Back in 1999, a legendary crew was about to put his name on the map : The arsonists. A year before, the rumour saying taht hiphop was dying started to spread; and we can't blame peope who were saying this...
If you take a look at the scene in 1999, you still had some dope records, but in antoher had Bad boy records and stuff like that which were dropping quite a few very mainstream records.bling bling, gangsta shit and bitches. I like it, don't get me wong, but it'sd far from PE's lyrics, and KRS one messages. Sure, some underground crews were still making some noise, but there were not at many as before... And then, Arosnists landed in the Hiphop world! Who are they? From NYC, D-Stroy, Q Unique, Freestyle, Jise One and Swel Boogie dropped the now classci "As the world
burns".
D-stroy was well impressive on the record, all members were dope, but D-stroy's flow was so... Just Hihop, combined with proper Hihop lyrics, in a proper crew with DJ, real MCs. On top of that, they signed no what is probably the Hihpop underground Hihop label in NYC (and in the whome world actually) : fondle 'em. We already talked about that label, so you know if a record is coming out from them, it 's a quality proof. The album has been released by Matador records (an inidie rock label, regarding Arsonists lyrics which are not the typical stuff in Hiphop, it's not so surprising). Thanks to this album, this crew has been touring in europe for... 3 years!!! And to be honest, I doubt many underground hiphop crew had reach this achievement.
The reason why pure hihpop crews make more noise in europe than in the US could be explained quite easily, but it will be during antoher TBT! If this album has been so well acclaimed in the underground scene, it is simply because we can feel the passion from all the members of the group, we can feel their love of Hiphop and that's why it sounds so well. While D-stroy was celebrating the 15th birthday of the album (last week), he also explained the mentality in which they were when doinjg the album, here are his words : " Most importantly we made this album doing a whole lot of laughing and having fun.
That is what made me fall in love with HipHop and thats why i say ALL Arsonists fans are family, because we as a community loved the culture at its core." No doubt. As of today, the member are donig their thing, and one of the most prolific must be D-Stroy. He recently kicked a dope verse on a DJ Premier's beat, on the track of tony Touch which can be found on the Piece Maker 3, but as well, He is doing a show called "Left unattended" on the website Flama. this show is dope, you have good fun, and Hiphop legends being interveiwed; moreoever you can learn some well kept secrets from the Hihpop World... Mad props to Arsonists, and Happy Birthday to this classic album!
BUY THE ALBUM : Arsonists - As the world burns
- BECRI
