Thursday, May 20, 2010

Bassment flashback - Danny Boy

BossPlayya Roderick checking in. It's been a minute since I did this, but about a month ago, the looooooooooooong awaited debut album by Danny Boy dropped.

Wait. “Danny Who?” I can hear y’all asking yourselves. Danny Boy (real name) is an R&B singer haling from Chi-Town who was signed to the almighty (at the time) Death Row Records. Every music fan worth his weight, knows Death Row Records ran the hiphop game from 92 thru 96. The flagship artists were definitely Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and 2Pac. Slightly lesser known but still notorious were Daz and Kurupt (tha Dogg Pound), the Lady of Rage and Sam Sneed. Death Row also had a few R&B acts on the roster, most notably Jewell and Danny Boy.

His largest claim to fame had to have been his hook on the 2Pac smash I AINT MAD ATCHA, besides that one, many a R&B lover consider his Death Row soundtrack cuts classic too. Just a teenager at the time he was signed by Suge Knight, he finally released his 1st official solo single in 96.

So what does this have to do with Mr Thomas Crown?

SLIP N SLIDE, 1st single, was produced by Reggie Devell Moore, co-produced by Devante. Reggie Moore was a young producer working with Devante and the Bassment Crew in Rochester, NY back in the early to mid 90’s. And the credits on that single also feature Ginuwine on background vocals.

So DB’s debut is called IT'S ABOUT TIME, ALL tracks on it were recorded between 1994 and 1996. California legend DJ Quik produced 11 tracks on the album. One song was provided by Demetrius Shipp, ex-Troop member. Devante has 3 songs on the album. His songs, per Danny Boy’s admission were recorded during the same time as SLIP N SLIDE. Tracks are IF U DON'T MIND, JUST RIDE (ft JoJo of Jodeci – crazy vocoder on this one by De Swing) aaaannnnd the lead single off this project called IT'S ALL ABOUT U. It features Devante prominently on the talkbox, Ginuwine on background vocals, but as a diehard Timbo fan, the craziest thing is when about halfway thru the track you hear the lyrics…”Wait a minute, wont you hear me baby….” Sung in the same melody and cadence as a Timbaland produced track we heard back in 99 on Ginuwine’s 100% album….WAIT A MINUTE. That Timbaland track credits Ginuwine and Timbaland as writers.. Word is that Ginuwine co-wrote this song also.

Man, before I was a Timmy fan, I was a Devante fan so this song is a major find on its own, but with that added twist, a must have gem for anybody that's tryna have that complete Timbaland/Bassment collection.

Here is some Slip N Slide and IT'S ALL ABOUT U…

Finally, I have a physical copy of this album. Unfortunately, Wide Awake, the label that purchased distribution rights to Death Row’s catalog, slacked once again on the booklet, just like with last year's Death Row boxed sets with dozens of “Producer Unknown” credits. This time around all we get are the production credits on a one-sided sheet of paper. I need to know details, engineering, writing, mixing. The iTunes version of this album comes with a Digital Booklet, unfortunately I am currently in Japan and their iTunes store does not carry the album. If anyone purchased this cd thru iTunes and the credits are more detailed than just 'Produced by….', then hit us up.

2 comments :

  1. Holy Shit! I was just thinking about this dude the other day and wondered what ever happened to him. This shit is pretty dope. I need to hear the rest of his album cuz DJ Quik is one of my favorite producers, and in my opinion is one of the best!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Off-Topic but
    "Potion" from the (Promo CDS) has a different beat than the album version, Have you noticed that before? listen by yourself
    Potion (alternate version) (dirty)
    http://www.multiupload.com/Q677GSWDX6

    and by the way
    this blog is a must!

    ReplyDelete

 
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