Pioneering Los Angeles ’90s and ’00s underground Hip Hop
collective Jurassic 5 will be re-releasing their self-titled
1997 EP on November 11th. The original album spawned the
hits “Jayou,” “Concrete Schoolyard” and the Steinski &
Double Dee series tribute record “Lesson 6 (Reprise).” The
success of the EP, which has been contractually out of print
since 2004, led to the group signing with Interscope
Records, where they released three full-length albums.
Seventeen rare and unreleased tracks will be included on the
new version. Included are bonus beats from DJ Nu-Mark, the
rare “Lesson 4,” and various radio appearances and live
performance sequences. Also included is a DVD, which
includes a full performance, and a 30-minute documentary
about the earliest days of the group, formed in the early
’90s.

Originally scheduled for release back in 1994 but scrapped due to controversial cover art, K.M.D.'s follow-up to their debut Mr. Hood was considered to be one of the Holy Grail records in the annals of hip-hop history. The death of group member Sub-Roc in a car accident squashed the future of K.M.D. shortly after it was recorded. Employing ideals and samples from the album The Blue Guerilla by Kain of the Last Poets, the tone of this record was to be dramatically different than their first, which was lighthearted and playful while still spreading a message about racial stereotypes. Volatile yet poignant tracks like "What a Nigga Know" and "Black Bastards!" are hip-hop fireballs. Subjects like alcoholism ("Sweet Premium Wine"), drug use ("Smokin' That S*#%"), and women ("Plumskinzz") were all touched upon with incendiary tones. The sound of the record is very raw and sounds unfinished due to Elektra shelving the project, but it doesn't take away from the magic that would have made this a suitable follow-up.

Perhaps Licensed to Ill was inevitable -- a white group blending rock and rap, giving them the first number one album in hip-hop history. But that reading of the album's history gives a short shrift to the Beastie Boys; producer
Rick Rubin
and his label, Def Jam; and this remarkable record, since mixing metal and hip-hop isn't necessarily an easy thing to do. Just sampling and scratching
Sabbath
and
Zeppelin
to hip-hop beats does not make for an automatically good record, though there is a visceral thrill to hearing those muscular riffs put into overdrive with scratching. But, much of that is due to the producing skills of
Rick Rubin
, a metalhead who formed Def Jam Records with
Russell Simmons
and had previously flirted with this sound on
Run-D.M.C.
's
Raising Hell
, not to mention a few singles and one-offs with the Beasties prior to this record. He made rap rock, but to give him lone credit for Licensed to Ill (as some have) is misleading, since that very same combination would not have been as powerful, nor would it have aged so well -- aged into a rock classic -- if it weren't for the Beastie Boys, who fuel this record through their passion for subcultures, pop culture, jokes, and the intoxicating power of wordplay. At the time, it wasn't immediately apparent that their obnoxious patter was part of a persona (a fate that would later plague
Eminem
), but the years have clarified that this was a joke -- although, listening to the cajoling rhymes, filled with clear parodies and absurdities, it's hard to imagine the offense that some took at the time. Which, naturally, is the credit of not just the music -- they don't call it the devil's music for nothing -- but the wild imagination of the Beasties, whose rhymes sear into consciousness through their gonzo humor and gleeful delivery. There hasn't been a funnier, more infectious record in pop music than this, and it's not because the group is mocking rappers (in all honesty, the truly twisted barbs are hurled at frat boys and lager lads), but because they've already created their own universe and points of reference, where it's as funny to spit out absurdist rhymes and pound out "Fight for Your Right (To Party)" as it is to send up street-corner doo wop with "Girls." Then, there is the overpowering loudness of the record -- operating from the axis of where metal, punk, and rap meet, there never has been a record this heavy and nimble, drunk on its own power yet giddy with what they're getting away with. There is a sense of genuine discovery, of creating new music, that remains years later, after countless plays, countless misinterpretations, countless rip-off acts, even countless apologies from the Beasties, who seemed guilty by how intoxicating the sound of it is, how it makes beer-soaked hedonism sound like the apogee of human experience. And maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but in either case, Licensed to Ill reigns tall among the greatest records of its time.

《Watch the Throne》(目视王座)是Jay-Z和Kanye West两大嘻哈天王的合作专辑，起初两人只是计划合作出一张5首歌的EP，后来确定合作出一张完整的专辑，足以吊足歌迷的胃口。
客串阵容有来自OFWGKTA团体的R&B创作歌手Frank Ocean，并有幸在两首歌里献声。另外还有Beyonce，Mr Hudson以及英年早逝的传奇灵魂歌手Otis Redding。另外一位已逝的灵魂乐歌手Curtis Mayfield的声音将出现在Bonus曲目里。
最早推出的歌曲"H?A?M"和“That's My Bitch”由于褒贬不一而未入选正式曲目，作为Bonus Track放出。

People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is the debut album by the alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released on April 17, 1990[11] on Jive Records. Though the album was well-received critically, it had little mainstream appeal. The album did earn the band a devoted following, however, within the alternative hip hop community. People's Instinctive Travels was praised for its inventive lyricism and bizarre sense of humor, mixed with socially aware and literate message tracks. It is one of three albums included in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. It also was certified gold by the RIAA on January 19, 1996. The record was given the perfect rating of 5 mics in The Source in 1990 — according to Pitchfork, it was the first album ever to receive this honor.

Audio CD (July 22, 1997)
Original Release Date: 1991