This Is For Us

Yes y’all.

News: Language Arts - my true first album - is coming out on vinyl. SOON! In fact, you can pre-order now. Obsolete Records is making it happen. I’m very excited about it. Language Arts is the one that started it all. I came into my own on that album.

Now, let me preface what I’m about to say by saying ‘who gives a shit’ but I’d never heard a mixtape-style ALBUM before Language Arts. I’m not trying to say that I’m some kind of pioneer or anything. Not at all. I’m not asking for a plaque. But it is what it is. 

In the mid-90s, I was all about hip hop mixtapes. And then I heard Tapes*Skills*Techniques by 1200 Hobos. Game over. That was it. The 30-Minute Massacre. My brain was rearranged. That’s how I wanted to hear hip hop music. I decided then and there that that was how I wanted my albums to sound. Didn’t matter to me that the idea didn’t really make sense. And then I made Language Arts. Language Arts doesn’t sound anything like Tapes*Skills*Techniques but that tape sparked me to life. I’ve been making albums the same way ever since - for over 25 years. Language Arts is the template. 

A few weeks ago, I had to prep a new master for the vinyl and it was my first time listening to the album in a while. I gotta say, it’s better than I remembered. It has a surprising amount of oomph for something that was recorded on a 4-track. Chalk it up to that SP-1200 magic. And the beats are nice. I was on some shit! I even took some notes as I listened because there are ideas I want to remember to try again next time I make a record.

 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I might have been at my creative peak around the time I made Language Arts. Weirdo Magnet and the first Sebutones album, Psoriasis came out the same year - 1996. I wish 1996 could have lasted forever. The work was solid during the two years that followed and then my mom died and I spent fifteen years in a goddamn spiral. Anyway. 

One thing about Language Arts that really inspires me now is that I made all the beats drawing from a record collection that was pretty small and shitty compared to what I have now. It’s a reminder to work hard and go deep with the tools you have at hand. Part of me thinks that for my next record, I should pull 20 or 30 records from my collection at random and force myself to make all the beats with them. Putting effort and ingenuity into creative work always pays off. 

Let me tell you a little bit about this new vinyl release. 300 copies are being pressed. That’s it. Special. There will be two variations: most of the vinyl will be black and few will be pink. The sleeve art is new. I wanted to do it myself. The art for the cassette and CD versions were done by other artists - Thesis Sahib and James Patterson. Both of those guys are brilliant but I really wanted to make this release my own because the album is such an important part of my story. I am hoping for a creative reunion/revival with Thesis sometime soon. More on that later. 

Language Arts on vinyl! The royal treatment at long last. Get yourself a little piece of history. Pre-order here.