It’s pretty bugged to think back ten years ago and reminiscence on how these albums were conceived, worked on and eventually brought to life. Here’s some of my favorite full-length releases from my output over the last ten years.
Projecto:2501 (November 2nd, 2000)
We started the decade not with a whimper, but with a bang: 2000’s Projecto: 2501 featuring me on production and Tajai on rhymes as The Entity holographic sentient lifeform. Heady stuff. The experience was a full-on multimedia onslaught, backed up with trading cards that came with the vinyl and CD retail releases, a feature-rich web presence and of course the music which provided the sonicscape. Highlights included Japanese MC, Shing02 on the memorable track, “Contact”. Also around this time I was featured as one of URB magazine’s, “Next 100”.
I produced this in Philadelphia, with Tajai doing his rhymes in Oakland and we essentially pieced the whole thing together over the internet. Tajai came to Philly in December 99′ to mix the finishing touches and master. I remember sitting at Dave & Busters on Delaware Ave when we came up with the idea to do trading cards.
» iTunes
» Amazon MP3
Nuntype (November 8th, 2005)
Even though Tajai and I began Projecto’s followup even before said release was on store shelves, it would be a full five years before its sequel would reach listeners. 2005’s Nuntype was an entirely new fiction set in another world and time from our previous release. The full-length album format afforded us more time to experiment and try new things, with Tajai taking on a more narrative approach to some of his rhymes. Meanwhile, tracks such as “Baboo Birth” saw Tajai back on the boom-bap style he helped pioneer as one of the west coast’s fiercest battle rhymers. Highlights on the album included Goapele on the lead single, “Meaning”. The website is still online as well.
This was produced back-to-back with Projecto, but sounds incredibly different in my opinion. We did a lot of the concepting for Nuntype in Oakland over several trips I took to the Bay. I recall working this day job at this spot in downtown Philly and I pretty much bounced and left for Oakland for a few days and didn’t tell anyone. Heh…I was mad young. Of course I was fired when I got back, but at least we figured out the main character would be a merman!
» iTunes
» Amazon MP3
Nuntype: The Instrumentals (August 15th, 2006)
A year later would see the online release of Nuntype: The Instrumentals in 2006. I went back and collected extended versions we chopped down while in the studio in addition to alternate versions we for various reasons chose not to include. This album was originally seeded by me through BitTorrent which was fairly new at the time. I wanted to see first-hand how a release like this would “move” socially through the interwebs. A novel experiment, it later made its way onto the likes of iTunes and Amazon MP3 although you can probably still find copies floating out there on the intertrons 😉 .
Of course these were produced in Philly as I mentioned above in the Nuntype review, but the instrumental remastering and subsequent album release was one of the first projects I did when I relocated to the Bay Area. Hiro Matsuo oversaw the remastering and I thought it came out great.
» iTunes
» Amazon MP3
Never Knows Best (June 10th, 2008)
In 2008, I returned to my solo roots and dropped the debut Yameen album, Never Knows Best featuring a ton of artists and musicians I have always wanted to work with. Highlights include “Don’t Go Near The Speakers” with Azeem and Casual, “The Atmosphere” with Maylay Sparks, “Spirit Walker” with Georgia Anne Muldrow and “Light of Love” with Shock G and Lady Alma.
» iTunes
» Amazon MP3
Never Knows More (July 7th, 2009)
I had so much fun with Never Knows Best, I looked forward to asking close friends and producers to remix tracks. This was also a great chance to work with producers whom I admired and thought could add something truly unique and different to the Yameen sound. The result was 2009’s, Never Knows More: A jam-packed album’s worth of material including remixes from Mike Ladd, my homeboy Blockhead, Mark de Clive-Lowe, DLX and more. Additionally, I was able to provide all of the instrumentals from the previous album on this jawn, and the artwork (much like the album before it) was masterfully executed by Douglas Bowden.
» iTunes
» Amazon MP3
There’s singles, EP’s and mixtape exclusives out there as well, but these titles listed above are works I consider to be fully-featured releases with all of the blood, sweat and tears that that implies. Hope you enjoy them, and look forward to many more in the upcoming decade! Peace!