Fat Beats, Vol. 1

• Artist: Various Artists
• Release Date: May 22, 2001
• Type: Collection (various artists), Contains explicit content
• Genre: Rock

Review

Fat Beats is best known as a much-respected underground hip-hop store, with franchises in New York and Los Angeles (the latter of which has a strong connection to the Beat Junkies turntablist crew). In 2001, Fat Beats branched out into releases of their own with Fat Beats Compilation, Vol. 1, a mix of newly recorded tracks and underground joints from the last several years that had never before appeared on CD. Opening and closing with turntablist cuts from the X-Ecutioners and the Beat Junkies' DJ Babu, respectively, the comp brings to light a generally excellent selection of singles that deserve to be heard by more than just dedicated crate-diggers. Big-name veterans the RZA (as Bobby Digital), Grand Puba, and KRS-One all fit the underground-purist aesthetic quite well, but the real focus is on the lesser-knowns and new names. Bumpy Knuckles' raw style fits his politically incorrect references to a tee on the hugely entertaining "The Lah," which is immediately followed by "Legacy," the terrific first single by backpacker favorites Non-Phixion. Elsewhere, Canadian MC Saukrates comes off well on the spare "Father Time"; the Juggaknots' "Clear Blue Skies" is a full-fledged drama on the subject of interracial romance; Pacewon's "Sunroof Top" has a brash appeal; Virginia's Supafriendz build their highly literate "Consequences and Repercussions" on a Beethoven sample; and female MC Helixx weighs in with the trip-hoppy "My Time." All in all, it's a wide-ranging cross-section of hip-hop's underground at the dawn of a new millennium, and the future looks bright indeed. With a little more publicity, Fat Beats could well take over the mantle of Rawkus' Soundbombing series as the top name in underground hip-hop compilations (and its re-release on the larger Koch label is a step in the right direction). ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Stuck in the Past	A. Williams, Robert Aguilar	The X-ecutioners	(2:49)
The Lah	Freddie Foxxx	Bumpy Knuckles	(4:27)
Legacy	MC Serch	Non Phixion	(5:57)
Hot Shit	A. Hardy	Big Daddy Kane, Guru, Greg Nice, Sadat X, D&D All Stars	(4:43)
Bigacts Littleacts Remix	A. Phillip, D. Harris	GZA, Afu-Ra, Afru-Ra	(3:37)
Father Time		Saukrates	(4:20)
Average	Kevin Harper	Kazi	(2:55)
Clear Blue Skies [Remix]		Juggaknots	(4:12)
My Time		Helixx	(2:45)
It Must Be Bobby		Bobby Digital, RZA	(3:33)
Sunroof Top		Pacewon	(3:38)
Charge		Lord Have Mercy	(4:55)
Up & Down	Grand Puba	Grand Puba	(3:14)
Consequences & Repercussions	D. Richard Lewis	Supafriendz	(4:31)
Metal Thangz	Gary Scott, Omar Credle	O.C., Pharoahe Monch, F.T., Street Smartz	(4:35)
Temple Tactics	KRS-One	KRS-One	(3:02)
Fat Beats		DJ Babu	(:37)

Credits

Grand Puba (Producer), Sadat X (Performer), The Knowbody Else (Producer), Saukrates (Performer), Pacewon (Producer), Madlib (Producer), The X-ecutioners (Scratching), Mr. Walt (Producer), Juggaknots (Producer), Big Daddy Kane (Performer), Supafriendz (Performer), Domingo (Producer), Lord Have Mercy (Producer), DJ Premier (Producer), DJ Babu (Performer), Non Phixion (Performer), OGEE (Producer), The X-ecutioners (Producer), Lord Jamar (Producer), RZA (Producer), The Genius (Performer), KRS-One (Performer), Greg Nice (Performer)