DSD:Cappadonna/Das EFX/Hiero/People Under the Stairs

[TheBigSleep]

Tuesday, March 24th, 1998.

Four LPs: Cappadonna's first, via Razor Sharp Records, Das EFX's fourth, through Elektra, Hieroglyphics' debut, on Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings and People Under the Stairs' first, by way of PUTS Records.

Pick your favorite and / or the best album, doesn't matter.

Previous Dropped Same Day(s):

Enter the 36 Chambers vs. Midnight Marauders.
Guerrillas in tha Mist vs. Runaway Slave vs. Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop vs. Whut? Thee Album.
'93 'til Infinity vs. 187 He Wrote vs. Return of the Boom Bap.
Blowout Comb vs. The Diary vs. (Twista's) Resurrection vs. Word...Life.
Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous vs. Rollin' Wit' Dana Dane vs. Return to the 36 Chambers.
Ahmad vs. Ill Communication vs. Nuttin' But Love vs. On the Outside Looking In vs. The Sun Rises in the East.
The Ablist vs. A Prince Among Thieves vs. The Slim Shady LP vs. Street Cinema vs. Things Fall Apart vs. War Zone.
Da Hood vs. Doe or Die vs. KRS-One vs. Last Chance, No Breaks vs. No Man's Land vs. South Central Los Skanless.
Aquemini vs. Enquiring Minds vs. Foundation vs. The Love Movement vs. Vol.2... Hard Knock Life vs. Word On Tha Streets.
Doom vs. The Equinox vs. Phenomenon vs. When Disaster Strikes... vs. X-pressions.
Apache Ain't Shit vs. Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde vs. Hard or Smooth vs. Live and Let Die.
The Final Tic vs. h vs. It Was Written vs. Stakes is High.
I Wish My Brother George Was Here vs. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place vs. The Dead Has Arisen vs. Like It Should Be vs. Nervous Breakdown vs. Play Witcha Mama vs. Resurrection vs. Ruthless By Law.
Death Certificate vs. Organized Konfusion vs. Prince of Darkness.
The 18th Letter vs. In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 vs. The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness vs. Vendetta.
All Balls Don't Bounce vs. All We Got Iz Us vs. Do or Die vs. Jealous One's Envy vs. Smile Now, Die Later vs. Take a Ride.
Coast II Coast vs. Season of Da Siccness vs. World Ultimate.
Internal Affairs vs. My Own vs. So... How's Your Girl?.
Blunted on Reality vs. Fadanuf Fa Erybody!! vs. Fear Itself vs. Welcome to America.
Riders of the Storm: The Underwater Album vs. 6 Feet Deep.

[Freezy Pazzy]

There's a slight mistake about "First family for life". It was supposed to drop on March 24th but got pushed back to August of the same year (I remember it very precisely because I harassed every record store I could from the first scheduled date to the actual release day).

You can check the real release date here if needed :
http://www.amazon.com/First-Family-4-Li ... rst+family

[TheBigSleep]

Ah, I'll have to edit it out then. I saw that it said August on Wikipedia but most sites still have it listed (incorrectly I guess) as March, including AllMusic and iTunes among others, which generally are more trustworthy than Amazon or Wikipedia. Thanks.

[Debonair_P]

I vividly remember buying all these releases - though the Hieroglyphics album didn't seem to reach stores here until a couple months later than the others. The Hiero is my favourite - it got some bad reviews, but it's a solid release with nice production and solid performances from everyone.

PUTS are the only artist from this bunch who went on to release better albums than the one here.

[Echo Leader]

Gotta be Cappadonna. The beats on that album are too sick.

[More Gravy Please]

Another tough one for me.

Das Efx is my least favourite of the four - they were past their prime at this point even though the album had a couple of decent tracks.

Cappadonna - This album was always slightly disappointing to me, with the best beats coming from True Master. The inclusion of 97 Mentality rounded things off nicely though.

People Under The Stairs - Love this album. It was completely fresh when it dropped. At least half the tracks on the album are pure killer and still hold up well today.

Hieroglyphics - I was a bit wary of this one at first with the Hiero collective not having made anything of note for a few years but this turned out to be a killer album. Even though Souls had lost that nerdy, nasal delivery that I loved but lyrically they were still on point, as were the rest of the crew.

Production wise I'd rank Hiero & PUTS equal but my vote is going to go to Hiero edging it on the lyrical side of things. I like Thes One but up against an album with lyrics from the entire Hiero crew....That's When Ya Lost!

[Versive]

Donna

[Jaz]

People Under The Stairs easily...with Cappadonna a close second, a lot of people slept on that album...but it really was that good old raw Wu shit.

[ScholarWenis]

I meant to click on Das Efx but my finger slipped and I hit Hiero

[TheBigSleep]

The new system can allow for revotes, so just click Generation EFX and press submit vote and it'll be changed over.

[Boothe]

Spent over a year and a half on Hiero Hoopla (message board) soaking up whatever information I could about the upcoming release. I was geeked on that shit, and it didn't disappoint. A shinning moment for the collective, and I'll give extra props to Pep Love and Domino as co-MVPs of that joint.

[Combo7]

3rd Eye Vision is better than the rest of them put together and I don't even really like Hiero like that.

[Huldrich Bullsh!t]

teh Das EFX joint is kind of a bummer. they were way past their prime and its just boring. i have this but doubt i have listened to it more than 3-4 times in my life.
i was kind of dissapointed by the Hiero album when i first heard it but it grew on me.

don't know what to vote for

[TheBigSleep]

Here's a rough percentage breakdown after the fifth month:

Handsome Boy Modeling School / Monch – 38/62
Casual / Fugees / Odd Squad / Schoolly – 62/9/23/6
Boogiemonsters / Gravediggaz – 27/73
Capp/ Das / Hiero / PUTS – 35/9/53/3

If you want to help to change any of that and haven't voted, links are at the bottom of each week's post.

[citizen]

the hiero album is pretty solid, i dont really like the individual freestyle joints, maybe should have been a shorter no filler album like

you never knew
all things
the who
dune methane
at the helm
the last one
oakland blackouts
after dark