bartholomew's teasing guitar lines poke holes in Grand Puba's swollen-tongued bluster on "Who Makes the Loot?" Kool G. Rap is given the blaxploitation backing he had always deserved. And Ed. O.G. and Pharcyde do verbal gymnastics that must be heard. But every vocalist here blooms from the pairing. The only regret is that N'Dea Davenport was not included in some capacity, considering how much she added to the Heavies. Too bad, as well, that there was never a volume two. One wonders what sort of magic Posdnuos and Trugoy of De La Soul, the Leaders of the New School trio, Rakim, or Chuck D. could have conjured had they been tapped as collaborators, or from the West Coast Ice Cube and Del tha Funkee Homosapien. Still, Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 is a match made in heaven. ~ Stanton Swihart | | The Brand New Heavies collaborate with a stylistic assortment of rappers on their second album, but the jazzy soul sound of HEAVY RHYME EXPERIENCE, which is live rather than sampled, is all their own. The Heavy trio of Simon Bartholomew, Andrew Levy and Jan Kincaid, who came up through London's acid-jazz underground, is a rock-solid core with a natural affinity for rhythms that twist and turn. The Heavies move easily from the rubbery, pogoing dancehall of "Jump N' Move," which features Jamalski, to a mellow vibe over which Guru throws down looser rhymes on "It's Gettin Hectic." Main Source rides a slow groove deep into the pocket of "Bonafide Funk," on which horns lazily fade out at the end of every other measure. The Heavies are equally capable of laying down a noir-ish groove, as they do to match Kool G. Rap's menacing rhymes on "Death Threat." We eagerly await Volume 2. |
Musical Guests | | Gang Starr | | Main Source | | Grand Puba | | Masta Ace | | Ed O.G. | | Black Sheep | | Kool G. Rap | | Tiger | | The Pharcyde | | Jamal-Ski | | Wake Me When I'm Dead |
| | Artist Overview | | Formed in the late 1980s, London-based collective the Brand New Heavies introduced a revolutionary new style of funk and dance music when they broke onto the British club scene. Mixing classic funk, jazz licks and chord structures, and dancefloor rhythms, the Brand New Heavies were credited as being one of the very first acid jazz acts, and charted high in both England and the U.S. The group also parlayed serious love from the hip-hop community into the sensational collaborative album HEAVY RHYME EXPERIENCE, VOL. 1. Though acid jazz faded by the late '90s, the Heavies continued to record and perform, releasing the well-received GET USED TO IT in 2006. |
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| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 03/20/2001 | | Original Release Date : 1992 | | Catalog ID : 76767 | | Label : Delicious Vinyl (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Runtime : 35m : 33s | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00081227676728 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Entertainment Weekly (8/28/92, p.65)
- "...a jumping hip hop album....proves that rap played by live musicians can slam nearly as hard as anything out of Compton..." - Rating: BVibe (Fall/92, p.29)
- "...aspires to greatness..." The Source (9/92, p.55)
- 3.5 Stars (out of 5)
- "...the Brand New Heavies bring a bold mixture of funk, acid and jazz to the sphere of rap....the Heavies prove that hip hop can survive without samples....A must for your collection....consistently entertaining..." Option (Nov.-Dec./92, p.101)
- "...the Brand New Heavies have decided to take what Sugar Hill did with live instruments and make it more street credible by injecting it with legit scratching and sampling..." Musician (10/92, p.100)
- "...delivers a few superior jams....generally engaging results..." |
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