Lord Finesse – The Awakening
| Label: | Penalty Recordings – PREP3035, Penalty Recordings – PREP 3039, Penalty Recordings – PREPV3035 |
|---|---|
| Format: | Vinyl, LP, Album Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition |
| Country: | US |
| Released: | |
| Genre: | Hip Hop |
| Style: | Conscious, Boom Bap, Instrumental |
Tracklist
| Album | |||
| A1 | Da Sermon (Intro) | ||
| A2 | Time Ta Bounce (Interlude) | ||
| A3 | True And Livin' | ||
| A4 | O' Lord (Interlude) | ||
| A5 | Brainstorm / P.S.K. (No Gimmicks Remix) | ||
| A6 | Taking It Lyte (Interlude) | ||
| A7 | Gameplan | ||
| A8 | Actual Facts (Bonus Track) | ||
| B1 | Words From Da Ak (Interlude) | ||
| B2 | Flip Da Style | ||
| B3 | Showtime (Interlude) | ||
| B4 | Speak Ya Peace | ||
| B5 | Food For Thought | ||
| B6 | Da Kid Himself (Interlude) | ||
| B7 | Hip 2 Da Game | ||
| B8 | No Gimmicks | ||
| Limited Edition Instrumental Vinyl | |||
| C1 | Time Ta Bounce (Interlude) (Instrumental) | ||
| C2 | True And Livin' (Instrumental) | ||
| C3 | O' Lord (Interlude) (Instrumental) | ||
| C4 | Brainstorm / P.S.K. (No Gimmicks Remix) (Instrumental) | ||
| C5 | Taking It Lyte (Interlude) (Instrumental) | ||
| C6 | Gameplan (Instrumental) | ||
| D1 | Flip Da Style (Instrumental) | ||
| D2 | Showtime (Interlude) (Instrumental) | ||
| D3 | Speak Ya Peace (Instrumental) | ||
| D4 | Food For Thought (Instrumental) | ||
| D5 | Da Kid Himself (Interlude) (Instrumental) | ||
| D6 | Hip 2 Da Game (Instrumental) | ||
| D7 | No Gimmicks (Instrumental) |
Companies, etc.
- Record Company – Funkyman Productions
- Distributed By – Tommy Boy Music, Inc.
- Manufactured By – Tommy Boy Music, Inc.
- Produced For – Funkyman Productions
- Produced For – Dangerous Minds Productions
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Penalty Recordings
- Copyright © – Penalty Recordings
- Pressed By – Specialty Records Corporation
- Published By – BDP Music
- Published By – Zomba Enterprises, Inc.
- Published By – Brooklyn Based Music
- Published By – Top Billin' Music
- Published By – Technician Tunes
- Published By – Quee Creations
- Published By – Dusty Fingers Music
- Published By – One Four One Music
- Recorded At – Soundtrack Studios
- Recorded At – Giant Recording Studios
- Recorded At – Chung King Studios
- Recorded At – Power Play Studios
- Mixed At – Soundtrack Studios
- Mixed At – Giant Recording Studios
- Mixed At – Chung King Studios
- Edited At – Battery Studios, New York
- Mastered At – Sterling Sound
Credits
- A&R [Direction] – Lord Finesse
- A&R [Supervision] – Lord Finesse, Martin Moor
- Art Direction, Design – Sandy Lawrence
- Bass [Additional Instrumentation] – Dinky Bingham
- Concept By – Lord Finesse
- Coordinator [Project] – Michael Ambrosio
- Design [Logo] – Eric Orr
- Engineer, Edited By – Tim Donovan
- Executive-Producer – Lord Finesse, Neil Levine (3)
- Keyboards [Additional Instrumentation] – George "G.O." Washington
- Legal – Ward White IV
- Mastered By [DMM] – Tom Coyne
- Other [Grooming] – Markita Ferguson
- Other [Styling] – Keir Worthy, Sandy Lawrence
- Photography By – MoB*
- Producer – Lord Finesse (tracks: A1 to A7, B1 to B3, B5 to D2, D4 to D7)
Notes
Tracks A3, A7, B2, B5, B7 recorded and mixed at Chung King Studios, New York, NY.
Track A5 recorded and mixed at Soundtrack Studios, New York, NY.
Track B4 recorded and mixed at Giant Studios, New York, NY.
Track B8 recorded at Powerplay Studios, L.I.C., NY.
Tracks A4, A6, B6 mixed at Chung King Studios, New York, NY.
Track A1, A2, B3 mixed at Giant Studios, New York, NY.
Track B1 mixed at Powerplay Studios, L.I.C., NY.
Edited at Battery Studios, New York, NY.
Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York, NY.
Direct Metal Mastering.
KRS-One appears courtesy of JIVE Records.
Kid Capri appears courtesy of Columbia Records.
