Brooklyn Ak!
Most people haven't heard about one of the most tallented crews to come from Brooklyn: Brooklyn Akademy. Those who do know about them know them from their "Plan A" single on 3-2-1 Records, which is now defunct. Their song "Con Artists" was featured on the A-Side of the "Plan A" 12'. The crew, consisting of Block McLoud, Pumpkinhead, Icon, Mr. Metaphor, and Jean Grae, has put out a number of CD-Rs through online distributors like Sandbox and UGHH.com and has been featured on almost every Will Tell compilation.
The most obscure of their releases is a tape-only EP called "Plan B: The Hijackers." The theme is simple, Brooklyn Ak is hijacking hip hop and holding it for ransom. As a matter of fact, Block McLoud makes the crew's intentions quite clear on the first track of the tape before tearing into one of the best syllabic rhymes I've heard in recent memory:
"We want one million dollars or we'll blow this train of this hot track/ HIP HOP HAS BEEN HIJACKED!/ We'll kill one hostage per minute if our demands aren't met, honest/ this ain't a threat it's a promise!/"
When Brooklyn Ak put this tape out they used it as a vehicle to launch the careers of their freinds and affiliates- in this case Block's side crew "The Back-Stabbers" and Jean Grae, who would join the crew in full in 2000. Jean Grae gets emotional and sentimental with her appearance on the tape but if you're looking for that grimey, "home-invasion and rape anything with a vagina rap" you need to peep out the Back-Stabbers. I think this is the only release they've ever been on. Very raw, very rugged. If you've ever been to jail or prison (the prior in my case) you will be able to recognize real. This is how every rapper I ever met in jail sounded, except the vocals are over studio beats and not hand-claps and thumps on the wooden board you can find under the bed mattress.
An affiliate of Pumpkinhead, who is a rapper with a few releases in his own right but I feel is wack (and in my opinion jerked me on a deal) and don't want my good name associated with, told me that this was a very limited release. Not only is it out of print, the print run was quite small (100-200, maybe?). I was told that Pumpkinhead doesn't even have an original copy of this, so who knows.
I'll say this, if anyone reading this has an original copy they are willing to part with I am willing to pay a high price for it. I lost my copy in a house fire but luckily I put this on CD in 1999, only a few months before I lost a lot of my music collection in that fire (I lost 500 tapes and 300 peices of wax).
And now for your listening enjoyment, Plan B: The Hijackers.
Most people haven't heard about one of the most tallented crews to come from Brooklyn: Brooklyn Akademy. Those who do know about them know them from their "Plan A" single on 3-2-1 Records, which is now defunct. Their song "Con Artists" was featured on the A-Side of the "Plan A" 12'. The crew, consisting of Block McLoud, Pumpkinhead, Icon, Mr. Metaphor, and Jean Grae, has put out a number of CD-Rs through online distributors like Sandbox and UGHH.com and has been featured on almost every Will Tell compilation.
The most obscure of their releases is a tape-only EP called "Plan B: The Hijackers." The theme is simple, Brooklyn Ak is hijacking hip hop and holding it for ransom. As a matter of fact, Block McLoud makes the crew's intentions quite clear on the first track of the tape before tearing into one of the best syllabic rhymes I've heard in recent memory:
"We want one million dollars or we'll blow this train of this hot track/ HIP HOP HAS BEEN HIJACKED!/ We'll kill one hostage per minute if our demands aren't met, honest/ this ain't a threat it's a promise!/"
When Brooklyn Ak put this tape out they used it as a vehicle to launch the careers of their freinds and affiliates- in this case Block's side crew "The Back-Stabbers" and Jean Grae, who would join the crew in full in 2000. Jean Grae gets emotional and sentimental with her appearance on the tape but if you're looking for that grimey, "home-invasion and rape anything with a vagina rap" you need to peep out the Back-Stabbers. I think this is the only release they've ever been on. Very raw, very rugged. If you've ever been to jail or prison (the prior in my case) you will be able to recognize real. This is how every rapper I ever met in jail sounded, except the vocals are over studio beats and not hand-claps and thumps on the wooden board you can find under the bed mattress.
An affiliate of Pumpkinhead, who is a rapper with a few releases in his own right but I feel is wack (and in my opinion jerked me on a deal) and don't want my good name associated with, told me that this was a very limited release. Not only is it out of print, the print run was quite small (100-200, maybe?). I was told that Pumpkinhead doesn't even have an original copy of this, so who knows.
I'll say this, if anyone reading this has an original copy they are willing to part with I am willing to pay a high price for it. I lost my copy in a house fire but luckily I put this on CD in 1999, only a few months before I lost a lot of my music collection in that fire (I lost 500 tapes and 300 peices of wax).
And now for your listening enjoyment, Plan B: The Hijackers.
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