Cargo Records

Hip-Hops Finest!

‘Black Bastards’ was voted in Ego Trip’s Book Of Rap Lists as the most notable rap album of all time never released commercially, and with good reason.

The fact that this excellent album, slated for a 1994 release on Elektra, did not seen the light of day until 2001 testifies to a time when shortsighted industry backlashes against records that inflamed Middle America were in vogue, a mood which prompted label high-ups to can the project due to its controversial cover art. Yet this must-purchase concept album is worth the wait. From the jazzy, hypnotic samples on the title cut to ‘Sweet Premium Wine’, a farcical ode to swigging 40-ounce bottles of brew, you know you’ve found rap heaven. Classic headbanger ‘What A Nigga Know?’ (and the remix featuring partner-in-rhyme MF Grimm) is equally off the chain, while ‘Constipated Monkey’ and weed anthem ‘Suspended Animation’ recall the times when experimental beats and obscure sampling ruled the roost. ‘Black Bastards’ is where Brand Nubian meets De La Soul at the local bodega.

Underneath his mysterious metal mask, MF Doom hides the cachet underground legends are made of. After KMD’s 1994 album ‘Bl_ck B_st_rds’ was turfed by Elektra and Subroc (one half of the sibling rhyme duo) passed away, surviving KMD member Zev Love X mutated into the MC Avenger known as MF Doom.

The Rap world is better for it. This 19-cut album is ridiculously dope. Doom sounds either high or drunk on most of the tracks, his self-produced beats are gritty, and his rhyme styles are almost indecipherable, with avant-garde ghetto philosophies taking ever more intentionally weird twists. The comic-book themed skits, many of which include snippets of dialogue from Marvel’s Dr. Doom series, will help take you deep into the mind of an MC who is as otherworldly as they come. A truly groundbreaking record finally back in print, officially, and – we hope – for keeps.