MC Lyte appears courtesy of First Priority / Atlantic Records.
Diamond appears courtesy of Mercury Records.
Akinyele appears courtesy of Loud / RCA Records.
Track A8 "Actual Facts (Bonus Track)" is mentioned on the hype sticker but not credited on the cover or label.
US pressing of "The Awakening" album with bonus Instrumental LP.
(note: some copies has white labeled Instrumental Vinyl)
Cat#: PREPV3035 - The Awakening (cover)
Cat#: PREP3035 - The Awakening (labels)
Cat#: PREP 3039 - Limited Edition Instrumental Vinyl (labels)
Manufactured and Distributed by Tommy Boy Music, Inc.
Printed in Canada.
℗ © 1995 Penalty Recordings.
(note: Instrumental Vinyl has a different date at copywrite signs "℗ © 1996 Penalty Recordings".)
On track A2 Doo Wop is credited with the group name as: Doo Wop of Da Bounce Squad
Barcode and Other Identifiers
- Barcode (Text): 7 08047-3035-1 0
- Barcode (Scanned): 708047303510
- Matrix / Runout (A-side runout): PREP ̶P̶R̶-3035A RE1 DMM
- Matrix / Runout (B-side runout): PREP 3035-1-B, [SRC logo]
- Matrix / Runout (C-side runout): PREP-3039-A, [SRC logo]
- Matrix / Runout (D-side runout): PREP-3039-B-Re, [SRC logo]
- Rights Society: ASCAP
- Rights Society: BMI
Other Versions (5 of 23)
View All| Title (Format) | Label | Cat# | Country | Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Awakening (LP, Album, LP, All Media, Promo, Limited Edition) | Penalty Recordings, Penalty Recordings | PREP 3035, PREP 3039 | US | 1995 | |||
Recently Edited | The Awakening (CD, Album) | Penalty Recordings | PENCD 3035 | US | 1995 | ||
Recently Edited | The Awakening (CD, Album) | Penalty Recordings | PREPCD3035 | US | 1995 | ||
Recently Edited | The Awakening (LP, Album) | Penalty Recordings | PREP 3035 | US | 1995 | ||
New Submission | The Awakening (Cassette, Album) | Penalty Recordings | PREPC3035 | US | 1995 |
Recommendations
Released1995 — USVinyl —LP, Album
Released1995 — USVinyl —LP, Album, Stereo
Released1993 — USVinyl —LP, Album, Stereo
Released1996 — USVinyl —LP, Album
Released1994 — USVinyl —LP, Album, Stereo
Released1996 — USVinyl —LP, Album, Stereo
Released1994 — USVinyl —LP, Album, Limited Edition, Stereo
Released1996 — USVinyl —LP, Album, Stereo
Released1998 — USVinyl —12", 33 ⅓ RPM, EP
Released1995 — USVinyl —LP, Album
Reviews
- I agree the skits had some great beats, I just wish Lord Finesse made a full song with some of them
It was the 90s and I had disposable income. One of my routines: Buy the magazine Hip Hop Connection, read the reviews, go to the record shop (Arcade Records RIP), listen to the records in their booth. That would explain why even now I ask “Who’s Lord Finesse?”.
The Awakening is pretty lyrically solid. Standouts are Brainstorm / P.S.K. (No Gimmicks Remix), Gameplan and Speak Ya Peace, but I would question styling the LP “Conscious.” Although to be fair Lord Finesse does keep the Hip Hop sexism clichés to the bare minimum.
It’s the bonus instrumental LP that truly shines. All killer, no filler. Particular killers of note are True And Livin,' which perversely sounds better than the vocal track, as well as Food For Thought, Hip 2 Da Game and No Gimmicks.
With it’s fine production The Awakening is a a worthy member of the Golden Age of Hip Hop (the 1990s). Back then, like now, great female MCs were few and far between. So, whatever happened to Marquee?- Lord Finesse is back with his third release, The Awakening. The Awakening is a great album, full of classic dope beats and features some great collaboration tracks with artists such as Oc, Krs-One, Ag and Diamond D to name a few. Production wise I cant fault this album. The beats are full of deep funky bass, sampling from many soul and jazz songs , great vocals and rhyming, and a certain funky sound that you expect from a Lord Finesse album. The track Actual facts is arguably the best song of the album, the whole album is a timeless master piece.
There is only one draw back with this Lord Finesse release the number of interludes and skits on this album, 7 in total, but they are laced with some off the best beats I’ve heard by Lord Finesse. Don’t let that put you off buying a great album from the golden years of hip hop.
Bottom Line is if you could only buy one album this year, do yourself a favour and cop this one. Any fan of Hip-Hop will simply Love The Awakening.
Release
For sale on Discogs
Sell a copy48 copies from $10.00