Criminal Minded
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| Criminal Minded | ||
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| Studio album by Boogie Down Productions | ||
| Released | January 1, 1987 | |
| Recorded | 1986 | |
| Genre | Hip-hop | |
| Length | ??:?? | |
| Label | B-Boy Records | |
| Producer(s) | Ced-Gee, Scott La Rock, KRS-One | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Boogie Down Productions chronology | ||
| Criminal Minded (1987) |
By All Means Necessary (1988) |
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Criminal Minded by Boogie Down Productions was a highly influential hip hop album. Production duties on the LP are credited to 'Blastmaster' KRS-One (L. 'Kris' Parker) and DJ Scott La Rock (Scott Sterling), but in future interviews it has been revealed that an uncredited Ced-Gee (Cedric Miller) of The Ultramagnetic MCs had a key role in crafting the sound of the LP. It can be found on The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums list.[1] In 2003, the album was ranked number 444 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
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[edit] Overview
Released in early 1987, the album sampled records from James Brown and AC/DC, and also flaunted a reggae influence. The songs, “South Bronx” & “The Bridge is Over” (a reference to the Queensbridge Housing Projects) ignited a famous rivalry with the Queens-bred rapper MC Shan (see the The Bridge Wars). The album is also credited with providing a prototype for East Coast gangster rap to develop from. For instance, the cover, which showcases Parker and Sterling surrounded by an arsenal of weapons, was hip-hop’s first major release to feature members brandishing firearms. The album also contained several seminal hardcore songs such as “9mm Goes Bang” (one of the first rap songs to be based around a first-person crime narrative) and "P Is Free" (which details an encounter with a drug-abusing prostitute for perhaps the first time on record).
[edit] Controversy
Initially, the album sold at least several hundred thousand copies; however, the relationship between the group and B-Boy Records quickly deteriorated when the latter was allegedly slow to pay royalties. A lawsuit was launched, which was eventually settled out-of-court. Having left B-Boy Records, new friend Ice-T introduced them to a Warner Bros. A&R exec, who promptly signed them to a new record deal. The deal was short-lived, however. By this time, Sterling had befriended a neighborhood teenager, Derek ‘D-Nice’ Jones, who did a human beatbox routine for the group. One evening, Jones was assaulted by some local hoodlums and he later called Sterling to run interference. The next day, Sterling and a group of others came to the stoop where the offending parties lived. Sterling’s intention was to try and mediate things, but one of the hoods pulled out a gun and began shooting at random. In the ensuing confusion, Sterling was hit in the neck. Critically wounded, he died several days later in a hospital, leaving behind an infant son.
Warner Bros. reneged on the new deal in the aftermath of Sterling’s death. Parker decided that the group should continue. A handful of friends were brought into the collective, including Parker’s new wife Ms. Melodie and brother Kenny Parker, with whom he had just recently reunited. Signing with Jive Records, Parker recorded eight albums for them in 10 years, eventually dropping the ‘Boogie Down Productions’ group moniker and billing himself as a solo performer. REM and others recruited him for collaborations, and he was among the few rap acts at the Beastie Boys’ Tibetan Freedom Concerts. Meanwhile, Criminal Minded has been notoriously hard to find, falling in and out of print every few years, surfacing with a different distributor every time. Currently, the Boston-based independent label Landspeed Records has landed the distribution rights to Criminal Minded, hence the latest re-release in 2002. An expanded re-release, The Best of B-Boy Records: Boogie Down Productions, includes several 12" singles that didn't make Criminal Minded's original pressing.
[edit] Track listing
| # | Title | Songwriters | Producer(s) | Performer (s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Poetry" | L. Parker, S. LaRock | Ced Gee, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One | KRS-One |
| 2 | "South Bronx" | L. Parker, S. LaRock | Ced Gee, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One | D-Nice, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One |
| 3 | "9mm Goes Bang" | L. Parker, S. LaRock | Ced Gee, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One | KRS-One |
| 4 | "Word From Our Sponsor" | L. Parker, S. LaRock | Ced Gee, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One | KRS-One |
| 5 | "Elementary" | L. Parker, S. LaRock | Ced Gee, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One | DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One |
| 6 | "Dope Beat" | L. Parker, S. LaRock | Ced Gee, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One | KRS-One |
| 7 | "Remix For P Is Free" | L. Parker, S. LaRock | Ced Gee, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One | KRS-One |
| 8 | "The Bridge Is Over" | L. Parker, S. LaRock | Ced Gee, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One | KRS-One |
| 9 | "Super-Hoe" | L. Parker, S. LaRock | Ced Gee, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One | DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One |
| 10 | "Criminal Minded" | L. Parker, S. LaRock | Ced Gee, DJ Scott La Rock, KRS-One | KRS-One |
[edit] Album Chart Positions
| Year | Album | Chart positions | ||
| Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums | ||||
| 1987 | Criminal Minded | #73 | ||
